A Desert in Alaska and what a Dall

Before we left Whitehorse, we did a mile hike in the Miles Canyon park, named after General Nelson Miles of Wild West fame.



There weren't any roses to stop and smell, so these had to do.













Canadians and Alaskans sometimes employ weird methods of attracting attention to their businesses. This one seems a little asinine to me.

Just kidding....we stopped there to buys some buns, but they were closed.

This guy came prepared for the harshest road conditions....6X6

Just a few miles off the Alaska Highway, you come across Robinson and Robinson Roadhouse, an old way station for the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.

The buildings are very well preserved by the dry climate there and you can also see the abandoned narrow-gauge railroad tracks.

Like many places associated with the Gold Rush, Mssrs. Robinson thought they had the perfect spot for a booming city here, but like most others, it didn't pan out.

Here's that rose I couldn't find earlier.

Emerald Lake, just before Carcross.

About thirty miles in towards Skagway you come to what's billed as the world's smallest desert, named after the nearby community of Carcross. Once the bed of a great lake, the fine sand cannot support much life due to the constant winds.

Carcross is another waystation for the railroad, and boasts a hundred plus year old Anglican Church and the oldest, continuously operating store in the Yukon

Georgina was reading in the Milepost and it said we might see Dall Sheep on the highway above Skagway.

Literally a minute later we came across six Dalls munching grass on the sidehill just above the road.

This lake was frozen over in mid-May.

The drive from Whitehorse to Skagway is full of special surprises and spectacular scenery.

Finally, Alaska. No more need to figure out the currency or convert km to miles.

Skagway, portal to the 1898 Gold Rush.

Tagish Charlie, one of the Tlingit guides who led miners into the Yukon gold fields.

A snow-clearing engine for the White Pass & Yukon Railroad.

Read the remarkable story of Soapy Smith and Frank Reid, reenacted to this day in Skagway during the summer season.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soapy_Smith