{"id":20470,"date":"2019-04-13T08:10:58","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T14:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=20470"},"modified":"2019-04-17T10:48:09","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T16:48:09","slug":"five-finger-rapids-on-the-yukon-river-yukon-territory-canada-8-13-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/?p=20470","title":{"rendered":"Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River, Yukon Territory, Canada (8-13-18)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 10 of Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon, Northwest Territories & Alaska!<\/em><\/p>\n

6:45 AM, at the Log Cabin trailhead along South Klondike Highway No. 2, British Columbia<\/em> – Misting, and the wind still blew.\u00a0 Not that cold out, but the world was gray, wet, dreary, the mountains cloaked by low clouds and drifting fog.\u00a0 Lupe had ventured out only once or twice during a blustery night of light rain.\u00a0 So what now?<\/p>\n

Wait.\u00a0 At least a little while.\u00a0 Give it a chance.\u00a0 SPHP worked on catching up the trip journal.\u00a0 Lupe snoozed, or watched as water droplets ran in silvery streaks down the windows.<\/p>\n

8:00 AM –<\/em> No change, except that the journal was caught up.\u00a0 Probably wasn’t going to anytime soon, either.\u00a0 A few tiny patches of blue sky had appeared off to the SE, but quickly vanished to be followed by another shot of rain.\u00a0 The Alaskan coast must be socked in.\u00a0 Peak <\/strong><\/span>6053<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or Devils Punch Bowl weren’t happening.\u00a0 Not today.\u00a0 May as well forget it.<\/p>\n

SPHP turned the key.\u00a0 Lupe was on her way N again!\u00a0 Only a few miles farther inland made an amazing difference.\u00a0 The rain had completely stopped.\u00a0 The situation only continued to improve.\u00a0 The forest fires Lupe had seen E of Tagish Lake yesterday were still burning.\u00a0 Didn’t look like it had rained a drop here.\u00a0 Well, that was easy!\u00a0 Onward!<\/p>\n

There were stops along the way.\u00a0 N of Carcross, the American Dingo got to sniff around the old Robinson Roadhouse<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 In Whitehorse, she waited in the G6 while SPHP got cleaned up at the Takhini Hot Pools<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 She had to wait some more as fuel and supplies were purchased.\u00a0 Loop did her best to help devour half a barbecued chicken, and enjoyed considerable success at it.<\/p>\n

However, Lupe didn’t really get to escape the G6 again until she was well N of Whitehorse at Fox Lake.\u00a0 The Carolina Dog promptly made such a ruckus about squirrels, SPHP was afraid of getting tossed out of the campground before being able to fill the water jugs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Freedom at Fox Lake<\/strong>! Photo looks S.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Here’s another look at Fox Lake<\/strong>, but the real excitement is back in the trees over by the campground!<\/em> Photo looks NNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much of the day had already been frittered away by the time Loopster reached Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River N of Carmacks.\u00a0 SPHP stopped at a big pullout on the W side of North Klondike Highway No. 2.\u00a0 The American Dingo was thrilled with a chance to redeem herself after her squirrel escapades, and escape the G6 again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Lupe arrives at the Five Ringer Rapids Recreation Site<\/strong> N of Carmacks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An observation deck along the edge of the highway pullout overlooked the Yukon River valley and Five Finger Rapids.\u00a0 Plaques told about the dangers to boats and rafts Five Finger Rapids had posed back in the days of the Klondike Gold Rush, and discussed the geology of the Five Finger islands.\u00a0 The navigation problems had ultimately been resolved by blasting away the underwater hazards in the river channel.<\/p>\n

One of the plaques showed a map of a 2 km long trail that went down to the Yukon River near Five Finger Rapids.\u00a0 Lupe would enjoy that!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Yukon River<\/strong> and Five Finger Rapids<\/strong> from the observation deck up by the highway. Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A brief overview of the Five Finger Rapids area, plus a map of the trail to the rapids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Plaque about the geology of Five Finger Rapids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lupe was about ready to head down a long stairway leading to the trail, when suddenly a voice said “There’s that dog we saw at Atlin Lake!”<\/em>.\u00a0 And that was how Lupe and SPHP got to meet Fred and Teresa Reitsma.<\/p>\n

Fred and Teresa were from Smithers, British Columbia.\u00a0 Having recently sold the Smithers Sausage Factory<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, which Fred had started way back in 1984, a month ago Fred and Teresa had purchased a beautiful, recent model 5th wheel camper.\u00a0 They were now on their very first trip with it on the way to Dawson City.\u00a0 They planned to meet up with friends there, and do some gold panning.<\/p>\n

After a pleasant chat, Lupe and SPHP started down the long wooden stairway leading to the Five Finger Rapids trail.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This way to Five Finger Rapids!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the base of the stairs, a nice level path went through the forest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
If you can manage the stairs, the rest is easy!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A wooden walkway went over a damp spot.\u00a0 Lupe didn’t necessarily need it, but the walkway was a nice convenience for SPHP.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Think I’ll just cool my paws off instead!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Near the trail’s end, an opening to the R provided an opportunity to get to cliffs overlooking the Yukon River.\u00a0 Lupe could see the downstream end of Five Finger Rapids from here.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Loop by the downstream end of Five Finger Rapids<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trail climbed a little hill before ending at a huge deck overlooking the Yukon River and Five Finger Rapids.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This big deck is at the end of the Five Finger Rapids trail!<\/em> Photo looks SW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Five Finger Rapids<\/strong> from the deck at the end of the trail. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
The fabled Yukon River<\/strong> from the deck. Photo looks upstream (SW).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The observation deck had plaques telling about the Klondike Gold Rush days, and navigation issues on the Yukon River.\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Voices!\u00a0 Fred and Teresa appeared.\u00a0 They had come to see Five Finger Rapids, too.\u00a0 The more, the merrier!\u00a0 While the Reitsmas took their turn on the big observation deck, Lupe circled around it to get a bit closer to the cliffs upstream of Five Finger Rapids.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kind of hard to believe we are actually here along the fabled Yukon River<\/strong>, isn’t it?<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
This is the upstream beginning of Five Finger Rapids<\/strong>.<\/em> Photo looks WNW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fred and Teresa joined Lupe and SPHP on the way back to the trailhead.\u00a0 Once there, the Reitsmas were more than willing to pose with Lupe at the Five Finger Rapids sign.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Checking out another view of Five Finger Rapids<\/strong> on the way back to the trailhead. Photo looks NW.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Lupe with new friends and fellow adventurers Fred and Teresa Reitsma<\/strong>, until recently the long time owner-operators of the Smithers Sausage Factory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It was getting on toward dinnertime.\u00a0 Fred and Teresa graciously invited SPHP to join them in their 5th wheel camper for hamburgers and home-grown peas, carrots and potatoes.\u00a0 Naturally, SPHP accepted.<\/p>\n

Lupe had her Alpo, then dozed contentedly in the G6 while Fred, Teresa and SPHP had a tasty, nutritious meal.\u00a0 The evening was spent relaxing and chatting in the beautiful 5th wheel camper.\u00a0 Fred had once bicycled clear across Canada!\u00a0 Teresa was originally from Red Deer in Alberta, a community which has grown tremendously.\u00a0 They both loved Smithers and the outdoors.<\/p>\n

It was a fun time!\u00a0 Though the sun sets late in the Yukon, it was getting low by the time SPHP returned to the G6.\u00a0 On the road once more, Lupe didn’t get an awful lot farther before stopping for the night.\u00a0 A sign said the American Dingo had reached the E edge of Beringia.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Yukon River<\/strong> at sunset, Yukon Territory, Canada 8-13-18<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Links:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next Adventure<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Prior Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want more Lupe adventures?\u00a0\u00a0Choose\u00a0from\u00a0Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon, Northwest Territories & Alaska Adventure Inde<\/strong>x<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0Dingo Vacations Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a> or Master Adventure Index<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0Or subscribe free\u00a0to\u00a0new Lupe adventures<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 10 of Lupe’s 2018 Dingo Vacation to the Yukon, Northwest Territories & Alaska! 6:45 AM, at the Log Cabin trailhead along South Klondike Highway No. 2, British Columbia – Misting, and the wind still blew.\u00a0 Not that cold out, but the world was gray, wet, dreary, the mountains cloaked by low clouds and drifting … Continue reading Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon River, Yukon Territory, Canada (8-13-18)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[997],"tags":[105,30,106,26,1075,104,718,774],"class_list":["post-20470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2018-yukon-northwest-territiories-alaska","tag-american-dingo","tag-canada","tag-carolina-dog","tag-dingo-vacations","tag-five-finger-rapids","tag-lupe","tag-yukon-river","tag-yukon-territory"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/adventuresoflupe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_0658.jpg?fit=1651%2C1238&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20470"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22141,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20470\/revisions\/22141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adventuresoflupe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}