Dease Lake & Telegraph Creek Aug. 18 & 19, 2012

Dease lake is located at the Junction of the Cassiar Hwy. and Telegraph Creek Road. A Hudson’s Bay Co. post was established at Dease Lake in 1838 and abandoned a year later. It was a center for boat building during the Cassiar gold rush in 1872-80. Today Dease Lake is a Government center & supply point for the district. Northern Lights College has a campus here. We stopped here for Steve & Mike to do some fishing.

This is where we stayed & Water’s Edge Campground.

    

    

Also while @ Dease Lake we wanted to take the 70 mile one way trip out Telegraph Creek Road. This rd. built in 1922 is a narrow gravel rd. with several steep switchbacks. The scenery along the rd. is remarkable, with views of the Grand Canyon of the Stikine River. Historic Telegraph Creek @ roads end has many turn of the century buildings from the gold rush days.

Below are pix from our 70 mile one way drive. We took a picnic lunch as there really aren’t any services open any longer.

   

   

   

When the light is right you can see a bird in this Mtn. (hill) below. Some say it’s an Eagle but the locals say it’s a Crow.   

   

I didn’t find a church mouse bet I did find this Squirrel on the church steps eating red berries. 

     

                                                                                                                        

     

   

This was a fun & interesting drive One to do carefully. It has steep grades & several switchbacks.

It has taken a while to get back & finish this blog. I still have to do one of my favorite stops Stewart – Hyder & the Grizzly's.

Road to Dease Lake BC. Aug 16 & 17, 2012

After 3 great days in Skagway it was time to continue on to our next stop. The next 6 pix are some of the view coming out of Skagway. The train is the one we took a ride on. It comes to the top of White Pass & then returns to Skagway. There’s an area that has a lot if rocks & people have stopped to stack them. 

   

   

Along the Alaska Hwy between Teslin & Watson Lake is the Continental Divide and a few miles past that is Rancheria Falls Rec. area. This is a nice pull off with a large parking area & a nice 10 min boardwalk trail to the picturesque falls. We spent the nite there & there were some other people that spent the nite there too.

     

   

The next morning we were off again. Had a short delay @ another road repair. I think this may have been one of the washouts that occurred in June when there was some rain in this area.  Along the way we stopped @ Jade City. It’s where they mine & ship Jade around the world. 

   

Some more of the scenery we had the pleasure to enjoy as we traveled to Dease Lake. 

   

Next stop Waters Edge Campground Dease Lake.

Skagway 8-14 & 15-2012

Skagway grew out of the Klondike Gold Rush. In July 1897 the first boatloads of stampeders bound for the Klondike landed. It’s the oldest incorporated city in Alaska (1900). And Is now visited by over 300 cruise ships each year. Coming to see the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park & the restored buildings that now house restaurants, souvenir stores & hotels. Skagway is now a very big tourist stop. Each day we saw 4 cruise ships come & go. We were told that by mid Sept. most of the stores close up. They are run by the cruise lines. The local owned stores have signs in there windows so you know if your shopping @ a local store or not. The Local stores stay open all year.

Below is where we stayed in town. The next pix is of the only gas station & then a look down one of the streets. The yellow tour car is one of several that will take you for a tour of the area.    

   

As I said earlier Skagway & the town of Dyea is where the people came through to head to the Klondike for gold. The Canadian Mounties required them to bring a year’s supply of food. @ Dyea they hiked up the 33 mile Chilkoot Trail. It took 20 to 40 trips up & down the trail shuttling there required ton of goods. This requirement was Canada’s way to prevent starvation in the interior. Out of Skagway they traveled over White Pass. Where eventually the train line was built. And then the town of Dyea died. You can hike the Chilkoot Trail still today (permit is Required)

Below is a pix of the display in one of the museums of the supply’s they were required to have.        

   

   

Above some of the cruise ships in town & below you can see one @ the end of the main street. The cabin is one that the man that founded Skagway lived in. Then those smiling faces taking a ride on the train that took travelers up White pass. But these travelers were just along for a ride through some beautiful scenery. The red caboose is along the train route & is there for hikers to stay.  

   

       

These last two pix were taken where the ships come in. The seal is there to catch some Pinks (Humpy Salmon) coming up the fish ladder

 

Skagway was a completion of our travels in connecting the history from Dawson City. In coming to Alaska by land through BC & the Yukon we traveled the history backwards. The Gold rush travelers came by water from Seattle to get to the gold fields. There travels were harsher back in the 1800’s. Our travel was a pleasure & the frost heaves seem like a miner inconvenience in comparison the struggles of the Stampeders.

Next stop Dease Lake, BC.