Whitehorse Take Two

     Between the horrible rest area and the Haines Junction which was our next stop there was not much to see. We made a quick stop in Tok where we bought some more souvenirs and lunch. We ate a massive plate of nachos and a small sandwich which we devoured until we were about to explode as we updated the last couple blog entries. Heading towards the border, the frost heaved road tossed us around for many miles through thick forest and over bright blue lakes. The big rolling holes in the road were so bad that at one point all the stuff in the car hovered as we launched out of the hole and came crashing down once we hit the other side. Before reaching the border we stopped at the local duty free shop in search of Hawkens chewing tobacco. The store was going out of business so he only had a few items left, no Hawkens, so we settled for pop and energy drinks. Talking with the owner he mentioned that his was the last place to get cheap gas before we were back in Canada. Like foolish tourists we believed him and topped up our tank and jerry cans. It wasn’t until we drove 2 km down the road that we realized we had been ripped off,  not only was there another gas station but they were selling it for .20 less.

      We had a short wait at the border and made it through without a problem. As we were waiting at the border crossing it began to rain again, but like magic it stopped as soon as we crossed into the Yukon and the sun even came out. While we were both sad to leave Alaska we were happily looking forward to nicer weather. After a few more hours we arrived in Haines Junction. This small town offered lots of motels at a fair price but we decided to suck it up for one more night. Finding a campground with showers we quickly set up our tarp city. Once again it began to rain. We were finally hungry again and Ricki whipped up some delicious spaghetti, in the sauce we put the rest of the salmon, she was skeptical, but it turned out really well. We crawled into bed and watched Into the Wild, this was my first time watching this movie. Ricki spoke fondly of the book and film, I found it a very fascinating movie. It was also neat since we recognized many of the places in the movie, and got a real feeling of how life was like in the magic bus since we had visited it a few days earlier.

      We woke the next morning to silence and the sun trying to push through the clouds. We figured it was about 10 am, but after checking my watch we realized it was 12:30. It seems we really needed our sleep. We quickly packed up the tent and after some thought we realized it wasn’t actually 12:30, but since there is a time difference between Alaska and the Yukon, it was actually 1:30 in the afternoon. We felt pretty lazy but sleep was much needed. Before leaving town we stopped at the local bakery where we ate spanakopitas, Cinnabombs, and grabbed a salami sandwich to go. At the bakery there was also some fresh bread, we grabbed an exotic looking loaf which we have already forgotten what it contained but it sounded good at the time.

      We also made a detour to what we thought was an abandoned airport. After 12 km of offroading we ended up turning around due to a deep water swamp crossing that we didnt want to get stuck in. On this trail there were other large puddles, which did a great job of cleaning the undercarriage of the truck.

      The next stop was Whitehorse, we arrived into town to the seemingly identical weather as when we left a few weeks ago. While updating the blog at the local Starbucks we had a discussion with a local who was clearly intoxicated, since he was telling us the same story over and over. Since we had seen most of Whitehorse on our last visit we decided to grab some food and head to the campground. At the local grocery store we purchased dinner. This included a whole chicken, pastry dough, and some new spices. Heading to the Wolf Creek Campground we discussed our game plan for cooking the chicken. We chose the same campsite as our last visit and as I set up the tarp once again Ricki began to work on dinner. The beer can chicken was placed in a tinfoil lined bowl and covered with the same setup as well. For dessert, the pastry was filled with apple cinnamon cream cheese, then topped with fresh wild blueberries which had been picked a few days earlier. Since the dough was still frozen, we placed it in the engine compartment where the heat from the engine slowly thawed it. After a lot of work and an amazingly little amount of dishes we had dinner.

      I must say, the chicken was one of the tenderest and delicious ones I have ever had. The side dish of cream corn and garlic bread complemented the chicken well. The dessert turned out amazing; unfortunately we could barely eat any of it since we were so full, so we will be having it for breakfast. I find it amazing the food I get to eat on this trip and how everything actually turns out very well. Shockingly, the rain began to fall again as we sat beside the fire until the late hours of the night. Ricki cooked the rest of the chicken bones into a delicious beer and rum stock which we will get to enjoy tomorrow.

      We do not have any plans for tomorrow, we may stay here another day or head towards Watson Lake. The next big thing we are looking forward to and planning for is the hike to the Sudden Cloud Cabin located along the Sikanni Chief River. The plan is to do this on Friday and meet up with some friends at the local campground before we hike to the cabin on Saturday morning.