Yukon - "Larger than life"
Our journey to the Yukon already started before our stop in Alaska. Carcross was a fantastic place with its lovely commons, it's small desert and the nice hikes surrounding the area.
Our next stop is in Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. We have a couple of days before Alban has to work and there is a lot to do. Following our Yukon passports, we decide to visit the different museums/galleries and walk Myles canyon.
We also do one of the numerous hikes available around but get caught up in the rain and the wind...
We spend the rest of our stay in a Airbnb with our host, Sylvie, a Québécoise who has settled in the Yukon for a while now. She has a lovely place and a nice garden and tells us a lot about the province! We spend a lovely week at her cozy place and are quite happy not to be sleeping in the tent as it gets colder and rainier...
The week goes by quite fast. It's enjoyable to get a little bit of comfort! We are heading further north on the highway that links Whitehorse to Dawson city. Only one last stop near Whitehorse to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. There are a few species in the preserve such as Bison and Muskox, Deer and Moose, Dall Sheep and stone Sheep, Mountain goats, Caribou as well. We also get to see a Lynx and a red fox but no arctic foxes this time. It's quite a nice stop even though it's sad to see some of those animals (like the Lynx) alone in their "areas".
The highway to Dawson doesn't have many stops. We spend the night in an abandoned campsite on the way. The road cut through the forest and you don't get much viewpoint for a drive this long. However, once you arrive at destination, you quickly forget about the poor driving experience.
We stop in the Tombstone Territorial Park first. It's about 50 km north on the Dempster highway, a dirt road going up north to Inuvik and the arctic ocean for more than 700 km.
The Tombstone is a fantastic place to see and drive through. A tundra landscape with mountains all around the place. We arrive a little bit late to the campsite but are lucky enough to find a walk in spot. It's the middle of August already and it's getting below 0 at night and we are not ready for it. Our plan to sleep on top of one of the mountains is probably not a good idea and we decide to cancel. Instead, we pick one mountain that looks interesting and doesn't have too much marshy areas and hike it up. No trail, we are going our own way which is quite fun! The hill is steep and a little bit boggy as well but not wet which makes it pretty easy to hike up. After about an hour, we are at the top and can finally rest and enjoy the view properly. It's fantastic. The view is breathtaking, such a perfect reward. From there, we can pretty much go from summit to summit without much elevation following the ridge. It gives us a viewpoint on a different valley every time.
We get to see some wildlife as well. There is a dozen of Dall sheep at the top of the mountain (hard to spot on the snow if you don't pay attention), a Peregrine falcon, a lot of marmots (some unexpectedly big). We can also spot some lynx paws left in the snow. Quite an amazing experience for a hike not planned.
We walk back to the car, so happy about our day and drive back to our camp.
It's been two nights in the Tombstone Park. We are heading to Dawson City, our next stop, and are planning to stop on the way to do the Grizzly trail.
You have to book the Grizzly trail a few weeks/months in advance if you want to go back-country camping. Since it's the only marked trail for that in the Tombstone Park, it's pretty busy. We would definitely recommend to pick the mountain you want to hike yourself and camp up there if you are up for it and ready for the cold temperatures.
The hike is nice as well but it's busy and cold up there. We stop quickly for lunch and head back down the same way to the car. We still have to drive 90 min to reach Dawson City where we plan to spend 3 days in a hostel.
Dawson City is an amazing place. Most of the roads are dirt roads and all the buildings in the city still look like it was 100 years ago. Our hostel is on the other side of the Yukon river and we have to take the ferry to cross it as there is no bridge.
The hostel is located on the Western side of the Yukon river. It's not the kind of hostel we are used to. You can get a cabin, a dorm cabin or you can camp in your own tent. We decide to pick a cabin as it's getting cold and we want to sleep in a warm place after freezing the two previous nights. We have a laugh when entering the cabin, realizing it's warmer outside during the day... However, it's much better during the night. This hostel is a special place and can be disappointing when you arrive and are tired. However, you quickly realize it's a special place. The kitchen is outside and you cook your food using a wood stove. There is no shower but a bathhouse & sauna. To wash yourself, you first start a fire to heat up the water. Then, you use a bucket and wash yourself this way ! The common area is heated with a wood stove which is also used to boil water for your tea.
It's also an amazing place. You are pretty sure to meet amazing people in a place so far north. We spend our evenings with a Quebecois, two Germans and one Austrian listening to each other stories. We also share the experience of the Northern Lights at two in the morning.
During those few days, we spend our time in Dawson City visiting a couple of museum, watching a movie about the city's history at the beautiful Palace Grand Theatre and going around the different shops/galeries around town.
Yukon is an amazing place when it comes to First Nation Art. It's also much more affordable than places like Haida Gwaii.
After four days in Dawson City, we take the direction to the West. The road to the border is fantastic. We see maybe three cars while driving 3 hours. It's beautiful and wild. There is nothing but this road and the Tundra all around us.
We drive all day, going through Alaska and entering Canada further South to reach our next stop, Kluane national park.
Make sure to stop at the Kluane Museum in Burwash Landing on the way. It takes 30-45 min to visit and it's really nice for only 5$.
This is another fantastic place. The drive through is beautiful and follows the west side of the Kluane Lake. There is a fantastic campsite which is nicely located on the lake side and not so far from hiking trailheads. The view over the lake is stunning and it's the perfect place for lunch.
We are planning to hike Ä’äy Chù (Slim's River) West side but don't know much about it. We arrive at 3pm to the visitor center to ask them about the hike. First, we learn that we have to register and it takes about an hour (So the lady said...) and the visitor center closes at 4pm so we are too late. The only thing we get from them that evening is that one part of the section is a little bit wet. Apparently, crossing 5+ streams, a walking through a swamp for 1km is a little bit wet... Thankfully, we meet a German tourist with his son at the campsite. He has done the hike and tells us all about it, specifically the part where we need a second pair of shoes... We are a little bit hesitant at start but then, realizing we might never come back to this place, we decide to go for it.
We go back to the visitor center the next day to register (it took 30min btw...), get a bear proof canister to store the food and start the hike by noon. It's about 22km one way, including two creek crossing and one kilometer in the mud, another adventure!
We finally arrive at our campsite after 7 hours of hiking, setup our tent and go down to the "kitchen spot", which is basically four logs on the ground so we can sit.
We meet a few people there, all having dinner at the same time and sharing a good laugh with a two Canadians family (fathers and sons) in the Yukon for the weekend. We get a little bit frustrated as we only have rice with dehydrated vegetables for dinner when those guys cook a stew with rice, curry, onions and salami... So jealous! But it makes us realize we don't want to cut on the food when going on a long hike. Having a tasty dinner (and some chocolate) after a long day hiking is a requirement.
We have the same feeling the next morning, looking at the father preparing pancakes and sharing bacon with us as they have too much food while cooking our oat with dehydrated bananas....
We then try to ascend Observation Mountain without success. It's often not a good idea to try to make your own way. We end up hiking the steepest side of the mountain, going through bushes and nearly getting stuck in it while going back down. We still manage to enjoy our day walking around the mountain instead.
On our third day, it's time to walk back the same way. Like every other groups, we are tired and are thinking to cut short some parts of the hike. It's actually possible in a few spots but you don't want to be too greedy or you might end up knee deep in the mud (see below)! We still manage to skip 2km and save enough energy for the 3 hours drive to the Takini Hot Springs and relax for a couple of hours before spending in the camping nearby.
We stop by Whitehorse the next day to buy some souvenirs in a local Art Gallery and spend an hour for lunch with Sylvie (our Airbnb host from a couple of weeks ago) before heading down the Alaskan Highway. One last night (with wood included in the price) in a Yukon campsite. We stop by Watson Lake for lunch and a one hour session at the Northern Light Center, our last wonderful experience in the Yukon where you watch a panoramic video on the spherical ceiling while listening to Benedict Cumber-batch telling you the stories of the Aurora borealis.
One hour later, we are leaving the beautiful Yukon. It is still one of the most amazing place to visit and we hope we can come back soon for a visit !