Day 15, Thursday, 5/3/18
4,428.1 miles
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory


The ALCAN from Watson Lake runs through Upper Liard and Swift River in the Yukon, dips back down into BC for about 40 miles, then back into the Yukon following Teslin Lake North, Northwest (NNW)  to Johnsons Crossing. The lake is about 70 miles long. Then it winds through Jakes Corner and Marsh Lake for about another 100 miles to Whitehorse. While each of these places has a name, most are service stops (gas, food). Teslin is a little bigger, with the 2011 census pegging the population at 122. Teslin is home to the Teslin Inland Tlingit First nation. The term First Nation is used in Canada to '...describe Aboriginal peoples of Canada who are ethnically neither Métis nor Inuit.' See here

The drive to Whitehorse was uneventful, though quite beautiful. There's space here, big skies, large vistas, room to breathe. We' would usually see signs for rest stops with trash bins and toilets. This stretch of road had only trash bins.

Except for a few elk and hawks, we didn't see much in the way of wildlife. I suspect we were surrounded by all kinds of animals laughing at the two-legs as they sped by in their iron skin at 50 mph.

A great shot of elk butts
Whitehorse was a surprise. It shows up as a small dot on google maps, as do all the towns and settlements. However, it's a good sized city. We stopped at the  visitor center and were told that the population was about 21, 000 - a little over half of the population of the entire Yukon Territory. Might try to get en extra night here on the way back to check out their fish ladder.





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