Driving back Home

Marsh Lake with its iconic Yukon blue highways  bridge

A day of steady driving back toward Whitehorse. Saw a Porcupine just out of Dawson and Rick saw a lynx.  Another highlight:

Giant cinnamon buns from Braeburn Lodge!  They also had a wood stove made out of an oil barrel.  Also at Stewart Crossing they were charging $12 for a slice of black forest cake!

After a full day of driving back, we planned to boondock in the  Whitehorse Super Store parking lot, but despite our intel there were No Overnight parking signs everywhere.  Next we tried the Canada Games Recreation Centre but they had the parking lot roped off.

In the end we drove 30 minutes south to a rest stop at the outlet of Marsh Lake.  There were no overnight signs here too but we stayed anyway and noone seemed to mind.  There was lots of space and we didn't get in the way of the people launching their boats.

A black bear popped off behind the outhouses but he soon moved on.  Leo, Jax and I went for a walk anyway and didn't run into the bear.

We saw mergansers, black-capped chickadees and cliff swallows.

The next day it rained  pretty much all day.  At the turnoff for the Stewart-Cassier Highway we said goodbye to Cathy and Rick. We tried to talk them into driving south with us and then turning off for Jasper National Park from Prince George but they wanted to head back home via the Alaska Highway.  Just as well as the next day Jasper went up in flames and the highway was closed.

We headed south and arrived at Boya Lake Provincial Park at 4:30 pm.  We snagged a lakefront site (probably because of the weather).  Boya Lake is known for its emerald green colour.

Not so much today. It stopped raining long enough for a short walk around the campground but we soon retreated into the trailer.

It stopped raining by morning but all day the mountains were in the clouds. Just steady driving all day with sightings of a small black bear, a fox, and two motorcyclists from Argentina on their way back south from Alaska.

We camped at Meziadin Lake Provincial Park. Though we didn't get a lakeside  site like yesterday we did get a lake view. Our neighbours were kayakers from Prince George; we'd been leapfrogging them from rest stop to gas station all day.

The next day we drove to Fraser Lake. As soon as we got cell and radio reception we found out that Jasper was burning and that there was a fire in the creek valley that was threatening Williams Lake.

 

We had an enjoyable afternoon and evening at Beaumont Provincial Park.  We used to camp here when I was a kid but I had forgotten that this was the site of the original Fort Fraser established by Simon Fraser in 1806.  All that remains is this historic barn.

And a portion of the traditional trail used by first nations, explorers and fur traders.

There was a flock of immature redstarts just out of the nest flying about the campground.

Bird of the Day

And the next day we were home, our trip over and Williams Lake did not burn down although it was a close call and our local hiking area in the creek valley is closed once again.