Road trip to Carcross

Saturday was a rare warm day (about 10C woohoo) and with Richard away mining (yes, Rich has a touch of gold fever, more on that later) I decided to take Ozzie on a wee road trip. As I drove away from Whitehorse on the South Klondike highway with sweeping mountain views rolling past the car windows, I remembered how cathartic the daily drive to and from our old place on Annie Lake Road was. The stop-and-go Riverdale traffic with a dash of kamakaze pedestrians thrown in, is not quite the same. I felt all my worries float away on the breeze and a wide smile found itself on my face. Ozzie, of course, was oblivious as he was immersed in his iPad game. I know, bad mummy, but I've done several long road trips with Oscar and in my opinion a slightly naughty, but sane mother is much preferable to the alternative (mother in a straightjacket at a suitable facility rocking back and forth and mumbling incoherently.)

We got in lots of quality time in and around Carcross. We had a coffee date at Caribou Coffee. Actually it was more of a chai latte & hot chocolate date, my boy is not going near coffee until either he has left home or I've gone deaf. We explored the Emerald Lake (still frozen), Tutshi memorial, the White Pass Yukon Route train station, Bennett beach and Carcross Desert. Although the weather was beautiful, this early in the spring the roads were empty and there were very few people in town.

We laughed, we saw swans, we pet dogs, we had no timeline and just enjoyed the day. I loved being able to say yes to (almost) every request Oscar had and I let him direct the day.

On our way to the car after our last stop, Oscar grabbed my hand and said, "Do you know what mummy?"

"What?" I asked, waiting for the usual obscure dinosaur fact that this question usually prefaced.

"I had a really fun day with you."

Heart. Melting.

We rounded out the trip with an ice cream at Marble Slab in Whitehorse, me, with the warm fuzzies, and Oscar with a sugar high.

Scenes from the Klondike Highway

This lake is called Emerald Lake, and even with a coating of ice over it, you can see why. Photo by Christa Galloway.

The drive from our house to Skagway is only about two hours on the Klondike Highway but it takes us through the Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska. There is also a surprising variety of landscape. We drove to Skagway this week-end for a Mother's Day camping trip. This time of year we saw everything from desert to icy emerald lakes to snow-covered misty mountain ranges.

The Carcross Desert is an interesting mix of evergreen trees and sandy desert, overlooked by mountains. Photo by Christa Galloway.

A welcome sign near the Alaska border on the Klondike Highway at White pass on the Coast Mountains. Photo by Christa Galloway.

Panorama

The Caribou Mountains near Carcross, Yukon. Photo by Christa Galloway

This image is actually five photos, stitched together in Photoshop. Technology can be a double-edged sword sometimes but I can't imagine I ever would have been able to stitch these five images together in the darkroom. In Lightroom however, I just choose "merge to panorama in Photoshop" and Bob's your uncle. Well, in my case, Bob is actually my dad. Hi, Dad!

To Skagway!!! Or, well... to Carcross anyway

We drove in and out of clouds on the Klondike highway, on our way to Carcross. This was shot through the car window, by the time I got outside, the clouds and light had changed and the shot was gone. Photo by Christa Galloway.

We left for Skagway this morning, passports at the ready, keen to see one of our most frequently visited ports from cruise ship days and in good spirits. The light was beautiful as we drove in and out of the frozen fog. We stopped every few minutes to take photos.

The sun shining through trees on the Klondike Highway. Photo by Christa Galloway.

The mountains near Carcross, Yukon. Photo by Christa Galloway.

During one of our frequent stops we noticed a burning smell coming from the car. Rich did an excellent impression of someone who knows about cars and declared a coolant line had split. We were both tempted to take our chances and carry on to Skagway, but the thought of being stranded in an American port during the off-season did not appeal. We decided the sensible thing to do was to turn around, but since we were only a few miles from Carcross, we decided to go that far, at least.

If I'd half hoped we'd run into a random mechanic in Carcross who would merrily fix our car and we'd be on our way, I was destined to be disappointed. I'm not sure if it was because it was a Sunday, or because it was off-season, but Carcross seemed like a ghost town. The photographer in me was delighted by the spooky village and I rushed around taking photos, my footsteps, the only sounds.

Carcross at the White Pass and Yukon Railway bridge. Photo by Christa Galloway.

Carcross Visitor Information with a closed sign in the window and a spooky boat in the background.

This is the caribou statue at the entrance to the turn-off into Carcross. We passed by the turn-off on the first drive-by but decided to check it out on the way back. I've since noticed that the statue normally has a sign with a huge arrow underneat… — This is the caribou statue at the entrance to the turn-off into Carcross. We passed by the turn-off on the first drive-by but decided to check it out on the way back. I've since noticed that the statue normally has a sign with a huge arrow underneath it, pointing to Carcross. I guess in the winter you need to either know where you are going, or be adventurous to find it. Photo by Christa Galloway.

After our self-guided tour of Carcross, we headed back home and I contented myself with taking pictures in our own backyard.

Next week-end, to Skagway!