The Milepost (Alaska Travel Planner) is my Bible of where we’re going & what to see. So, I cheat & re-key the info from there to here to give you a little history & background. It also helps my pea brain absorb some of this.
Whitehorse is located on the upper reaches of the Yukon River. It is 109 miles from Skagway; and 396 miles from Tok, AK.
(Tok will be the place we cross back into US. )
Whitehorse has been the capital of Yukon since 1953, and serves as the center for transportation, communications & supplies for Yukon. It is the hub of a network of about 2,664 miles of all-weather roads serving Yukon. When the White Pass & Yukon Route railway, connecting Skagway with the Yukon River, was completed in 1900, Whitehorse came into being as the northern terminus. Here the famed river steamers connected the railhead to Dawson City (not Creek!) and some of these boats made the trip all the way to St.Michael, a small outfitting point on Alaska’s Bering Sea coast. The Klondike stampeders landed at Whitehorse to dry out & repack their supplies after running the famous Whitehorse Rapids. (The name Whitehorse was in common use by the late 1800’s; it is believed the first miners in the area thought the foaming rapids resembled white horses’ manes & so named the river rapids). The gold rush brought stampeders & the railroad. The river was the only highway until WWII, when military expediency built the Alaska Hwy in 1942. During construction (1942-43), thousands of American military & civilian workers were employed in the Canadian North. It was the second boom period for Whitehorse. Population today is a little over 26,000.
Enough History! Here’s some pics of the ride:
Goodbye Alaska, Hello Canada!
Left turn, back on the Alaska Highway……..and we made it to Whitehorse!
When we were in Calgary, AB we met a fella who lives in Whitehorse, but his family is from Watson Creek (his family owns the Nugget City/Northern Beaver Post). We didn’t get a chance to stop in & see his mom (I had him write her a note in my Milepost), but we will on the way back out. (Sorry, Lee, but we hope to see you in Whitehorse!)
Have a good one everybody!
RV Riding is meeting nice folks along the way & seeing them again further down the road
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