Fantasy Caravan Day 18 - Whitehorse, Yukon

On Tuesday, we were staying put in Whitehorse, and Fantasy had arranged for a bus tour of Whitehorse for us. We woke up to rain and chilly temperatures, and since Carl was still feeling a bit under the weather, he stayed at home and I went on the bus tour.

The SS Klondike was moved from the Whitehorse shipyards to its currently location just a short while before this occurred:

From the S.S. Klondike, the bus took us to the Whitehorse Rapids Fishladder -- the longest wooden fish ladder in the world.

The map shows the path of the Chinook Salmon from the Bering Sea (on the left side) to where they have been tracked so far this season on their way to Whitehorse -- they are anticipated to start arriving in about a week.

We could look into the chamber and see fish, but these were other types of fish, not salmon.

Looking back up toward the hydroelectric dam -- they are releasing water at a greater rate right now because the lake above is so full.

The fish ladder

Chinook Salmon on the left, Lake Trout on the right

Since the adults return to where they were hatched to spawn, the fry are kept in pristine water until they are released, so they are supposed to imprint the location where they are released as their return location.

"Whitehorse Rapids Fishway Adult Chinook Salmon returns 1959 to 2022" The red bars are wild born that have returned, the blue are hatchery born that have returned. The lady talking with us indicated that only 154 returned last year (I don't know whether that was wild, or hatchery, or combined. I'm pretty sure that she said that 150,000 hatchery are released each year -- so not many make it back.

From the Fishladder, we headed into downtown Whitehorse. We drove around town (making several circles to show us interesting things on different blocks) for a bit...

Log Cabin high rise

Log cabin mid-rise

Our tour guide indicated that there is a lack of housing in Whitehorse, so any available space is being used!

We also stopped at the Visitors Centre (where Carl and I had stopped previously) -- we got to see the video that they have running and it was quite interesting about the different areas of the Yukon.

On our way back to the campground, we took Miles Canyon Scenic Drive...

... we stopped at an overlook and saw a sea plane coming in for a landing. These airplanes ferry folks to back country locations - as sea planes in the summer, and ski-planes in the winter.

We could also see the suspension bridge in Miles Canyon...

Before the dam was built, this canyon presented a formidable challenge for travelers on the Yukon River, with powerful rapids and unforgiving cliffs.

It was interesting to be able to see these places around Whitehorse, though it felt a little as if the tour guide was stretching the tour to meet the time it was supposed to take rather than there being so many interesting things that it was hard to fit it all in!