The visitors center had lent us some paperwork and we had to return it. We arrived there at just after 8:00am, which gave us lots of time to have breakfast before they opened.
Once again, the Yukon scenery in this area is what it's all about!
And that's all just the views from the road. We haven't even started our hike yet!
We went into the visitors center at 9:00am and dropped off the paperwork we had borrowed for the trip north. It was just some guidebooks. They have lots available at the visitors center and much is there for you to sign out if you agree to return it!
We drove another 9 kms (5 miles) south to the Grizzly Lake Trailhead. Quite a few vehicles in the parking lot, but we still found room for Sherman.
It was a beautiful day, even though some clouds had moved in. We figured the trail would probably be busy.
A motorhome from Germany.
Bumped into this couple from Germany with their Dethleffs motorhome. A lot of Europeans ship from Germany to Halifax in Canada and then tour up here and then down to Mexico for the winter. We've seen quite a few from Switzerland as well.
Ready to start the trail.
Lots of trees have fallen over!
Starting to get some altitude.
Me!
Some tough climbing.
Stopping to enjoy the views.
Can you see Ruth??
Us, and the views!
This little guy lives up here. He (she?) is an Arctic ground squirrel.
Yep, we're still going up!
No, we're not at the top yet!
This was near the highest point that we went.
The Grizzly Lake Trail doesn't actually go to a summit. It leads to Grizzly Lake, which is actually an overnight hike. We don't have the gear to do that though, so we just wanted to get high enough for the great views.
Lots of wildflowers near the top.
Me!
There's Grizzly Lake in the distance.
You can see the trail leading back down to the parking lot.
More of the trail where we are going to be heading back down.
Me, holding up the sky!
What a great hike we had! Far less people out than we thought there would be. I guess the people from some of the vehicles in the parking lot must have been doing the overnight hike.
We hopped back in Sherman. By this time, it was about 2:30pm and we still wanted to make it back to Dawson City which was another 100 kms (62 miles) or so.
The bridge at the start (or end) of the Dempster Highway!
We did it! And Sherman did it!
1,760 kms (1,091 miles) of rough dirt roads! Unbelievable. But, next time we're looking at a good boondocking spot that's 20 kms of dirt road, we'll think "meh, that's nothing!"
It is exactly three weeks today that we left Dawson City, with a rough plan to be back here by July 12th. We did not bad, but we are sure glad we didn't have a schedule to keep. We saw too many people who did that drive too quickly.
And so, we're going to relax here in Dawson City for a few days before we do the Top of the World highway to Chicken, Alaska. There's still a lot to see and do here!
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That is one awesome trail...I'd love to go all the way to Grizzly Lake for an overnight. Chicken, Alaska looks similar to Talkeetna but on a much smaller scale. At the Roadhouse Restaurant in Talkeetna, we saw a dollar bill post that said 'Ya'at'eeh shi dine'' translated from Navajo to English 'Hello my people.' While at the Heritage Vistor Center in Alaska, the Athabascan tribe sang us a welcome home song and showed us a map of the Dine' migration from Alaska to Arizona! My clan name is 'One Who Walks Around' and born for the clan 'Redhouse.' Wow what a thrill it was to visit and chat with cousins far in the north. They fed us lunch too!! It was an honor to visit and know our clan history.
ReplyDeleteSafe travels. Looking forward to more....
It was a fantastic trail with some gorgeous views. We agree, it would have been nice to have hiked into Grizzly Lake for a night or two.
DeleteWe have never been to Chicken or to Talkeetna, so we can't compare the two but we are looking forward to visiting Chicken. Nice that you were able to meet up with some northern "cousins".
Whew! Been holding my breath, Beautiful pix and post....as always.
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you enjoyed the pictures and the post. The scenery thee was spectacular, we enjoyed every minute of the hike. :-)
DeleteWow! Stunning scenery. Enjoy your relaxing days in Dawson.
ReplyDeleteYep, the scenery was fantastic! We are so glad that we had a decent day for the hike.
DeleteYou did well of keeping Sherman clean.
ReplyDeleteAll the rain helped as well as not driving it in the rain or just after! ;-)
DeleteFantastic!! I have so enjoyed your journey. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThank you and you are welcome! We have lots more to show you yet. :-)
DeleteWell done, friends, loved every minute of it!!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Connie and Barry, so glad that you enjoyed following along. :-)
DeleteYou will enjoy going to Chicken. At the border crossing into Alaska (Poker Creek) met the most friendly CBP officer I ever came across. He would actually take your picture for you in front of the "Welcome to Alaska" sign.
ReplyDeleteI hope that we will get the same guy then, it is always a crap shot at the border but we will be there with big smiles on our faces. :-)
DeleteWow! Beautiful header photo.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much! :-)
DeleteIf I never get to the Yukon, I have you and your fantastic photos and blog to thank for! That arctic squirrel picture was darling! Thanks again for a very informative and entertaining blog. Safe travels.
ReplyDeleteWe hope that you will make it up to the Yukon, you really aren't all that far away. There is so much to do and see up here and the scenery is amazing.
DeleteThere were a number of those Arctic ground squirrels around and they were all chatting to each other and when they saw Kevin taking all kinds of pictures they just kept chatting away as if they were asking to have their pictures taken as they posed so nicely for us. ;-)
Thanks for taking us along on your adventure! That header photo is THE BEST!
ReplyDeleteIt was our pleasure to "take" you along! :-)
DeleteWe absolutely love that photo too!
Say love following your journey. Have you noticed any folks travelling with horses- perhaps a living quarters/horse unit?
ReplyDeleteGlad that you are enjoying our journey. Up this far north we really haven't seen seen anybody traveling with horses, a little further south we did though, I think perhaps even in Whitehorse or on our way up to Whitehorse we may have seen a trailer or two with living quarters in them.
DeleteWow what a great adventure. The hike looked very steep but beautiful scenery well worth the trip. Glad you made it back to Dawson enjoy your rest!
ReplyDeleteIt was a fantastic hike and yes, there were several sections of the trail that were quite steep.
DeleteWe are enjoying some relax time up here in Dawson City, it was definitely needed before we head on to the next portion of our trip.
The scenery leaves us in awe. Thanks for sharing the great pictures and journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you Barry, we are glad that you and Jeannie enjoyed our adventure and our pictures. :-)
DeleteWow... simply gorgeous, someday we will follow in your " Trails "... not sure about that bridge though..lol. such an amazing journey.
ReplyDeleteThank you! There are definitely some beautiful trails out there.
DeleteIf you want to get on the Dempster you must cross that bridge, it looks worse than what it really is, big double tractor trailers cross it! :-)