Teslin, Yukon Territory

It is Wednesday, August 5th and we have started heading south towards home. The drive up the canyon from Skagway was breathtaking.





This morning we hiked up the mountain on the outskirts of Skagway to Dewey Lake. It was very steep and rocky. When I wanted to quit Janeil urged me on. When she wanted to turn back, I said we could make it around the lake. The climb took 3 hours and our knees were really sore. At one spot we got disoriented but my boy scout training came in handy when I saw the sun in the east.

At the edge of town, we saw an incredible sight of huge salmon swimming up a channel. We stood on a bridge over them and watched as dozens of 20 pounders swam towards their spawning streams.

We are camped tonight at an RV park on the bend of the river in Teslin. A long bridge with metal gratings spans the river. There are four wild fires burning in the wilderness on the other side of the lake to the south. There is ash falling from the air because the wind is blowing our way. It seems like we have jinxed the areas we visit because there has been a major fire almost everywhere we have gone. The sky over Skagway was smoky from fires also. Luckily the skies have usually been clear enough for us to see the sceneryBut there is ash falling on everything.

Landscape is covered with winding rivers and long finger lakes. We see lots of kayaks, canoes, and boats on car tops but none in the water.

Janeil is doing laundry. A load costs $1.50 and the soap another $1.50 for a box the size of a deck of cards. This is the first campground with free showers in the last three days. I refused to shower last night because it cost $1 even though Janeil offered to pay. They also have gasoline, a restaurant, and a defunct miniature golf course. This is really classy. Somehow it seems un-American to have to pay $1.25 to wash your hair. There was a derogatory comment about Canada in one of the rest stop out houses. A Yukoner had written this reply: “Only an A__ H__ Yank would make such a rude remark.” I guess the ugly American image is still alive and well.

Since we are a little ahead of schedule we are going to include Mt. Saint Helens in our return route. It had better not start erupting while we are there or we’ll know our jinx is for real.

When I awake during the night I start reciting “The Cremation of Sam McGee” in my head. I usually am back to sleep within a verse or two.

We have not had to use our mosquito netting yet, but whenever we stop for a rest the hornets swarm around our grill attracted by the bug kill. That last sentence had such a nice meter and rhyme it could be a Robert Service poem about driving a motor home through the Yukon.