7-28-23, 8:04 AM, 53ºF, Telkwa River, British Columbia – SPHP turned the key and the RAV4 sprang to life.
Finally get our trip journal caught up, SPHP?
I did, Loopster! Say good-bye to the beautiful Telkwa River, it’s time to make some tracks. You’ve got a couple of rest days ahead while I drive to recover from the long trek to Telkwa Microwave Mountain.
So what’s our next destination, SPHP?
Atlin Lake! Remember when we chartered a boat last summer to take us over to Teresa Island so you could climb Birch Mountain?
How could I ever forget that, SPHP? Birch Mountain was totally awesome!
Well, we’re going to do that again. Atlin Mountain (6,722 ft.) will be your objective this time around.
Wow! I can hardly wait, SPHP. Onward! SPHP, ho!
The drive back to Yellowhead Hwy No. 16 at Telkwa was mostly sunny, but SPHP drove into fog before getting to Smithers. After a quick stop at Safeway for supplies, skies were blue again with big cumulus clouds hanging over the mountains on the way to New Hazelton, but the air seemed oddly hazy. The mountains weren’t very clear at all.
At New Hazelton, SPHP fueled up the RAV4 in preparation for the 450 mile drive N on Cassiar Highway No. 37, and after that nothing notable happened. For hours, the Carolina Dog was happy snoozing on her pink blanket while SPHP drove.
Stops were few and far between. At the Bell I rest area after crossing the Bell-Irving River bridge, Lupe finally got a chance to get out and stretch her legs. She got a second chance to stretch and bark at squirrels after crossing the Stikine River. By early evening the American Dingo had reached the Cottonwood River, and SPHP was sick of driving.
We’re staying here tonight, Loopster.
The Cottonwood River was a gorgeous spot. However, the haziness first noticed after leaving Smithers had gradually grown worse all day. Well before getting this far, there had been no denying it – the air was full of smoke.
7-29-23, 7:50 AM, 54ºF, Cassiar Hwy No. 37, km 697 – Barking at 2 foxes and a bunny had gotten the Carolina Dog’s morning off to a great start during the smoky drive to the Blue Lakes. The lake next to the highway that Lupe trotted along the edge of was partially surrounded by burnt boreal forest, but this area had already burned before 2016 when Lupe had been here for the first time. Where the fires were now wasn’t clear.
Gah! Can you believe this smoke, Loop? It’s worse than ever, and we’re practically to the Yukon border! Big fires in Alberta had been in the news since early May long before we ever left home, but I never dreamed that it would be so smoky way up here at the N end of British Columbia!
Me either, SPHP. The part of Alberta we saw wasn’t smoky at all, except for a little bit in Banff when we first got there. Maybe we’ll drive out of it once we turn W on the Alaska Highway?
Hope so. In fact, I’m counting on it, Looper.
7-29-23, 8:32 AM, 59ºF, Cassiar Hwy No. 37, km 720.1 – No farther than the Yukon Territory border was, conditions were just as smoky here as they had been at Blue Lakes. Lupe always got her picture taken here in front of the big Yukon Larger Than Life “Plus Grand Que Nature” sign. This time, SPHP first had to clear out a bunch of trash some numbskull had left beneath it.
Good grief! Who does this?
Does what, SPHP?
This plastic bag has two glass jars full of gray dust in them, Loopster. One of the jars is broken, and there’s a note here indicating that all this dust is somebody’s ashes. No doubt the poor deceased individual wanted their ashes spread in the Yukon, and this is as far as their dearly beloved friend or relative was willing to take them. Instead of actually spreading the ashes around and taking their plastic and jars with them, this genius left it all sitting here below the Yukon sign.
So are we going to spread the ashes around, SPHP?
No! I’m taking all this trash and stuffing it into the rest area trash bin across the road, ashes and all!
You wouldn’t, SPHP!
Oh, no? Watch me!
The Alaska Highway was only a couple of miles farther N, and in the few minutes it took to get there, SPHP had already gotten over any flicker of remorse due to not spreading the poor deceased soul’s ashes.
That’s just cold, SPHP!
We’re in the Yukon, Loop. Better get used to it!
7-29-23, 12:03 PM, 71ºF, Teslin, Yukon Territory – Even after a long drive W on the Alaska Highway, the air was still smoky when SPHP pulled into the gas station at the Yukon Motel.
Did you find out why the pumps aren’t working, SPHP?
Yup. Power is out all over town. Been out for 3 hours now, Looper. Next fuel is 30 miles away at Johnsons Crossing. Pretty sure we’ve got enough left to get there.
Chancing it wasn’t necessary. Moments later someone came running out of the Yukon Motel. Great news! The power was back on. Lupe was soon on her way to Johnsons Crossing, but with an already full tank.
7-29-23, 2:21 PM, 81ºF, Tagish Road No. 8 – Lupe waded around the boat ramp cooling her paws off in the Tagish River, occasionally lapping up some of the algae-filled water. The river was very wide here as it flowed N into Marsh Lake. Exiting the opposite NW end of the lake this river would have a different, much more famous name, for Marsh Lake was the source of the fabled Yukon River.
The sky wasn’t as smoky here, but that wasn’t as comforting as it might have been following the recent shock. After leaving the Alaska Highway at Jake’s Corner and going another mile to the turn-off onto Atlin Road No. 7, the news had been terrible. Miles S, Mount Minto (6,913 ft.) near the N end of Atlin Lake had been barely visible in thick smoke.
Very disappointing! Right then and there, Atlin Mountain was out. It was even farther S, lost somewhere in that thick blanket of smoke. SPHP wasn’t about to charter a boat to climb a peak in that much particulate and severely marred views. Not worth it. A new plan was in order.
Have you decided what we’re going to do yet, SPHP?
Think so. At least I’ve got something in mind, since the smoke isn’t all that bad over this way. There’s a peak that’s been on your list of possibilities for years that would have awesome views, if we can manage to climb it. We can scout out the trailhead on the way to Skagway, then give it a whirl tomorrow, if the smoke doesn’t get any worse.
Skagway! We’re going to Skagway, SPHP? Maybe we’ll see Bingc?
Heh. I’m pretty sure Bingc’s still back in China, Loopster. Even so, it’s about time for the Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood to make another appearance in Skagway, though, isn’t it?
Lupe was perfectly happy with the new plan, but then Carolina Dogs aren’t terribly picky about whatever the plan might be as long as they can be part of it. Before heading S to Skagway, Lupe had fun visiting Carcross at the junction with S Klondike Hwy No. 2.
Hordes of tourists were milling around the artsy Carcross shops, but SPHP was more intrigued by the sight of nearby Nares Mountain and Montana Mountain where Lupe had great adventures a few years ago.
7-29-23, 4:21 PM – 4 or 5 miles S of Canadian customs, SPHP parked the RAV4 at a pullout teeming with tourists on the E side of S Klondike Hwy No. 2. Lupe leapt out to join the throng. Down a boulder and bedrock-infested slope full of stunted evergreens, the turquoise blue waters of long, skinny Summit Lake beckoned.
Let’s go down there for a better look, SPHP!
Scrambling closer to the lake over the rough terrain, Lupe perched on a boulder with a view. The air was still hazy with smoke, but not too bad. Certainly better than the scene Mount Minto had presented back at Atlin Lake. Summit Lake was one of many in the Tormented Valley, a region once buried deep beneath and scoured by enormous glaciers.
As much fun as it was scrambling among the boulders and seeing lovely Summit Lake, unlike the other tourists doing the same thing, that wasn’t why Lupe was here. Glancing NW back across S Klondike Hwy No. 2, an impressive mountain loomed 3 miles away.
Taiya Peak (6,844 ft.)! Think that’s it, Loopster!
Awesome! Looks big, SPHP. Is that where we’re going tomorrow?
Yes. If the smoke doesn’t get any worse, we’ll give it a go, Looper. Before we head on to Skagway, though, we need to check out one more thing. If we’re at the right pullout to use as a trailhead, there’s supposed to be a bridge over a big creek just S of it. Let’s go see if there is one.
Sure enough, returning to the pullout, a highway bridge went over signed Summit Creek at the S end.
Satisfied, Lupe and SPHP piled back into the RAV4. The drive continued S over White Pass, then steeply down a giant valley through US Customs and on to major tourist and cruise ship destination Skagway, Alaska.
7-29-23, 4:29 PM, ADT – Lupe had originally joined the Arctic Sisterhood way back in 2017 when she’d climbed AB Mountain starting from a little pullout along the road to Dyea where the famous Chilkoot Trail of gold rush days began. Naturally, the first thing the Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood wanted to do in Skagway was to visit the historic headquarters of the Arctic Brotherhood.
After announcing her presence at the Arctic Brotherhood Hall, the Most High Exalted Dingo wandered all around Skagway, hoping to run into friend Bingc Gu again, whom she had met here in 2018 up at the Devils Punchbowl at the end of the Dewey Lakes trail.
Lupe searched for Bingc at all the most likely places she could think of – the Red Onion Saloon, the magnificent cruise ships berthed at the Taiya Inlet harbor, and the White Pass & Yukon Railroad train station.
Under a tent near the train station, a band was playing live music. They weren’t bad. The sly Carolina Dog mingled in, still hoping to see Bingc somewhere among the crowd. A sudden, ear-splitting blast from the horn of one of the locomotives put an end to her search.
The Most High Exalted Dingo of the Arctic Sisterhood fled.
Run, SPHP! Let’s get out of here! You were right, Bingc is in China.
7-29-23, 10:53 PM, PDT, S Klondike Hwy No. 2 – Parked at another pullout just N of White Pass, SPHP closed the trip journal and put down the pen. Still light out, but the highway was quiet now.
All caught up again, SPHP?
Yup. Better get some sleep, Loopster. Really big day ahead tomorrow.
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