Liard Hot Springs to Duhu Lake (Day 7)

Monday, June 11

We had a short swim for the boy in the morning before we took off for the day, then meandered down the Alaska Highway, and stopped for lots and lots of pictures :)
The first several are from Muncho Lake, which was my favorite lake we saw (and that's saying a lot since we went to Lake Morraine and Lake Louise on this trip too!)  The skies were blue and the water was turquoise... it could not have been more picturesque!

We let Lucas have a turn with the camera :)

 Hello Moose!

 Spectacular views off of the highway

This is where we parked for the night, at Duhu Lake.  The campground was closed, we think the presence of pine beetles may have been the culprit, as they had ravaged the area, though we were just guessing.  Lucas got sick in the middle of the night here.  I'll spare you the grosser details.

Tahkini Hot Springs to Liard Hot Springs (Day 6)

Sunday, June 10

We woke up the next morning at 9am, which had become our regular wake up time on the trip.  It was glorious, though not necessarily conducive to any sort of 'early start.'  We headed into Whitehorse, Yukon to see the sights:

 The MAN

 Sign Post Forest

 My sweet boy :)

 Bison!

 Rest Stop Race!

Rest Stop BBQ!

Once We past through the Yukon into B.C. the animals started coming out of the woodwork!

 

 We arrived in Liard Hot Springs in time to take an evening swim:

 

 



Cathedral Creek B&B to Takhini Hot Springs, Yukon (Day 5)

After another restful evening, we headed down the road to Tok, where we met a couple of nice sled dogs!

Then we hit the road for the border! 

The Canadian border crossing went great, and we were excited to see the Yukon!  We spent the entire day on the road and saw lots of cool things, but my favorite of this day was the Rock Shop just South of the border, where we met Dorothy and Jim and their dog Buddy.  Dorothy regaled us with tales of Grizzly Bears and Secret Service Agents; driving lessons and dogs; and I'm pretty certain I learned a lot about marriage in the half hour or so we spent with them!  She also made the world's best cowboy coffee--so stop in and say hello if you are ever passing through!

We continued South and ended up at Takhini Hot Springs for the night.  We got there too late to swim, and the mosquitoes were pretty terrible, so we swivelled the front passenger seat and hung out inside the van for a while before bed.

 

 

 

Denali Highway to Cathedral Creek B&B (Day 4)

In the morning we took our time driving out and stopped to take lots of pictures, as we didn't want to repeat our blue-bird Denali view mistake.  We saw more porcupine, moose, and caribou, and some more incredible panoramic views.  I'm not sure how they will look embedded here, so I will try to upload a higher quality one if it doesn't show up well.

We ended our Denali Highway Journey in Paxon... where the gas station was closed, so we crossed our fingers as we headed north to see the offical end, though our start, of the Alaska Highway.
We saw a momma moose with two brand spanking new babies on the way:

View of the Alaska Pipeline

 

The official end (and our beginning) of the Alaska Highway

 

We stopped for the night at Cathedral Creek B&B.  It was a lovely spot with friendly folks.  We pretty much camped in the side yard next to the fire pit.  It ruled.  What also ruled was doing laundry and taking a shower for the first time in several days! 

 Rainbow at 5am!