Leg # 12                   

Alaska Highway:  Tok to Highway 37 Junction (Cassiar Highway)

August 30th to August 25th

August 30th - Richardson Highway from Porcupine Creek SRA to Tok, then

The Alaska Highway to Deadman Lake CG      [top of page]

August 31st - Deadman Lake, Alaska to Congdon Creek CG, Yukon Territory     [top of page]

We stopped for lunch at a rest area alongside a lake.  The rest area formed a small point of land.  The Ring-necked Ducks in the two photos above and below were near the opposite shore closest to the rest area. 

We spotted these Red-necked Grebes near the opposite shore to our left.  It looks like an adult with a couple of chicks.

Another view of the adult Red-necked Grebe

Then on the other far shore across the main body of the lake, we spotted two moose feeding in the reeds.  This photo was taken with 1000mm lens, so you know it's a long way off.  Yet, when someone arrived in the rest area with a dog and Gracie barked at the other dog, the moose heard it, went on alert and left for the forest.  An example of how little it takes very little to disturb wildlife.

It's hard getting close-up shots of swans as they are very vigilant and leave the area as soon as they see you.  This adult is babysitting two young swanlettes (CJ's term for baby swans).

The EarthRoamer we saw at Deadman's Lake passed us today. 

Congdon Creek Campground on Kluane Lake.  Note the warning sign for the tent campers.  We didn't see any bears, or tent campers.

Our campsite at Congdon Creek CG.  As you can see, the sites are nice and wide. 

A view of the snow covered mountains to the south

Kluane Lake from the beach right behind our campsite.  This photo looks down the beach to the left, while the one below looks straight across the lake to the far shore.

We guess these are the soapberries that the bears love.

September 1st - Congdon Creek CG to Whitehorse       [top of page]

We took these two photos almost immediately after pulling out of Congdon Creek CG

This photo was taken shortly before we got to Sheep Mountain - just out of view behind the near hill on the right.

Can you spot the Dall Sheep on Sheep Mountain?  There are several groups scattered around in this photo, but the largest is near the center. 

I've drawn a red circle around the group of sheep in this copy of the photo.

Here they are, thanks to the 150-500mm + 2X teleconverter.  That's the equivalent of a 1500mm on a 35mm SLR camera.

Getting the focus just right is a real challenge with such a long lens, but it looks like I got it spot on in this image.

This lake is supposed to be great for observing water fowl.  One of the photos shows a flock of birds on the water near the far shore.  Unfortunately, a couple of guys have their motorhome parked on the road down there and it looked a bit messy to get turned around, so we drove on.

We stopped at another park for a potty break and this Red Squirrel made a point of giving Gracie a piece of his mind

This and the two photos below were taken by a fellow RVer through the window of their motorhome.   We'd pass through the same place a couple of hours earlier and missed this good looking Grizzly.

This photo shows him digging for ground squirrels

Bears stand up when they want a better view of what's happening.  In this case, another motorhome pulled up behind Con's and got the bears attention, so he stood to check it out and then disappeared into the forest.

Click on the link below to see a video of the grizzly

photogallery/alaska_2009/leg_12/2009-09-01_whitehorse/MVI_0002.MOV

It looks like it's Bo'sun's turn to be the pillow.

September 2nd - Whitehorse to Big Creek CG       [top of page]

World's Largest Weather Vane is in Whitehorse

We're back in British Columbia, but it's just a temporary malfunction.  The Alaska Highway runs east-west in this area and winds back and forth several times between British Columbia and the Yukon.

We've lost track of how many times we've crossed the Continental Divide.  Then, we read this and discovered that we've actually crossed more than one Continental Divide.  We've always thought of it as dividing the continent between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but here we see that there's another one for the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean).

Big Creek Campground & our campsite--one of the largest pull-thrus we've ever seen.

Looking up at our campsite from the bank of Big Creek

Moose droppings are all over the place

Big Creek