Whitehorse to Ross River - Yukon Territory

We arrived in Whitehorse by mid-afternoon with sufficient daylight to allow some (not enough) time to explore the city.

Despite its small size (relative to most of the provinces of Canada), Whitehorse has a real cosmopolitan feel. My brief walk of the city turned up art studios and frame shops, the Yukon Visitors Center, internet cafes and various shops to suit every need.

Whitehorse is the capital of Yukon Territory, and with a population of over 24,000 it is the largest city in all of the three Canadian territories: Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut. Whitehorse accounts for almost 3/4 of the entire population of the territory, but despite having the main population center, it has the smallest land mass (by far) of the three territories.

To give you some idea of just how desolate the entire region that comprise three territories is, consider that: 1) the land area of the three territories is larger than that of the 48 contiguous United States of America, 2) the official web site of the Yukon communities lists only 18 communities for the entire territory and 5) the total population of the three territories is less than 106,000. It is not unusual to drive 40-50 miles and never even see a house.

The snowmobile plans continue to be in a state of flux; from Whitehorse we traveled back towards Watson Lake to Johnson's Crossing, in order to pick the trail to snowmobile to Ross River.

It was scheduled to be a long day for snowmobile riders and chase vehicle drivers alike, and in that regard we were not disappointed. The riders would take the summer roads to Ross River and the chase vehicle drivers would drive the longer route around by returning to Whitehorse, driving north to Carmacks, then turn west to Ross River.

From my perspective as a chase vehicle driver it was a beautiful scenic route that followed along the Yukon River, but it was not without some confusion. After stopping to capture a photo of the captivating scenery, I lost the track the rest of the caravan. Frustrated, a bit confused and fearing that the snowmobile riders might, in fact, need some assistance, I passed up scenic shots that I would have normally paused to appreciate. As it turned out, there was little to worry about; I arrived at Ross River after dark, only minutes behind the other drivers and well ahead of the snowmobilers.

For their part the snowmobile riders had a long and very tough day; by all accounts they went from sled-to-sled taking turns being "pulled-off" the trail by the unforgiving snow conditions. They arrived at the Ross River Hotel at about 11:30 Pm, and although they were obviously tired from their long day, there was not a sour word to be heard - it was all part of the bargain!