Yukon Gold

The Yukon Territory is a special place. It is wild and spacious. The light can be fleeting and the weather can be challenging. Fall comes early. In Dawson, they loose 6 minutes of daylight every day.

Goldensides View, Tombstone Territorial Park, YT

Male Spruce Grouse

Grizzly Bear

We have moved south to Kluane National Park. We will spend our last few days in the Yukon here.

Flying Squirrel Creek, YT

Yukon in Autumn

Termination Dust

Kluane Mountain Range, Yukon - Click for larger

That's what the Whitehorse locals call the first snow on the mountains. They told me it marks the end of the tourist season. We were real excited to see the snow. It added a beautiful frosting. Lori and I worked the Alaska Highway north of Destruction Bay and tried to capture the reflections along the way.

Kluane Mountain Range, Yukon - Click for larger

It truly is the end of the season up here. Many of the campgrounds, stores and restaurants are closed and many more will close soon. We were surprised to learn that Kathleen Lake Campground, and the two Visitors Centres in Kluane National Park would close Sept. 4th. This was due to the recent cuts in funding to our National Parks by the federal government. Sad is all I can say.

Kluane Mountain Range, Yukon - Click for larger

We travelled back through Whitehorse and then south to Watson's Lake. There is a highway that runs south through Northern British Columbia called the Cassier Highway. In 2010 highway 37 south was closed due to forest fires. This time the road was open and in good condition. The first part of the road was through the previous fire area. The burn area was very large. It went on for miles. We camped and made our way to Stewart BC.

Male Spruce Grouse - Click for larger

We tried to photograph Bears in Hyder Alaska but didn’t have much luck. There is a viewing platform at Fish Creek where there are spawning salmon. The bears would wander by eat and wander on. There were far more people than bears. Not my cup of tea I guess. I had much more luck photographing bears at the side of the road around Watson’s lake than we did in Hyder. I’m sure Fish Creek is a wonderful place; we just didn’t hit it at the right time.

Black Bear - Click for larger

The other attraction in the Stewart area is the Salmon Glacier. We drove a very rough road up high in the mountains passing from Alaska back into BC. We got up there expecting to see the 5th largest glacier in North America. It was completely covered by clouds. Lori and I climbed into the van and snoozed for a while. After a couple of hours of waiting for the glacier to appear through the clouds and fog, we gave up and made our way back down the road.

Salmon River Valley, BC - Click for larger

I didn’t look forward to driving up the road again but I knew I had to before we could leave the area. We waited a couple of days and finally it cleared enough for us to try again. Even though it wasn’t clear skies, we did get a little light at the top.

Salmon Glacier, BC - Click for larger

It was worth the wait. What a spectacular sight!

12 Days

Fall comes early on the Dempster Highway.

Frosted Cloudberry Leaves - Click for larger

It would change every day. Lori and I enjoyed our time here. We spent 12 days up the Dempster Highway.

Blackstone Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon - Click for larger

It's not always a forgiving highway. We did have a flat tire but it could not have come at a better time - no traffic and solid ground to jack up the van. The warning light came on and indicated the left rear tire was losing pressure. I stopped and grabbed the tire pressure gauge. But as soon as I was out of the van, I could hear the air leaking. A sharp shale rock had punctured it. This is a common problem here. It is also the reason we came prepared with 2 full spares.

Changing the Flat Tire up the Dempster Highway - Click for larger

Camping for all of the 12 days was tough. It is a dusty place when it's dry and muddy when wet. The road can wear you down.

Camping up the Dempster Highway - Click for larger

The road is wearing especially when you are working both early mornings and late nights. We would usually wake up at 5 am and check the sky. At 5:30 we would get up and drive/hike to our designated spot for the morning shoot. Sometimes the light would co-operate and sometimes not. After shooting the morning we would go back to camp to do backups and have a snooze. Later we would play cards, eat dinner and head back out to shoot landscapes and anything and everything that showed up. Generally we would get back after 10 pm and head to bed.

Male Spruce Grouse - Click for larger

Male Willow Ptarmigan - Click for larger

Arctic Ground Squirrel - Click for larger

Cloudy Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon - Click for larger

Blackstone Range, Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon - Click for larger

We head to Alaska next. I really hope to see the Dempster again. It's easily the most spectacular place I have ever been.