A few videos to share

We spent the last couple of days on the Top of the World highway...more about that later. Here's some videos from the last few days. First, even though we forgot to take any still photos of Tombstone park, we did take some video. This is from our hike up Goldensides mountain.



We also spent a night camped in the territorial campground across the Yukon river from Dawson, and Cheri took some video of a replica paddle wheel boat fighting the current. It's amazing that the only way to get to Dawson was by steam boat up the Yukon from Whitehorse until they completed the highway in the 1960's.

Fox and Her Kits

While we were traveling on the Dempster Highway we were lucky enough to see a fox and her kits playing outside their den just a few dozen feet from the highways edge. On our return to camp that evening we again stopped and watched the fox as she had her kits out to play in the sun. We must have spent 45 minutes photographing and video taping them using all four of our cameras, the big and little still camera and the big and little video camera. This is a short clip from the small video camera.

Dawson

Well, it is confirmed - it does not get dark at night. I had a restless night and could not get to sleep. I was thinking about how quickly I lost my money at the poker table last night. Dawson City has a Saloon and Casino, Diamond Toothed Girties. The sun dipped below the horizon about midnight, but the light remained a light twilight until the sun peeked above the horizon about 3 am. We will heading to "The Top of The World Highway" and crossing the border back into Alaska. We will not be as far north during the Solstice, but I expect we will still get 20 plus hours of sunlight for several more weeks.

Tombstone

Tombstone park was beautiful, but we forgot to take pictures of the scenery we were so busy dodging potholes and stopping for birds. The picture above is looking back towards the campground and the ice still covering the Klondike river. We did see some great wildlife, as well as took some hikes across the tundra, which Cheri described as walking on the bottom of the sea because the ground was so spongy and covered with lichens that looked like corals.


Red fox near her den. Cheri got some great video of her playing with her kits.

Harlequin duck posing for us in the Blackstone river.

Willow Ptarmigan standing on the side of the road.

Engineer Creek

We spent a night camped along Engineer Creek north of Tombstone on the Dempster highway. I think this will be the farthest north we get on this trip, we were 240 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle. It's difficult adjusting to the long days, the sun sets well after we're in bed, but it never really gets dark. I took this photo at about 10:30 at night and the sun was still well above the horizon. The orange color of the rocks is due to minerals in the water.

The next morning we drove back over Windy Pass and the highway was lined with yellow daisies. The mountains here look like piles of gravel, which was rather ethereal in the mist.

Cribbage and lupines

When getting advice about how to deal with mosquitoes while camping - often I hear "Bring along someone the mosquitoes like better." Well, what do you do when YOU are that person? Cheri is a great mosquito attractor!


On our way north from Whitehorse we stopped at Moose Creek territorial campground. The lupines were in full bloom all around the campground, but the mosquitoes were out in force, and birds have been few and far between. Cheri even pulled out her bug hat. For those of you who play cribbage, she is displaying a wicked 28 point hand. She's skunked me twice in the last few weeks.



(Kris forgot to tell you - I didn't get to count that wicked 28 because she went out -won the game- before I got to count my hand ! ! )

Best Commercial RV Park to Date

We made it through British Columbia, Canada and entered Yukon Territory We stopped in Whitehorse to replenish our supplies, get an oil change, and freshen up. We stayed at the Hi Country RV Park and have been impressed. Although the sites are spaced very close, great care has been taken to ensure several trees surround each site. (Unlike a gravel parking lot RV Park we saw a few miles down the road.) The laundry facilities are the best yet!! The front loading washers and the dryers were plentiful and efficient. The shower facilities were spotlessly clean. Not only was the WIFI up and working, but they even provided an area to sit and plug in your computer in the lodge. Little details make a big difference when you're living out of a tiny RV.