Day 12: Liard River Hot Springs, British Columbia to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

We had another long day ahead of us, up to the capital of the Yukon Territory, Whitehorse. The view was beautiful through mountains and forests, with mountain rivers and lakes offering gorgeous vistas. At one point, we spotted a large animal ahead in the middle of the road. As we approached, we realized it was a moose, who sauntered over to the side of the road. As we passed the moose, she started into a trot and then a full run alongside the RV. It was pretty fun to see her race along with us, while we hoped she didn’t run in front of us. Dad guessed she was running about 35-40 mph. 

What is it?

A moose and she wants to race!

We stopped for gas in Watson Lake and picked up some much-needed baby wipes and gas. Across the street was the Signpost Forest, where people from all over the world hang metal signs on posts (darn, I could have brought my old license plate there to hang up). We didn’t walk through, though it would have been neat, because it was drizzling.

Signpost Forest, Watson Lake

 

Beautiful scenery in Yukon Territory

We stopped for lunch along the highway at a picnic shelter (Desmond was, of course, pretending it was a clock tower) and ate some sandwiches and then hiked out to see some more waterfalls at Rancheria Falls Recreation Area. Thankfully, the rain had cleared so we could stretch our legs a bit. The trail led through a boreal forest and then to a boardwalk to view the falls. There were two nice viewing platforms and once again, Desmond let his imagination carry him away as he pretended the swirling, churning water was a bunch of spinning clocks. He didn’t want to leave, but back on the road again we went.

Lunch in a "clock tower"

 

Checking out Rancheria Falls

Even Big Clock gets a good view of the falls

Trudy enjoying the hike

Dad enjoying the view

We came to our destination point for the night, Whitehorse. We had to stop and pick up some more groceries and parked at the visitor center so we could walk somewhere downtown to eat dinner. I asked the women in the visitor center if they recommended anyplace and they suggested Klondike Rib and Salmon, which is apparently a very popular place in Whitehorse. There was a bit of a wait, so we headed to another place, which just seemed a bit fancy and Desmond was freaked out by the dim lighting, so we headed back to Klondike, and our table was ready. They sat us out in the tented patio and we sampled some Yukon Brewery beer with our dinner. I tried some meatballs made from a combo of elk, bison, and boar. Meh, they were dry. Thankfully, they had a tangy BBQ sauce; that helped. However, the service was friendly and I think everyone else enjoyed their meals.

We were able to walk through downtown Whitehorse a bit and check it out. It is pretty small for a capital city, in my opinion. The architecture indicated to me that there must have been a building boom around the turn of the century (gold rush?) based on the Old West-style buildings and then another boom in the 1960s-70s, based on the style of many of the updates and newer construction. It was odd to me to see so many buildings from the ‘60s and ‘70s; in Cleveland, those styles are viewed as pretty undesirable and are either being demolished or altered with more modern facades. 

We stayed at Hi-Country RV Park, at which Desmond was happy to find a playground. We arrived after hours and had to ask a fellow RVer for the code to the bathrooms. The camp was full of RVs, but had a good location and clean bathrooms; what more did we need?