Today, August 29, we drove from Stewart to Dease Lake. We thought we had a reservation at the Arctic Divide Hotel. When we got there, we were turned away because they had not updated the computer and our confirmation was a mistake. The desk guy pointed us across the street and around the corner to the satisfactory Northway Motel. When we arrived at the Northway Motel, there were only 2 room left and we felt lucky to have one of them. When we asked what there was to do here, the owner said "nothing." Where are the restaurants? "There aren’t any. The Shack closed because the owner was having water problems. The Deli across the street closes at 3:30pm." It was 4pm. We went to the grocery store and bought some supplies: paté, raisin bread, crackers, and wine to supplement our emergency supplies of PB, jelly, cheese, crackers. Before our dinner of paté, cheese, crackers, we walked down to Allen Lake, sat on a couple of rocks, and had a paper cup of wine while trying to figure out where our next night would be spent.
As soon as we crossed into Canada, I bought a "Canada-Wide" sim card for my phone so we could call or use cell data to arrange our next nights and also in case of emergency. "Canada-wide" we discovered didn't mean the territories or even northern British Columbia. That means we have been at the mercy of whatever WiFi is available from the hotel/motel we find. Now, even with an emailed confirmation of a reserved room, there is no certainty of a reservation.
The next morning we had PB&J on raisin bread for breakfast. The hotel owner called ahead for us to hold a room (the pre-internet method) at the Yukon Motel and we drove to Teslin where the internet was better but the bed oh so uncomfortable. They did have a restaurant.
Between Dease Lake and Teslin we drove through quite a stretch of long ago burned over landscape.
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The remains of a black spruce forest |
Leaving the Cassiar Highway and crossing into Yukon Territory, we headed west on Canada 1 (Alaska Highway) bound for Teslin. Along the way, we stopped at a small nature park, Rancheria Falls Recreation Site, for a short hike.
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A fluffy white lichen ![]() |
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View of Teslin River and Nisutlin Bay National Wildlife Area |
We had an easy drive to Whitehorse and stayed in the comparative luxury of the Edgewater Hotel. Next stop is Skagway. We will stay in Skagway two days and then taking the car ferry to Haines for another 3 nights. Yes, while we had decent WiFi, we scheduled several days in advance to take the pressure off. Neither Skagway nor Haines were in our thoughts when we began our drive two weeks ago. While traveling without an itinerary or advance reservations can be troublesome, it also allows us to blow in any direction like leaves in the wind.
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Sculpture commemorating Whitehorse as the birthplace of McGee and McGrew (characters in poems by Robert W. Service) |
BY ROBERT W. SERVICE
There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.
The Shooting of Dan McGrew
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