EAAE Days 2-4: Cassiar Highway to Kluane National Park

 On 12 July, we set out in convoy to Meziadin Junction and then north toward the Yukon border.  We had a quick stop at Meziadin to gather our bearings.

Our two vehicles ready to roll!

Here is the map for this step of the journey:

We stopped to inspect the Bob Quinn Memorial Airport - an unserviced airstrip!

Here is a useful reference that we got from the Yukon Tourist Info Centre in Watson Lake on our return journey - a useful guide to stops along the Cassiar Highway!  Click on the images for a larger version.

And we crossed into Yukon, huzzah!

That night we camped for the night at Big Creek Campground adjacent to the Alaska Highway, then next day we pushed on through Teslin and Whitehorse to Kathleen Lake Campground in Kluane National Park.  The terrain changed noticeably once we reached the Alaska Highway, with a big, wide-open valley compared to the narrower valley along the Cassiar Highway.

The map for the drive from Big Creek to Kathleen lake:

At Kluane, we were beside the biggest mountains in Canada.  Mt Logan was just beyond the horizon, but these were the mountains we saw:

Typical resident at Kathleen Lake.

We were pretty close to the westernmost point in Canada (the Alaska-Yukon border).

The next day, as Tim and Matt had a rest day and tried to fit in some fishing, Arthur and I took a trip to Whitehorse.  We had a busy day, with only a few photos.  We started with a stop at the laundromat, then we visited the SS Klondike National Historic Site (unfortunately, the ship itself was closed for renos), the Yukon Tourist Information Centre, and met Teresa for lunch at the Klondike Rib and Salmon before a visit to the McBride Museum.  

Yukon River at Whitehorse:

SS Klondike:

McBride Museum:

They even had a cold room (-10C) to impress us delicate southerners :)

Afterwards, we stopped at the supermarket and Canadian Tire to load up on supplies before returning to Kathleen Lake.