Part 1: Driving to the Yukon

Day 1 (405 miles) – Bay Furnace CG, Munising, MI

After what seemed like forever, we finally left home on the morning of July 15. We drove north in Michigan towards the Upper Peninsula. With the massive wild fires in northwest Ontario near Wabakimi Provincial Park, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota, and the adjacent Quetico Provincial Park, there was lots of smoke in the air. Visibility was greatly reduced. We barely saw the towers of the Mackinaw bridge. We made it to Bay Furnace campground near Munising mid afternoon and set up camp. We then spent the rest of the day exploring the area and getting our first ice cream at Dairy Queen. The air was still very smokey as we went to bed. No animal sightings.

Day 2 (455 miles / 860 total miles) – Lake Itasca State Park, MN

We made our way across northern Wisconsin along Lake Superior. We finally got out of the smokey skies and visibility got better once we got east of Duluth, MN. We looked at the map and noticed how close we were driving by the head waters of the Mississippi river. We called an audible and drove to Lake Itasca, found a campsite and explored the beginnings of the mighty Mississippi river. We even walked across the Mississippi! Animal sighting: our first black bear along the road in Minnesota.

Day 3 (328 miles / 1188 total miles) – Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, MB

Today we made it to Canada! It was a relatively short day of driving through Minnesota and northern North Dakota. We spent some time at the border at the International Peace Garden. What a beautiful place. Here’s a link to learn more: Peace Garden. After crossing the border without any issue we found a campsite at Adam’s Lake in Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, Manitoba. Animal sightings: red fox in North Dakota.

Day 4 (375 miles / 1,563 total miles) – Kenaston, SK

Today was day of driving through the Canadian prairies on the Trans Canadian Highway. We made a slight detour to visit Fairlight, SK. Jeff’s great grandfather homesteaded in this town. The road was flat and pretty uneventful. We drove through the town of Regina, SK. The farmers in this area grow canola seeds and this time of year all the fields were bright yellow. We stayed at Bonnington Springs CG just off the highway. Animal sighting: 2 moose in the canola fields and 1 coyote east of Kenaston.

Day 5 (415 miles / 1,978 total miles) – Imrie Park, Edmonton AB

Another long day of driving. The scenery slowly changed to some rolling hills. We made it to Edmonton in the early afternoon and to the MEC gear store to find some bug jackets. We were expecting lots of mosquitoes and blackflies as we went further north and wanted some protection. However, it has been a really wet summer and all the bug jackets were sold out at all of the gear stores in town. We did a small food resupply and continued on to a campground just west of Edmonton. Animal sighting: none

Day 6 (349 miles / 2,327 total miles) – Beatton CG, Dawson Creek, BCb

The scenery changed this day. Gone was the prairie as we made our way into the foothills of the northern Canadian Rockies. A little bit after lunch we made it to Dawson Creek, BC and the start of the Alaskan-Canadian Highway. We took our obligatory picture with the the ALCAN sign and then on to Fort St. Johns. Here we finally found our bug jackets at Canadian Tire – our new favorite store. We camped in Charlie Lake Provincial Park at Beatton CG. It was a beautiful campsite overlooking Charlie Lake. The mosquitoes weren’t too bad so we did not need to use our new bug jackets. It was a great day of driving. Animal sighting: 1 moose east of Dawson Creek.

Day 7 (372 miles / 2,699 total miles) – Summit Lake CG, Stone Mountain Provincial Park, BC

Another great day on the road. We made our way north towards Fort Nelson along the ALCAN highway. It was a pretty drive. The road was not in bad shape. We had hear stories on how the ALCAN highway has many frost heaves and can be in bad shape in places. It was a little overcast but we still got some views of the mountains of Northern Rocky Mountains Provincial Park. We made the left turn after Fort Nelson and made our way into the mountains to Stone Mountain Provincial Park and Summit Lake CG. But first we stopped at Tetsa River Lodge to get some gas – it was the only gas in the area and we were low. We paid $2.32 CAD per liter. That equates to about $6.23 per gallon. Ouch! We only took what we really needed. We also ate some large cinnamon rolls which were delicious. Our campsite was a beautiful site overlooking the Summit Lake. After dinner and almost sunset the skies decided to open up. We were in our camper and had the awning deployed. We noticed the wind and rain picking up, so we got out and put our awning away. While doing this, we got soaking wet. Luckily for us, we had a dry space inside our camper and stayed cozy as the storm passed us by. Animal sighting: none

Day 8 (406 miles / 3,105 total miles) – Teslin Government CG, Teslin, YT

Today was long day but an awesome day with a side trip to Liard Hot Springs. We got to Liard River mid-morning and saw a sign for the hot springs. We initially passed it by but we turned around and enjoyed a hour of soaking in the hot springs. What a cool/hot experience. By mid-afternoon we made it to the Yukon. We stopped as the Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake, YT at mile marker 635 on the ALCAN highway. This is a place where in 1942 a person put a license plate on a tree. Now when many people who come through this area will either put up a license plate from their home or some sort of street sign. Pretty cool. The road still continued to be decent. After Watson Lake, the road weaves in and out of BC and YT. We were finally seeing some wild animals. Animal sighting: several herd of bison along the road south of Liard River, 1 moose in pond south of Liard River, 2 moose in field west of Summit Lake, 2 bears along road west of Swift River, BC.

Day 9 (128 miles / 3,387 total miles) – Hi Country RV Park, Whitehorse, YT

After nine days of driving, we finally made it to Whitehorse, YT. But before that, we made a small detour to Carcross, YT. Carcross was a major stop during the 1989 Klondike Gold Rush. The town sits between Lake Bennett and Whitehorse. It is also the headwaters area of the Yukon River. Once we got to Whitehorse it was time to reset. We went to the outfitter to make final arrangements for our trip and ate some town food. Animal sighting: 1 bald eagle in Tagish, YT

Day 10 (0 miles / 3,387 total miles) – Hi Country RV Park, Whitehorse, YT

Today we continued getting ready for our next leg of our journey – paddling the Yukon River. It was spent doing last minute gear and food preparations, doing laundry and cleaning up the camper. We also had a nice meal in town. Pretty uneventful. No animal sightings.