returning to travel by land; from juneau to whitehorse

Dates: July 25th, 2022 - July 31st, 2022
Distance traveled: 655 mi/1054 km (land: 575 mi/925 km, water: 80 mi/129 km)
Route: Juneau, AK > Haines, AK > Whitehorse, YT > Dawson City, YT

We are deep into the Yukon of Canada now. The trees and landscape stretch far into the horizon, small towns of civilization are fewer and farther between, cell service is rare, the roads are rougher, and our arch nemeses, the mosquitos, are making their presence known. 

Back in Juneau

Our week began back in moody Juneau, where the first few days passed in a drizzly blur. Mike overheard someone in the post office say “Juneau’s looking like Juneau again,” implying that days before, it was sunny and clear, but the typical misty and overcast weather had returned. We were glad to experience the true Juneau with its low hanging clouds and mystical feel–it’s beautiful in its own way. 

The common sight of misty treetops in Juneau.

After having such a great experience in our small campground in Ketchikan, we decided to check out the Mendenhall Campground in Juneau, not really expecting to want to stay there. To our surprise, the campground was practically empty with sites available right on the lake with incredible glacier views. It was a no-brainer to stay awhile. 

Our campsite in Mendenhall Campground.

Granger letting her zoomies out.

Camped nearby, we recognized a solo female backpacker from the ferry ride to Juneau. Adrianna, a hairdresser from Germany, told us that she’s planning to travel for a year in Alaska and Canada with only her fully packed backpack. Walking, hitchhiking, public transportation, and ferries are how she’s been getting around. 

We offered her a ride to town and were reminded what it was like to travel in a foreign country–she needed to exchange money, find a pay-per-use cell phone plan, and use the public library’s free wifi. The everyday plight of the international traveler often involves seeking out wifi in order to communicate with family and friends and to plan for the days ahead. Traveling through Alaska, and even Canada, we’re spoiled with our Google Fi international phone service and unlimited data. 

With our new friend Adrianna at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.

Mendenhall Glacier

While in town, I worked on last week’s blog post while Mike successfully repaired our refrigerator. We recently upsized from our 75L Dometic fridge to a 90L Equipt National Luna fridge. We’re really happy with the additional space and organizational structure of the new fridge, but it had been malfunctioning for the past few weeks due to a faulty control panel. Equipt was quick to send us a new one, which we picked up in Juneau. Mike easily swapped out the defective control panel and the fridge is working good as new.

After a tasty lunch at Tracy’s King Crab Shack, we picked up Adrianna from the library and headed back towards the campground. 

Note: Entrepreneur Tracy moved to Juneau in 1996 and fell in love with crabbing–the entire process of catching, cleaning and cooking crab for friends and family. In 2006, when the company she was working for went bankrupt, she decided to chase her dream and open the crab shack. 15 years later, it’s a booming business and staple in the Juneau community. Read more here.

Along the drive to and from town, the number of bald eagles we saw blew our minds–they were everywhere. On top of every few light poles, on treetops and sailboats, and amassed together in unbelievable numbers in a marshy field. 

Fun fact: A female bald eagle’s wingspan can reach over 7 feet, with the male’s measuring up to 6 ft 4 in.

A pair of bald eagles hanging out near the ferry terminal in Juneau.

In celebration of our last evening in Juneau, we checked out Forbidden Peaks Brewery and drove twenty miles north out of town to set up camp on the side of the road next to a quiet beach. Mike and Granger ventured down to the water to stretch their legs and explore while Walker and I hung back in the camper. Traveling with my long covid often looks like this for us. From my perspective, I’m glad that Mike can  give Granger the exercise and adventure she needs and go off and experience more of the places we visit, but it’s also difficult not being able to join them. For Mike, he feels like there’s a piece missing to the puzzle when he ventures out without me–having Granger with him is fun, but it can still be lonely. 

Note: For those reading who are unfamiliar with my health story, I’ve been dealing with long covid since May of 2020, which drastically limits my physical ability. I have to be careful about how much energy I expend each day to avoid symptom flares and crashes that leave me bedridden for days. Read more here. 

Walker and I watching Mike and Granger exploring down on the beach.

From Mike’s perspective, looking back at our campsite from the beach. Can you spot the Scout? It’s a tiny, white dot near the center of the photo.

Ferry to Haines

Our early check-in time for our third and final leg of the Alaska Marine Highway ferry granted us our first Alaskan sunrise. We awoke just before sunrise at 4:20am, prepped the camper for driving, and loaded the animals into the cab of the truck. As we approached town, the sky gently transformed from a dusky blue to a pastel pink and purple. 

Driving to the ferry terminal at 4:30am.

Incredible sunrise view from the early morning drive.

The ferry from Juneau to Haines is only four hours. Aboard the LeConte ferry, the Matanuska’s little sister, we were joined by more passengers than had been on the larger ferry on both of our previous trips. It was jam packed. I overheard a local say “I’ve never seen it this crowded before.” The line for the breakfast was a thirty minute wait, people were sitting on the floor inside, others hovered in the cafeteria to be the first to claim a table as it became available. 

Along with a few others, we found our way outside to sit on the large, orange, metal boxes holding life jackets. For the first time in days, the sun was shining and we passed the next few hours happily watching the scenery glide by, snapping photos, and listening to podcasts. 

Approaching Haines on the ferry.

Returning to Overland Travel in Haines

Landing in Haines meant an end to our travels by Alaska Marine Highway and a return to our normal mode of transportation–by land and on our own schedule. We set up camp outside of town at another roadside pull-off with stunning water and mountain views, complete with a rocky beach for Granger to run around and explore. We spent the evening sitting outside, watching a fisherman set and reset his nets in the water.

The following day we checked out a few local joints–maple bar doughnuts for breakfast at the Chilkat Restaurant & Bakery, and Mike enjoyed a few drinks at the Port Chilkoot Distillery, which was the first craft distillery in southeast Alaska. We found a laundromat, Moose Horn Laundry, with showers (a genius business idea I’ve considered myself) where we efficiently washed our clothes and ourselves simultaneously. 

Outside of the laundromat, we met a group of folks hauling a bunch of well-used sleeping bags out of their yellow, vintage Ford truck into the laundromat while admiring our rig. A friend of theirs had recently gotten a Scout, and we were telling them how we’ve customized ours to increase our power storage and added AC, to which, one of the older gentlemen exclaimed “what are ya, candies?!” 

With a shared laugh, bid them farewell and then, it was time to press on. 

The Yukon & Whitehorse

From Haines, we crossed the Canadian border once again briefly into the British Columbia territory. Here, we’re crossing into the Yukon territory of Canada.

Over the next few days we traveled from Haines to Whitehorse, the capital city and home to over 50% of the Yukon territory’s population. The drive through the Yukon was stunning–we saw our first black bear since we began heading north three weeks ago, the rolling green hills and mountains stretched out far around us, reminding us both of previous travels in Iceland, and vibrant, purple fireweed lined the roads. 

A black bear foraging for food on the roadside.

Fireweed plants.

Note: Fireweed is the official flower of the Yukon. Given its name for being one of the  first plants to grow after a wildfire, a vibrant sign of life and regrowth.

Stopped on the side of the road to make sandwiches for lunch.

Whitehorse delighted us with its history, people, LGBTQ pride, and variety of restaurants and shops. A woman who spotted us moving Walker and Granger from the truck cab to the camper was intrigued and began asking questions about our travels. When we told her we sold our house and are living in the camper full-time with the animals, she responded “well, that’s the cat’s ass!” A quick reference of the urban dictionary informed us that this meant she thought what we were doing was really cool. And we have to agree. 

We found ourselves thinking this is the kind of town we could live in (though it’s possible we would feel differently in the winter). A few of our favorite stops include: The Kind Cafe (a healthy food and beverage cafe), Yukon Transportation Museum, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, the public library for good wifi and a quiet place to work, and the Dirty Northern restaurant for dinner.

Chic vibes in The Kind Café.

Açai bowl and avocado toast for breakfast, with a coffee for Mike and an anti-inflammatory turmeric latte for myself.

From Whitehorse, our sights were set on Dawson City. We split up the six hour drive by camping one night along the way in a dispersed campsite down by a lake. We were joined later by a fellow traveler in his classic, 14 year-old van, his dog, and lots of mosquitoes. This was the perfect spot to pump up the paddleboards and spend some time on the lake away from the mozzies. 

Note: Dispersed camping, also known as ‘wild camping,’ simply refers to camping outside of established campgrounds, usually on public land like national forests of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. This is our preferred kind of camping, though we sometimes opt for campgrounds for various reasons (showers, laundry facilities, lack of good dispersed camping options, etc.) Remember that no matter where you’re camping, it’s important to follow the Leave No Trace principles. 

Granger & Paddleboarding

For Granger, paddleboarding can be stressful. She struggles with the idea of either of us being alone on our boards, so this is how she spends her time: She starts on my paddleboard with me, but then she sees Mike over there on his board all alone. So she jumps into the water, swims to him, and he helps her up on the board. She does a little shake-off, spraying Mike, and looks up to see me over here by myself on my board. What can she do besides jump back in the water, possibly tipping Mike in the process, and make her way back to me. This process continues until we conclude our time on the water. On this particular occasion, Granger successfully tipped us both.

Back on land, we changed into dry clothes, settled into the camper, and watched The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, in continuation of my education in all things Star Wars. 

The following day we made our way to the famed Dawson City. More on that in the next blog post.