On To ALASKA 8/21-

GREETINGS, Just 150 miles to go to reach Alaskan border-the scenery is getting so dramatic, preparing us for things to come. Traveled most of the day in Yukon, the least populated province of Canada so far. What great spots for a weekend house, hopefully stays as pristine. Encountered stone sheep, buffalo herd grazing but no elk, maybe up the road. Finally slowed down to captured the beauty of this country with pictures and enjoy dinner at lakeside. Hooked up at Cottonwood RV campground on KLUANE Lake, Destruction Bay -within Kluane National Park & Preserve.

Life in a camper is always a learning experience, now I can see why people buy the bus sized (or super bus sized) campers. When reorganizing becomes the angst of the day, the best thing is to get on the road and proceed with your trip 'silently'.

ITS THE JOURNEY NOT ONLY THE DESTINATION

Yukon Factoids: (for those who need the geo/hist information)
Located in the Canadian Cordillera physiographic region
A total land mass of 482,443 km2 (about the size of Spain)
Yukon represents 4.8% of Canada's total land area. Of the 10 provinces and three territories, Yukon is the ninth largest.
As of December 2009, Yukon’s population is 34,157 of which about three-quarters live in the capital city of Whitehorse
Flora and Fauna
Yukon harbours some of the last true wild space, unscarred by human development, with a diversity of wildlife. Thriving within this habitat are resilient, adventurous and hospitable people who value their connection to the land. Yukon’s vegetation is classified as sub-arctic and alpine. Boreal forests cover 57 per cent of the territory. There are more than 200 species of wildflowers, including the tall magenta fireweed. Yukon is home to large mammals such as moose, caribou, Dall, Fannin and Stone sheep, grizzly and black bears, bison and wolf. It is also home to thousands of northern migratory birds such as Tundra and Trumpeter swans, ducks and geese that can be viewed when they stop along their journey to northern Yukon nesting grounds. Bald and golden eagles are common, while ptarmigan, grouse and at least 21 species of hawks and owls call Yukon home. Northern fish species such as arctic grayling, northern pike and lake trout are found in eddies and outflows of streams in lakes.
The Ice Age history of Yukon is unique in Canada. The massive Cordilleran ice sheet advanced over southern Yukon at least six times during the last 2.5 million years. This continental glacier eroded rocks and left behind debris and unique deposits. The earliest glacial advance changed the directional flow of the Yukon River while other glacial events diverted and dammed rivers, creating huge lakes.
Reduced global sea levels and the formation of the Bering land bridge linked Eurasia with North America. The towering St. Elias Mountains cut off precipitation bound for the interior and prevented ice sheets from forming in Beringia. Yukon’s Ice Age was distinct in that west-central and northern Yukon remained ice-free as part of the eastern area of Beringia. This ice-free refuge was a vast cold and arid grassland and home to woolly mammoths, horses and lions.
The ice ages and Beringia came to an end approximately 10,000 years ago. Global warming melted the glaciers and the water poured into the oceans. As sea levels rose, the Bering land bridge flooded. Extinction of many ice age mammals changed the face of Yukon forever.
About 10,000 to approximately 25,000 years ago: Yukon is home to the woolly mammoth, Yukon horse, steppe bison, scimitar cat and saiga antelope.
10,000 to approximately 5,000 years ago in the post-glacial period: Early occupants mainly hunt caribou with microlithic weapons at the end of spears propelled by throwing boards or atlatls.
1,200 years ago: A massive volcanic eruption along the Yukon-Alaska border blankets much of southern Yukon with thick deposits of volcanic ash. First appearance of the bow and arrow in Yukon.
1750 – 1890: The height of trade between coastal Tlingit middlemen and interior Yukon people supplying furs to markets in Asia, Europe and North America.
1825: Sir John Franklin begins searching for the Northwest Passage and maps the Arctic coastline from the mouth of the Mackenzie River to the Alaskan North Slope.
1848: Robert Campbell establishes Fort Selkirk, for the Hudson’s Bay Company at the mouth of the Pelly River.
1852: Coastal Tlingit traders run the Hudson’s Bay Company traders out, abandoning Fort Selkirk.
1867: The Dominion of Canada came into being July 1. Parliament outlines its conditions for accepting the Hudson’s Bay Company land to thewest of the old Upper and Lower Canadas. Russia sells Alaska to the United States.
1882: A party of prospectors crosses the Chilkoot Pass for the first time and prospects the Sixtymile and Fortymile rivers during the next year.
1883: American Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka creates the first modern survey of the Yukon River.
1886: More than 200 prospectors arrive in Yukon’s interior and establish a trading post at the mouth of the Stewart River. A strike of coarse gold on the Fortymile River draws attention away from other areas.
1887: A trading post is erected at the Fortymile River mouth and becomes the first gold rush town.
1888: Coal for Yukon use is mined near present-day Carmacks.
1889: Alaska whalers establish a winter base at Herschel Island in Yukon’s Arctic waters.
1895: Inspector Constantine of the North-West Mounted Police and 20 men are sent to uphold Canadian sovereignty and maintain law and order in Yukon. The police act as Dominion land agents, custom collectors, magistrates and represent all government departments.
1896: Skookum Jim, George Carmack and Dawson Charlie strike gold on Bonanza Creek in the Klondike River drainage. Word spreads and creates the world-famous
1898 Klondike Gold Rush.
1898: Ottawa passes the Yukon Territory Act to constitute Yukon as separate and distinct from the North-West Territories. Dawson City becomes the territorial capital city and is the largest Canadian city west of Winnipeg.
1900: White Pass & Yukon Route railway establishes the town of Closeleigh (later called Whitehorse) and connects to Skagway, Alaska. Their steam-powered sternwheelers travel the Yukon River and its major tributaries carrying people, mail and supplies.
1902: A winter road is built to link Dawson City and Whitehorse.
1906: The first silver ore is shipped from the Mayo region. Gold production falls in the Dawson City region.
1914: Silver King mine in the Mayo district ships out over 1,000 tons of ore.
1919: Keno Hill Mine is discovered and in production by the end of 1920.
1935: Martha Black runs for Parliament and wins after her elected husband, George Black, falls ill. She is the second Canadian woman to sit in the House of Commons.
1942–43: More than 10,000 American military and civilian personnel arrive to construct the Alaska Highway.
1953: Yukon’s capital city moves south from Dawson City to Whitehorse.

1973 - present
1973: Elijah Smith and a delegation of Yukon First Nation chiefs travel to Ottawa with the document Together Today for our Children Tomorrow and begin working on Yukon land claims.
1993: A final version of the Umbrella Final Agreement was signed by the governments of Canada and Yukon, and Yukon First Nations as represented by the Council for Yukon Indians (now named Council of Yukon First Nations).
1995: The first Yukon First Nation Final (land claim) and Self-Government Agreements take effect.
2003: A new Yukon Act comes into effect April 1 and confirms the provisions of the Devolution Transfer Agreement. It gives the Government of Yukon direct control over a much wider variety of provincial-type programs, responsibilities and powers.
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