August 1, 2024 - Alaska Flight
Day 4A - Watson Lake to Whitehorse, Yukon
Departing Watson Lake on a gray morning.
   
Bye, bye Watson Lake.  See you in three weeks.
   
After takeoff, I angle southwest to rejoin the Alcan Highway.  I pass the Liard River.
   
Looking down at Nugget City, home of cabins, campsites, restaurant, the Baby Nugget RV Park, gift shop and all important gas pumps.  A true oasis in the wilderness!
   
On the road again!
   
I dip down to fly low alongside of the highway.  Not a vehicle in sight.  I imagined doing a touch and go but that's as far as it went.
   

Ah, a little sun to brighten up the morning.

That light blue bridge crosses the Rancheria River.
   
 
   
 
   
Passing a strangely colored lake.
   
 
   
 
   
Looks like I'll be entering the mountains soon.
   
Cloud-covered mountains.
   
Here we go!  Into the mountains.
   
Very pretty though.  Reminds me of the Scotland Highlands.
   
 
   
Looking south.
   
Passing by the Continental Divide Lodge.  It has a restaurant, motel, campsites and RV parking.  And gas.
   
Close by the Continental Divide Lodge is, amazingly, an airstrip.  It's the Pine Lake Aerodrome, with a 3,000 foot gravel runway.  No services.
   
The dark overcast makes for poor picture quality.
   
I see a lake in the distance.
   
It's Swan Lake.
   
Looking south across Swan Lake.
   
At the west end of Swan Lake is Swan Lake Basecamp which is basically a park where you can camp plus all the daylight activities.  Notice the seaplane tied up to the dock.
   
Looks like weather to the north.
   
Getting rained on a little as I approach some more lakes.
   
Passing to the south of big Morley Lake.
   
Now approaching Teslin Lake which is even bigger.
   
Actually, Teslin Lake is long and narrow,
   
Halfway up the lake is the town of Teslin which as you can see also has an airstrip.
   
The town of Teslin.   Just to the right of the bridge is the Yukon Motel & Restaurant which also has a gas station, gift shop and RV park.
   
Looking down at Teslin Airstrip.  No services although they do have a radio station.
   
Continuing northwest up the side of Teslin Lake.
   
Nearing the end of the long lake.
   
 
   
 
   
This area is called Johnson's Crossing.  The Alcan Highway crosses Teslin Lake over the bridge.  Johnson's Crossing Lodge is on the other side.
   
The highway turns to the west and comes to Little Teslin Lake.  (The big Teslin Lake turned into the Teslin River and continued northwest).
   
This must be one of the emergency airstrips they built alongside Alcan Highway when the highway was built.
   
Approaching Squanga Lake.
   
Followed by Summit Lake.
   
Approaching an interesting little mountain range.
   
I can understand why this is called Mount White.
   
 
   
That's Marsh Lake up ahead.
   
This little post is called Jake's Corner.  Which is appropriate since the Highway turns 90 degrees from southwest to northwest.  Jakes has a gas pump and maybe a restaurant.
 
   
Looking south at Little Atlin Lake.
   
Continuing northwest towards Marsh Lake.
   
The mountains to the west a pretty with a little sun on them.
   
A little creek winds its way through the mountains to the northeast.
   
Marsh Lake.
   
Marsh Lake has an island -- at left - called, you guessed it, Marsh Lake Island.   I'm at the northwestern end of the lake.
 
I didn't realize it at the time, but at the center of the picture is the headwater of the mighty Yukon River.
 
From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi)[15][16] long and empties into the Bering Sea at the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta.   The longest river in Alaska and Yukon, it was one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Gold Rush.
   
There are all sorts of lakefront houses at this end of the lake.  The reason?  We're getting close to Whitehorse which is a good size town.
   

For some reason, I did not get any pictures of the Yukon River.

A short time after leaving Marsh Lake, Whitehorse comes into view.  Whitehorse Airport has a control tower so I gave them a call 15 miles out.  The tower controller was friendly and  just had me do a straight in approach to runway 31R.
   
On a long final for runway 31R.  The long runway 31L is closed for maintenance.  You can see the Alcan Highway on the left and Whitehorse town and Yukon River on the right.
   
Getting closer.
   
I made it.  Here I am at the north end of the airport, at the self-service fuel pump.
   

This airport was definately a happening place, with lots of airplanes taking off and landing.

Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada.  Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which rises in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in Alaska. The city was named after the White Horse Rapids for their resemblance to the mane of a white horse, near Miles Canyon, before the river was dammed.

As of the 2021 Canadian census, the population was 28,201 within city boundaries and 31,913 in the census agglomeration. These figures represent approximately 70 and 79 percent, respectively, of the entire population of Yukon.

Until 1942, rail, river, and air were the only way to get to Whitehorse, but in 1942 the US military decided an interior road would be safer to transfer troops and provisions between Alaska and the US mainland and began construction of the Alaska Highway.  The entire 1,600 mile project was accomplished between March and November 1942.  The Canol pipeline was also constructed to supply oil to the north with a refinery in Whitehorse.
   
Some serious runway/taxiway construction going on as well.
   
This Cessna 170 pulled up for fuel and I chatted with the pilot.
 
I didn't have time to do anything except get fuel.  There are places to see in Whitehorse.  There are the Yukon Transportation Museum and Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre (Natural History Museum) both within walking distance of the airport.   In town is the highly regarded MacBride Museum of Yukon History.
   
SPOT track from Watson Lake to Whitehorse.
   
 
   
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