Yukon & Alaska

Jun 22-24, 2012
AC1173 YYZ-YVR, AC8443 YVR-YXY, AC288 YXY-YVR, AC148 YVR-YYZ

In December, Aeroplan had an unannounced sale where they offered business class reward seats for the same number of points as economy.  Even without a sale, the best value for points comes from flying to remote locations where the traditional ticket prices are usually quite high.  After going to Yellowknife in 2010, I wanted to continue our tour of the provinces and territories of Canada, so decided to try for Whitehorse when the sale came around.  Once I decided to go to Whitehorse I decided I might as well go near the spring equinox and picked the June 22nd weekend.  Being there on close to the longest day made for a pretty cool experience, and we happened to end up there with some of the best weather they had all summer.  Whitehorse doesn’t normally get hot weather, so without air conditioning and with an 11pm sunset, it made for quite a warm sleeping night.  In addition to exploring the Whitehorse area and visiting with my friend Jeannette, we had a great day trip to Skagway, Alaska.  

Jun 22
Morning flight to Whitehorse with the afternoon and evening in Whitehorse

Interesting Yukon Transportation Museum conveniently next to airport

Restored SS Klondike Ship that started running to Yukon River in 1937 for gold

Luxury Lounge area in the fully restored interior

Large paddle wheel with the Yukon River in the background

One of the many stage coaches in the MacBride Museum

After dinner we go for an evening hike along Miles Canyon

We didn’t encounter any bears, just a small fox trying to cross the river

A late evening view from Grey Mountain

Looking down from Grey Mountain before heading back to the hotel

Jun 23
With a beautiful day ahead, we headed for Skagway

Tagish Lake with mountains in the background

Shallow Lake from the Klondike Highway

Where the railroad meets the road in White Pass PC

With a heavy winter snow still melting, the pass was particularly spectacular

Waterfall from the Klondike Highway just after we enter Alaska

Sightseeing helicopters waiting for tourists in Skagway

Camp Skagway No 1 Building in historic downtown

Skagway Harbor.  Luckily a quiet day in the town with only one cruise ship

Although we drove the pass, we decided to try out the railway perspective

The train made picture taking very easy and scenery was beautiful

From the highway we can see the tracks of the White Pass Railway

A brown bear grabbing a meal right next to the highway

Being this close to a bear wasn’t scary from the car window

Continuing north towards Whitehorse for a late dinner

Jun 24
Morning in Whitehorse and then home via Vancouver

“High rise” log cabin in Whitehorse looked relatively sound

Most of the flight from Whitehorse to Vancouver looked like this

Late arrival in Toronto ended a beautiful long weekend