Week ending July 5, 2012

We went for a few short drives from Atlin on Friday. First we headed south down the lake to Warm Bay, Warm Springs and the Grotto, several beautiful little spots along the way. 

We also took a quick look at the several recreation areas along the way, free primitive campsites. Palmer Lake recreation area was the spot we chose to stop for lunch. It had a trailer occupying one of the two campsites. We spotted a small black bear looking at us from the side of the road. It quickly decided to head into the bush. A short distance down the road, a rabbit went scurrying across headed in the opposite direction.  We walked up McKee Creek, one of the old gold mining creeks in the area.

When we got back to town, we headed east, up Pine Creek, where the gold discovery was made here in 1898. Yes, Atlin is another gold town, and there is still some mining on Pine Creek. We stopped and got some pictures of Pine Falls. 

At the Atlin Airport, there were 20 to 30 small planes parked along both sides of an old runway. Apparently there is a 'fly-in' this weekend, with about 50 to 60 planes expected. We carried on to Surprise Lake, about 18 km from town. It was formed by damming Pine Creek for a small First Nations owned hydro plant that provides power for Atlin. We checked out the 6 campsite recreation area on the edge of Surprise Lake.

Saturday morning we walked around town. The Atlin Claim newspaper, which the campground operator provided to us, has a map of town, with the location of all the highlights, sort of a self-guided tour. We wandered pretty much all of the streets in town. Many of the buildings have little signs explaining their historical significance. Like most of the places along or near the Alaska Highway, there are several businesses for sale, or boarded up. However, there are still several places to eat, and a decent grocery / bakery. We picked up lottery tickets and some tasty date squares at the grocery. In the afternoon, we caught up some sleep, and then watched the NASCAR race and the football game (flipping back and forth).

We drove back up through the construction between Atlin and the Alaska Highway. It was a bit easier, because there was no work going on Sunday. We set up at the Yukon Motel RV Park in Teslin. Spots were a bit limited, as a caravan of RV's had booked most of the sites.We watched them all come in late afternoon, and then leave in a group on Monday morning. We were only able to get a 20 amp site, so we had to watch which appliances we ran together. We had to reset the breaker a few times.

After they left, we did a walk around Teslin, following a route in a brochure, marking the various buildings of significance. Around town, particularly near the George Johnston Museum, there were lots of interpretive signs giving the history of the area, from the Tlingit Nation, to the river boats that started from here to Whitehorse during the gold rush, and then to the Alaska Highway building. Unlike most of the towns on the highway, most of Teslin is hidden from view, so you don't realize most of it is there if you stay on the highway. Once again, another caravan arrived in the afternoon. We were hoping to get on the wi-fi, which is only available in the restaurant area, but the connections we got would not give us access to the internet. 

We woke up early on Tuesday morning, and beat the caravan out, not that we had planned to. We drove to Junction 37, almost, and stopped at the Baby Nugget RV Park. We passed the area of the road that had washed out just after we came through heading north. Before parking, we washed most of the gravel and dust off the trailer and truck. After relaxing for the afternoon, we enjoyed a dinner of fish and chips and a bison burger smothered in onions and gravy at the 'Wolf it Down' restaurant next door.

We moved on Wednesday morning, driving down the Cassiar Highway (37) from the Alaska Highway to Dease Lake BC. The first section of the highway was fairly narrow, and a bit rough. The next section wasn't too bad. The last stretch along Dease Lake had a fair number of broken sections. We saw some more wildlife along the way, but weren't able to get any good pictures. The first animal was a black bear. We may not have noticed it, but some folks heading north had stopped to watch it. The next animal was a fox. We saw it from a fair distance, so were able to stop and get a good look at it. It had caught a bird, which it was carrying down the highway. Along one of the marshy areas, Joan saw a moose, but we weren't able to find a spot to stop and walk back for some pictures. In another spot, we got a glimpse of another bear grazing in the ditch. The scenery along the route was varied. The northern section was like a roller coaster, but you couldn't see much through the trees. In this section, in northern BC,  there was a long stretch that had been burned not too long ago.  Here, we started to see bunches of tents in the bush along the way.  The mystery was solved when we went by some vehicles and tents next to the road with the sign 'Mushroom Buyer' out front.  There must have been at least 50 tents over a long stretch, with a couple of other buyers.   A new form of 'gold rush' in the north! 

Once we got through this section, which is part of the Yukon plateau, we entered the Cassiar Mountains. The road winds through the valleys with distinct peaks on all sides. In this area, we came to Jade City. 92% of the world's jade is extracted from 3 mines in the area. Most of it is sold to China, as it has exhausted its local supply of jade. We took a quick look through the store, but couldn't justify the prices for even the smallest pieces. If jade is your thing, they do have a lot of very nice items. The final stretch of the road wandered along the edge of Dease Lake with many views of the lake.

We moved on about 80 km. to the Mountain Shadows RV Park on Thursday morning, arriving just after 11:00. We have a nice spot here, looking down toward the end of lake that stretches a few km south. Off the end of the lake, a bald eagle was perched high in a pine tree, watching for some lunch. After lunch, we walked down to the lake. There were a few rainbow trout feeding on the bits flowing into the lake. After we checked out the boat dock, and watched a fellow raking weeds out of the shallow end of the lake, we walked along a path above the lake to a deeper point on the lake. We relaxed in the sun for a while, and watched a small shore bird hopping along looking for food.