Atlin–Tagish–Carcross Scenic Loop

After packing a lunch, we packed what we needed into the truck and started out on our trip for the day on what is called the Atlin – Tagish – Carcross Scenic Loop.  This is a side trip off the Alaska Highway starting at Jake’s Corner and is a 59 mile drive to Atlin.  We returned to the Alaska Highway via the Carcross Loop, a 66 mile drive via Tagish Road to Cross then back to the Alaska Highway.  As we started down the road to Atlin, we followed Little Atlin Lake with some picturesque  mountain views.

 

 

There was a side road with a sign showing binoculars that led us a few hundred feet up a road to a parking area and hiking trail that indicated there were mountain goats in the area.  The sign asked that hikers avoid the area in early May – June.  So, we continued on up the road and looked up to see these 6 mountain goats on the hillside.

 

We arrived at Atlin around noon and drove around a bit to see what was there.  The town was quite a bit larger than what I expected.

 

We saw a couple of interesting houses in town:

 

 

In the middle of town and on the lakeshore, the MV (motor vessel) Tarahne is on display.  It was built in 1916 in Atlin by the White Pass & Yukon Route and carried passengers and freight from Atlin to Scotia Bay until 1936.

 

After leaving Atlin, we continued back to the Carcross Loop.  We were hoping to see some of the Carcross caribou herd, but that didn’t happen.  Ken did notice something in a tree, so we turned around and found this porcupine climbing a tree branch:

 

After watching the porcupine for a few minutes, we continued on and crossed the Tagish River.

 

In our prior trip to Alaska in 2009, we had been through this same route as we drove to Skagway.  However, we had never taken the time to go into the town of Carcross.  This caribou is at the turn off the main road into town.

 

And this is one of the more unique houses we saw in town.

 

This is the historic White Pass & Yukon Route train station.

 

 

It was already a full day of touring, but there was one more thing I wanted to see and that was Caribou Crossing.  Milepost indicates that it is the premier wildlife museum and attractions center.  The displays are to include over 100 Yukon and Ice Age mammals including a life-size woolly mammoth and world’s largest bear.  As we’re finding out, we’re getting to the north country way too early, and it wasn’t open yet.

 

It was a good day with over 240 miles logged onto our pickup.  Wildlife sightings included:  1 coyote, 6 mountain goats, and 1 porcupine.

 

Day Trip to Telegraph Creek

We packed our lunch and drove to the town of Telegraph Creek which is accessed by a road from Dease Lake, BC.

This was the start of our 140 mile round trip.

 

 

The road crosses Tuya Creek.

 

Looking down to Day’s Ranch.

 

 

This is a view of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine and Tahltan Canyon.

 

 

We saw a photo in town with the sun shining on this rock on which you can see a bear, eagle and fish.  Unfortunately, we were there at the wrong time of day and didn’t have the sun on the rock so you’ll just have to use your imagination.

 

 

We finally arrived at Telegraph Creek.  This is a photo of St. Aidan’s Anglican Church.

 

 

And this is a shot of some of the buildings in the historic site of Telegraph Creek.

 

 

And I almost forgot our one and only wildlife photo of the day, a ptarmagin.  I believe he is one of the original members of the Escapees RV Club having escaped from Chicken, Alaska.

All in all, we had a very nice day considering there was supposed to be a 60% chance of rain.  We didn’t receive any rain until after about an hour after our return to camp.

Bell I Crossing to Lake Dease, BC

We drove about 186 miles today which was much shorter than the last few days.  We traveled through some very scenic parts of the Cassiar Highway.  Here are a few photos from our day on the road:

 

 

 

We didn’t get to see very much wildlife today, but what we did see was outstanding!  In the distance, we can see something light colored in the road on the left side:

 

It’s a lynx!  Ken says it’s pretty rare to see one, so here are the 2 close up photos we got:

 

 

We also spotted 2 caribou.  Here are a couple of photos of one of them.

 

 

Not long after our second caribou sighting, we arrived at our destination of Dease Lake, BC.  We will be here for two nights to take time for a side trip to Telegraph Creek and to just relax a little before we continue on our journey.

 

9/3/2009 - Dawson Creek, BC

We spent most of the day in the town of Dawson Creek exploring two museums. The following two signs are at the visitor center and museum.

And this sign also is at the visitor center. As you can see, it marks the beginning of the Alaska Highway. However, for us, it marked the end of the highway.

While at the visitor center, we toured their museum and saw a very interesting 60 minute film of the building of the Alaska Highway. There were some very tough men who withstood the terrain and weather to cut the road through over 1500 miles in just 8 months. After lunch we went to the Alaska Highway museum where they also showed a very interesting 60 minute film.

9/1/2009 - Liard Hot Springs to Fort Nelson, BC

We left Liard Hot Springs and drove to Fort Nelson, BC today.

Here's part of the bison herd that we didn't see yesterday.

And here's some very fresh bison scat.

The road paralleled Muncho Lake for several miles.

Here are a couple of photos of stone sheep which frequent this area.

This is a part of folded mountain ranges.

Prince George, BC to Hazelton, BC

Today we drove from Prince George, BC to Hazelton, BC. The 2nd Shell station did offer a Flying J discount and we took on 149.32 litres of diesel at $0.82/litre for a total of $117.96 (Canadian) after the discount. The north country of BC is very scenic and we saw numerous warning signs for moose, but we never did encounter any real live moose. The only wildlife we saw today were a couple of muley deer who were thinking of crossing the road and fortunately changed their minds. This photo is about the only good one I got today of a snow peaked mountain in the Smithers, BC area.

We have stopped for the night at 'Ksan Campground in Hazelton, BC and the rate is $20.00 (Canadian) for electric only. We seemed to have arrived and set up at the right time as it is now pouring down rain.