Friday, July 31, 2009

Tuesday 19 August: Whitehorse, YT




























































Today I must have walked over six miles, including a 3-mile paved bicycle path loop which I traversed past joggers and bicyclists through the woods on the outskirts of Whitehorse. Near the middle of the loop is the world's longest fish ladder. The fish ladder lies beneath a dam which has all-but-removed the rapids in the Yukon River. The rapids were the reason for the founding of Whitehorse. When the miners poured over the Chilkoot Pass into the Yukon from Skagway, Alaska during the gold rush, their cargo had to be portaged around these rapids. Whitehorse (originally called "White Horse") lies at the downstream end of those rapids which no longer exist.
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Along the way I took photos of the SS Klondike, a restored paddlewheeler which carried cargo and passengers on the Yukon River from the late 1930s until the mid-1950s. The Klondike, which sits on land, is now a Canadian national historic site. I also saw a 15-minute film about the Yukon shown at the Yukon Visitor Center which is not far from my hotel.
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In the afternoon I purchased my Greyhound bus ticket from Whitehorse to Edmonton via Fort Nelson after buying a tuna sandwich at the Subway across the street. Whitehorse boasts all manner of fast food joints, including McDonald's (two, including the implant in Walmart on the edge of town), Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, etc. (There are also two Subways. So I feel like I'm in Hog Heaven!) I visited the sole Dollar Store today too. But the only reason to call it a dollar store is because prices are posted in Canadian dollars (CAD). Very little in the store is priced at one dollar. Items that'd be sold for a buck in the U. S. are at least CAD 1.50 there.

Temperatures rose into the 60s today. There are now over 19 hours of sunlight each day. Sunrise is at about 4:30 AM and sunset is after 11:30 PM!

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