Burning rubber in Canada - Part 12 , The Whitehorse

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    After a late breakfast we were again on a move , it had been quite sometime that we visited a national park so it was decided to visit Kluane national park and do some trail .

   The drive to Kluane national park was long the Alaska highway, till we reached the Haines junction. Just drive in the small town of Haines junction and you will come to the visitors center known as  Daku cultural center.  The visitors center is an epic and worth imitating in other parts of world too, its actually a art gallery  , it has 3D images of all mountains , digital information leaflets , art work , excellent washrooms and you get free eco friendly bags to store litter when on visit to park. 

   The Kluane national park covers an area of 20,000 sq km of Canadian wilderness . It  has the highest peak in Canada the Mount Logan . It is also home to the dhall sheep and grizzle bears. There are a number of trails in the park .

Daku Cultural center 

Inside Cultural center 

Haines Junction

   We decided to do the King’s Throne Trail . The summit is about 2,000 meters high which makes for a challenging day hike, but one that pays off with breathtaking views . The starting point is Kathleen Lake , where the trail begins by following an old mining road along the south side of the lake. At the base of the mountain , you’ll start the climb through aspen forest and then follow the switchback trail up the mountain . Eventually, you’ll reach the spectacular cirque the "seat" of the King’s Throne. 

   The view on top was really spectacular but we were the only visitors on the trail . After we finished the trail, it was decided to drive along the highway towards Alaska border  .

Kathleen Lake 

   

Kathleen Lake as seen from King's throne 

   Again the road was fantastic in spite of  the area being so remote, absolutely no habitation at all  only trees and trees but the quality of road was fantastic. After driving for about 150 km we decided to turn back as it was getting late and we had to  go to a new place for our night stay.

Road to Alaska 

Klaune National park 

Klaune National park 

Pair of fox with tracking collars

    In the night we stayed at a Japanese place called Kaleido lodge ,it is owned by a Canadian Japanese artist. Located in a clearing in actual forest. From outside, the building looks very simple like a barn but moment you enter it feels as if you are in different world . By the time we checked in it was already  9 pm the key of our room was kept in a small basket with welcome card there was no reception at all . As part of house rule one has to take off the shoes and use the slippers provided .         The rooms were fantastic we had our own private kitchen which was fully functional and the view from the bed rooms was spectacular. There was a small patio which opened in the forest and it felt as if, you are inside a forest. In spite of  full occupancy it was very quite.

  This is one of the best lodges I have stayed,its an epitome of Japanese hospitality. The breakfast served next day was really good and only one person a hostess was doing all jobs , she was attending all guests was always  smiling . After breakfast it was time for us to say good bye, the hostess was again at the door to bid us good bye. This sort of place one should stay for 2/3 days forget all worries of the world and just chill out.

Reception

Japanese discipline 

Lobby 

Kitchen 

View from kitchen

Patio

View from patio

Our hostess from Japan

      After excellent light breakfast and brewed masala tea,we were  back on the road  for our next adventure.

Ride Safe Firm Saddle 

Burning rubber in Canada Part 11 - The Dawson City

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   After a quick breakfast we marched on to Dawson City , this was the longest and highest point of our travel . The drive was smooth but traffic was not much as it seems people going to Alaska don't prefer this route much . Again there were miles and miles of trees as one could see , not a single house or human being , I would say it was green desert .

Long beautiful road 

Random click 

   The Dawson city  is beautiful , kind of rustic it has old world charm and buildings have been restored painstakingly . By the time we reached the center it   was 0300 pm as per our  watch!! however it was late afternoon in other parts of world but not here. This is due to long daylight  shops remain open late in night . I stood at this sign below and pinched myself as it was dream come true for me , I had been planning this trip for almost 3 years and Dawson city was my  first choice the feeling was beautiful can't be expressed in words .

Self pinching sign

Streets of Dawson City

Streets of Dawson City

Streets of Dawson City

  After a quick tour of town we settled for lunch in the beautiful   Joe's Pizza . The service was superb and pizza was really good surprisingly it was full house in spite of being almost 0330pm . We than walked to the most famous place in the town ,The Down Town Hotel to have sour toe shots!

Joe's Pizza 

Currency of almost all countries including our own Rupees 

Restored working old post office 

Boardwalk

Streets of Dawson City

Streets of Dawson City

   The Sourtoe Cocktail served at Downtown hotel is a  simple drink (a shot of whiskey, usually Yukon Jack) with an unusual accompaniment a mummified human toe.   In the 1920s, the rum-running Linken brothers Louie and Otto  got caught in a blizzard . Louie put his foot through a patch of ice and soaked his foot . When the brothers got back to their cabin, Louie's right foot was frozen solid . To prevent gangrene , Otto used his axe to chop off Louie's toe . He placed the toe in a jar of alcohol to commemorate the event. 

    In 1973, legend has it that Captain Dick Stevenson found the jar (and the toe) in a remote cabin. He came up with the idea of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club , an exclusive club . However till date there have been almost seven toes after the original toe which lasted only for seven years. In order to gain admittance to the club, potential members must drink the legendary Sourtoe Cocktail . There's just one rule: "You can drink it fast. You can drink it slow. But your lips must touch that gnarly toe."

   One gets a certificate signed by a old timer and you pay a small fee to get the certificate apart from off course the cost of drink .  We were not able to try the drink since the bar only starts at 8 pm and it would have been very late to return back to Whitehorse after that , however the staff at bar was very good and allowed us to click photos and gave information all smiling .

Deepak,me,Malhar,Shaunak and Netrali

The Downtown Hotel

The bar 

   We again walked around the town and visited the visitors center . By the time we reached it was closing time however the staff gave us a lot of information . In the center we saw a pair of locked horns its basically two moose  who fought to death and both died ,  the locked horns have been preserved till date .

   We took a small walk on the river front , in fact a short distance from visitors center there is a jetty from which one can take a free ferry across on the other side, this ferry is generally taken by riders and travelers who enter Alaska using Top of the world highway.

Visitors center 

Entangled moose antlers 

 

Paddle ferry boat 

River front park 

    Another unique thing you will find in Dawson city is leaning buildings ,basically Dawson city exists on sub arctic climate , a place with lot of permafrost in the  soil . It  remains frozen throughout the year , however due to climatic changes, the weather is  getting warmer leading to  permafrost getting melted this has effected the structural stability of the buildings thereby pushing it up/down leading to leaning of houses  .

Leaning building

  By the time we were ready to leave the city it was already 7 pm and we had a long , lonely drive back to Whitehorse. After a long drive we stopped at this beautiful Silver trail tourist information  center , there was no one in the center but it was open , information leaflets were kept and it had good washroom too. I just thought is it possible in any other country like this ,but than this is Canada , they just trust you .

 

   After a coffee break we were back on the road by this time sleep was overpowering us however hats off to Deepak he was more than alert in fact all of us dozed till the next rest stop ,  by this time it  was already 11 pm and took this opportunity to click photo in Northern light .

Northern lights

Whitehorse in Northern lights 

   By the time we reached our hotel  it was dark and we decided to have a quick dinner . The moment we reached our hotel rooms we all crashed ,  for it was a long day and my long standing dream had come true . I drifted to sleep with sweet memories as from tomorrow our return journey starts .

   Ride Safe Firm Saddle