Canyon, Reserve and Hotsprings

 

The fish ladder is hard to see but it's on the right of that walkway.

The suspension bridge to the far side.

The beautiful scenery...

Barb and I on the walk.

A bull moose browsing in the marsh.

Mountain goats.

Thin-horned sheep.

A prairie dog or ground squirrel.

The massive bull wood bison.

And the new born calf.

A relaxing end to the day.

Thursday, August 24^th.

We had a quiet morning before Harold went off for an appointment. Barb and I drove to the dam that was built here to control the Whitehorse Rapids. Because this is a migratory salmon river, they built a fish ladder here to allow the salmon to navigate the dam. This is the longest salmon migration in the world at 3200 kms! They don’t eat for the three months it takes them to swim from the Pacific Ocean to the site where they hatched relying instead on stored body fats. As a result, most of them never get back because they are predated upon or die from starvation. We only saw a couple of fish in the ladder which consists of a series of boxes with the current flowing from the top one to the bottom. The salmon point into the current and jump from box to box. Then we drove to the Miles Canyon which I saw yesterday from the viewpoint, and we went for a beautiful hike along a trail that follows the Yukon River upstream to the site of an abandoned settlement called Canyon City where the stampeders and miners would put ashore most of their goods and any people traveling in their boats before navigating the fast flowing river as it courses through the canyon. Their supplies would then be transported to Whitehorse by wagon or rail. We walked for a couple of hours and then went to a local brewery for a drink and a bite. Then we went to the Yukon Wildlife Reserve which is a large area housing many of the indigenous animals of the north. We saw moose, caribou, mountain goats, thin horned sheep, and wood bison (with a new two-week-old calf). After that we drove to the Eclipse Nordic Hotsprings. This is a beautiful new facility with several pools of warm geothermal water, a sauna, and a small boutique type eatery. It felt great to soak in the warm waters and just relax. By then it was 8pm and we were hungry, so we drove back towards Whitehorse and stopped at a pub where we had a beer and a poke bowl, both of which were very good. Barb’s daughter Laura dropped by on her dirt bike to meet her mom and me. On the final step back to the townhouse we picked up Barb’s Toyota from the repair shop and I drove it back for her (we have been driving in Harold's van). A long fun day and off to bed shortly after getting back.