We only camped in Whitehorse for two days and three nights, as was our habit when moving between point A and B. Nonetheless, we packed a lot into our brief stay. Do you remember our surprise water heater leak when we camped in Fort Nelson, Road to Alaska – Stop 9? At that time, MFI coordinated with Mitch Craig, General Manager of Fraserway RV of Whitehorse, for an appointment and the procurement of a replacement water heater should they be unable to repair ours. Well, once we dropped and set-up Arthur, we drove to Fraserway to arrange the appointment and confirm they had the replacement unit. Our model had been discontinued, but they had a same-sized replacement and promised it would work. MFI agreed to return with Arthur on the morning we’d be leaving. Yikes! This triggered my you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me nerve, but truthfully, there wasn’t a better option.
As a result of the stress we experienced over fixing the water heater, we desperately needed an afternoon coffee to celebrate the progress being made. I considered it fate to discover a terrific albeit eclectic shop about a mile away. Not only was the coffee great, but they carried an assortment of freshly-baked sweet-tooth satisfiers. We found an equally close Starbucks as well, which we patronized the following day. It had been a month since our last mug of Starbucks in Issaquah, WA. I took a picuture of a cool poster on their wall in hopes of cosmically influencing and improving our chances of witnessing Northern Lights at some time during our journey.
Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory, and with a combined city and urban population totaling 49,933, it’s by far the largest metropolis in northern Canada. As such, the city had been well funded at levels resulting in paved roads, a clean community, relatively modern buildings, and museum attractions that commemorate the province’s rich history. We went to the Beringia Interpretive Centre on the first morning. It was being renovated, but despite a large portion being closed to visitors, we took in a number of interior displays and caught an outdoor docent-narrated tour, which introduced us to the Beringia Land Bridge, several animal species of that period, and I tried my hand at using an indigenous hunting tool called the Atlatl. After a demonstration of how the Atlatl allowed hunters to sling a spear or arrow accurately over some distance, I tried it and failed so miserably, any prey would have attacked me before I could have reloaded the second spear.
We learned that the latest of periodic land bridges connecting Russia’s northeastern Chukotka Peninsula with western Alaska, occurred between c. 30,000 YBP (Years Before Present) and 11,000 YBP. What happened was enough of Earth’s water froze into the glaciers of North America and Europe to cause sea levels to drop and expose the seabeds of shallow interglacial seas such as the Bering Strait (average depth today of 130-160 feet), the Chukotka Sea, and Bering Sea. Research has shown that the exposed land was as wide as 620 miles and covered a land area equal to that of British Columbia and Alberta provinces combined. The Last Glacial Maximum (ice sheets reaching their maximum volume) happened 26,500 YBP and deglaciation began approximately 19,000 YBP. This glacial meltwater was the primary source of abrupt rises in sea levels, and the land bridge was re-inundated around 11,000 YBP. The significance of the land bridge was it provided a migratory pathway for plants, animals, and the humans whom eventually populated both American continents.
In the foyer of the Centre, a circular timeline of earth’s 4.5 billion year history was depicted on the floor. The timeline began with Earth’s formation during the Hadean Eon and ended in the Cenozoic Era, which covers the most recent 60 million years through today. The timeline then blew up the 125,000 YBP Ice Age period and focused on that portion of the Holocene Epoch of the Quatenary Period during which the most recent Beringia Land Bridge was exposed. Yeah, I included a video of what I just described because it took me a moment to understand what the timeline was meant to show. Out lives are certainly insignificant when seeing time today with respect to a picture of the full history of Earth.
We also sped through the MacBride Museum of Yukon History while Arthur was at Fraserway. There we saw yet more displays of stuffed animals of the Yukon, in-depth depictions of life during the Gold Rush, and period artwork galore. My brother Rus had requested a nugget of gold, and this picture was the closest I could come.
Amidst the art, I was impressed with these wall-sized panel paintings of the animals representing the six Tagish clans mentioned in previous blogs, though, I still can’t reconcile the strange look of this Crow with my perception.
On our way to lunch the second afternoon, MFI inadvertantly paid online for the incorrect parking meter downtown. We were ticketed! As instructed on the ticket, she immediately drove to City Hall, where we were then directed to another department located in a building across town. As I read the details on the ticket, we learned that short-term tourists were eligible for free parking during their stay; so MFI raised this point, pleaded ignorance, and threw herself onto the mercy of the beaurocrats whom were about to accept payment for the fine. Lucky us, they were very understanding and kindly gave us a reprieve. BTW, MFI has a life history of getting out of paying fines.
When we returned to Sid, I saw this beautiful statue adjacent to the parking lot . According to the plaque, it was titled “The Whitehorse Horse.” Not a very clever or thought-provoking name, but the back story was interesting. Yukoners were solicited to donate materials of personal interest and meaning to them, and these pieces were used in the creation of the statue. The artist, Daphne Mennell, and journeyman welder, Roger Poole, hoped that viewers could identify with and relate to the donated pieces and maybe feel their own history was represented in the sculpture. In this way, the sculpture not only symbolized the city’s name but also showed how all Yukoners are responsible in their own small way for the shaping of the province. If possible, zoom in on the picture to get a closer view of the diverse range of donated pieces.
I hiked a portion of the Miles Canyon Basalts Loop several miles south of Whitehorse. The Yukon River cut through several levels of basaltic lava flows from 8.4 million and 3.2 million YBP. The canyon, coupled with impassable rapids, formed the upstream terminus for paddle-wheel river boats and significantly challenged prospectors trying to get north to mine gold. The townsite of Closeleigh, subsequently the City of Whitehorse, was established because of this bottleneck. The views were stunning.
We checked out early from the RV park and were the first in the parking lot when Fraserway RV opened at 9 am. We dropped Arthur and had some discussion with the technicians before leaving to get Sid an oil change and have breakfast with coffee at Tim Horton’s. Within an hour, Nav, the excellent front desk manager, called to inform us that the bottom of the water heater was rusted through and couldn’t be repaired. We gave them permission to install the replacement unit, and within another hour, they called to say Arthur was ready for pick-up. The installation had gone smoothly, or nearly 95% so. The new unit was only available in black, which of course doesn’t match the Airstream’s aluminum finish. Then, before we left, the technician exclaimed that the new unit just barely fit into the existing space. Well actually, it didn’t fit! The bathroom sink cabinet door now sits permanently ajar because it can’t clear the plumbing fittings on the unit. At that time, we felt we could live with the black door, and MFI believed she could eventually replumb the problem fittings so the door could close. Despite these minor issues, we thought everyone we met at Fraserway provided top-quality service in a way that achieved their mission.
Again, we needed help on the road, and once again, heroes came to our rescue.
