{TRIP OVERVIEW} Exploring Canada: Going North (Part 1)

By the end of Day 14 we were getting close to the Alaskan border again so in the morning we crossed back into Alaska, drove to Tok (a waste of time except for getting cheap petrol), and then started the long, slow drive towards the Top of the World Highway, a windy road over mountain ridges. The Taylor Highway turns into gravel not long after the start and from there it's a bumpy ride to the Top of the World where the gravel continues almost until Dawson City.

We briefly stopped in Chicken, an odd assortment of stores, historical buildings and RV parks in the middle of nowhere, and then continued on to the border crossing. Whilst the Top of the World is open all year round, the border is only open until mid-September so you can't cross back into the Yukon until it opens again the following year.

As it was already early September and summer holiday season was coming to an end, we didn't see a whole lot of cars or RVs up there and ended up crawling most of the highway, hoping to spot wildlife. But no such luck. We did have a nice sunset though and ended up staying the night just off the road. That night, we climbed out of the van around 1:30 am and saw some dancing Northern Lights!

Looking back towards Little Gold Creek, the Yukon-Alaska border crossing on the Top of the World Highway at 1258 m elevation.

After crossing the mighty Yukon River (actually, it looked muddy and uninspiring), we arrived in Dawson City late morning on Day 16. Dawson is one of the last great gold rush towns (1898) and many of the buildings are National Historic Sites. Whilst I explored the local museum, the husband went off on a dredge tour to find out how gold was mined in an industrial fashion in the early 20th century.

Parks Canada offers guided walking tours around Dawson so we signed up for the 101 Gold Rush  Tour, delivered by the most enthusiastic and dramatic tour guide ever! We joined another later that evening and it was almost as fabulous.

Remnants of a gold rush town, the Dawson City General Store. Today it's simply a supermarket.

As we both had our hearts set on exploring Tombstone, we ended up leaving Dawson City late morning and made our way up the supposedly tyre-slashing, unsealed Dempster Highway. Given the rain and clouds, we couldn't see all that much of the mountains but it still looked spectacular! Autumn foliage and snow-capped mountains are just a stunning combination!

Next morning, we woke up to -5 degrees (or colder, not sure), five centimetres of snow and iced-over car doors so we were a bit stuck in the van until we managed to prise open the doors with a bit of force. Needless to say that we revelled in our new winter wonderland!

By late morning, the sun was starting to peek through and we drove further north past the Continental Divide beyond which the tundra starts. It was awe-inspiring!

Unfortunately, we weren't set up for an Arctic adventure so turned around and left Tombstone late on Day 18.

Autumn and winter in Tombstone Territorial Park.

After an early morning walk hoping to see moose (no luck yet again), we set off driving the Klondike Highway to Whitehorse, the Yukon's capital. With the autumn colours, everything looked a bit more interesting but it wasn't the most scenic drive. 

We arrived in Whitehorse late afternoon only to find that all the museums and historical sites, including the SS Klondike we had wanted to visit, had already closed for the season. We were three days late. So instead, I convinced the husband to take me to the Takhini Hot Springs and we soaked in the 47 degree mineral waters for an hour...

Along the Klondike Highway, surrounded by autumn foliage.

Since Whitehorse had closed up tourist shop for the season, there was no point hanging around so we started our long journey back to British Columbia. The weather - rain, rain and more rain - was fitting for my mood as we got the blues a bit leaving the remoteness and raw beauty of the Yukon. Apparently we drove past mountain ranges on the Alaska Highway but I haven't got much evidence of that... It felt like we were repeating parts of our Southern Germany road trip with rain, fog and no views.

After seeing almost no wildlife in the Yukon (except for a million squirrels, some deer, a coyote, a bald eagle, and the Dall sheep), a moose decided to stand in the middle of the Alaska Highway almost as we were leaving the Yukon. The highlight of the day, and we now know that there is at least one moose in the Yukon!

Rainy days on the Alaska Highway leaving the Yukon.

SUMMING UP...

In three weeks, we went from sunshine, blue sky and 28 degrees on Vancouver Island, fog, drizzle, icy winds and barely 5 degrees along the Inside Passage, to snow, ice and at least -5 degrees in Tombstone. By the end of our Yukon trip, I had pretty much said hello to all the clothes I'd packed (including my bathers at the hot springs!) whilst the husband had only temporarily exchanged his beloved shorts for long pants on the Alaska ferry and for a couple of days in Tombstone, and still had his thermal underwear and goose down jacket to try out... Apparently the beanie on his head meant that the rest of his body was warm enough, and he didn't need them yet!

Apart from some whales spouts and a few seals frolicking in the sea, some skittish deer, two Dall sheep, more squealing squirrels than we could ever count, and a few other creatures, we'd seen fairly little wildlife - or at least nowhere near as much as everyone seemed to indicate we should! We had seen one black bear from hundreds of metres away on our third day on Vancouver Island but none since so were somewhat desperate for more...

Our Canadian campervan Tonky turned out not to be quite as amazing as its German cousin Siegfried the year before. The fridge stopped working after two days on Vancouver Island, which was great for the milk and yoghurt, it was a lot slower than Siegfried, especially uphill, ate a bit more petrol, didn't have quite as good storage so lots of stuff was just lying around, and the battery had a tendency to stop working at least once a week - once the husband knew what the problem was it was an easy fix each time, but still... Yet Tonky took us to some majestic places in the Yukon and introduced us to an avid VW campervan fan base in Canada, resulting in several 'come and have a look at our setup' conversations!

Tonky at Congden Creek Territorial Campground (Kluane National Park in the background).

From here on, we travelled south back back into British Columbia and then west across to the Rocky Mountains in Alberta.

Read more:

• {TRIP OVERVIEW} Exploring Canada: Going south (Part 2)
• {TOPS & FLOPS} Our highs and lows during six weeks in Canada
• Five reasons why you should travel the Inside Passage by ferry
• {IN PHOTOS} Kluane National Park from above