Whitehorse, Yukon

Wow, what an eventful day.

Woke up in Skagway, which is a treat in and of itself. Yesterday, someone had told me that there was a nice hike by 3rd street, so I wanted to do that. But first, breakfast! It’s the most important meal of the day.

I followed my nose into a mini-doughnut store. They didn’t even have any on display, they made them fresh for you when you ordered. They were amazing and I wish I could go back for seconds. The people who worked there also gave useful advice, like “You’re on vacation, you can have doughnuts and a milkshake for breakfast!”, or “Why don’t we have rum here? We make smoothies.” Anyway, silly folks and good doughnuts.

The hike was… a bit more aggressive than I thought. It went up a mountain that rings the city, and if you’re like two of my four good friends from high school, you know that walking uphill is a disaster that requires a hasty, shameful retreat. (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.) The destination was lower Dewey Lake, which honestly, wasn’t that pretty. The hike was much more enjoyable than the destination.

I worked up a sweat doing that, but got back to town and figured it was time to go. The path out of Skagway rises up into the mountains above the snow level. This was interesting, because it was over 80 degrees at some points. The highways are constructed with drainage for meltwater, so it’s normal to pass little streams, brooks, and waterfalls. But this was enormous, 40-foot high thunderous chasms of water. Hot temperatures were doing their thing.

However, at just shy of 4,000 feet, Old Man Winter stood his ground. Plenty of snowpacks were spotted here and there, but nothing on the road. Somehow, being past the snow line felt important.

Black and white picture of the mountain caps.

Between US customs and Canadian customs was the crest of the mountain road, and I swear to God, this is where I want my ashes to be scattered.

Snow melting led to these crystal clear pools of water just off the road. At 70+ degrees, this was the most beautiful, pristine scenery I’ve ever seen in my life. Scatter my ashes in this particular pool.

I’ve never seen someplace that could remotely compare in beauty. Full stop.

Mountains rise in the distance, still capped with snow. The pool here was part of a series of streams, rivers, and lakes formed on the way down the mountains into the northern tip of British Columbia and Yukon. The most spectacular view.

The pictures didn’t do it justice, because this view was… it left me speechless. It really did. I swore a bit, because goddamn. But other than that, words failed me.

I can’t add anything to those masterpieces other than to say, again, that it was the most spectacularly beautiful view I’ve ever had in my life. If anything eclipses that, I’ll have lived a life filled with beauty beyond reason.

I drove just admiring the scenery with my eyes, not stopping much to take pictures. It was all just to good to smash a camera between the view and my eyes. But on the rare stop or two, I found a family arguing a bit in a minivan. Ends up, their tire rod had failed on their rental minivan. To top it off, they were cruise passengers, with not much time before their ship left.

We were far beyond the point of cell reception, although a bus had supposedly radioed ahead for them. I rummaged around for tools but didn’t have anything that could help them; the wrenches were too small. Instead, I offered them water and snacks. They were good on snacks, but were glad to have the water – seven people baking in high altitudes and hot weather. I gave them a half gallon and said I’d call their rental company as soon as I had reception.

Instead, I found a suspension bridge above the Yukon river (or one of its tributaries). They let me use the phone, and I was able to confirm that help was on its way. The crisis resolved, I instead explored the bridge. You see, the river had no supports over its span; instead, it was like a fence had been unrolled across the river, with anchor points holding it taut on either side. A sign said “No swinging on the bridge,” which implied that it was quite possible to swing the bride considerably.

Running across the bridge, I realized that I have absolutely, entirely zero fear of heights. I thought I had something of an unease, not that it had bothered me; just the reasonable part of my brain saying “there are places safer than this right now.” Today, I could look down at the river beneath me and feel nothing but awe. Guess that phobia’s done for.

I continued along the road, which had more surprises for me. First, did you know there were sand dunes in Yukon? Like, Pismo Beach / Oceano Dunes level. That’s weird to see.

Second, you know those amazing Yellowstone pictures of the water tinted all different shades of blue? Ends up that’s here, too.

Reflection of the sky in beautifully colored water, on the way to Whitehorse.

Finally got to Whitehorse, and it took a little trying to find the RV park and my assigned spot. I could use some sleep.