20.07.2013Whitehorse

The city is named after the White Horse Rapids near Miles Canyon of the Yukon river for their resemblance to the mane of a white horse.
Before the discovery of gold in the Klondike the area had been used by First Nations for several thousand years. The surrounding area had seasonal fish and hunting camps and was shared among many tribes.
After the start of the gold rush crowds of stampeders arrived at “White Horse” via steamship and were camping while deciding and organizing where to try their gold rush luck.
Later on the connection via railway and highway ensured Whitehorse remained an important hub to the north and even became the capital of the Yukon Territory.

After a very deep night sleep and a mosquito massacre in the car the next morning

we drove by Mayo which is famous for its silver mines. There we got one of the best museum tours so far, given by a totally enthusiastic 22 year old gold miner and continued down to Whitehorse. The weather was presenting its nicest side and we got to enjoy a very pleasant and paved road trip 😉

That weekend it rained three days straight and we decided to stay in Whitehorse and spend the time catching up on our blog, preparing the next steps of our trip and visiting several museums.
One very interesting museum besides the Steam ship SS Klondike II which can be boarded and explored on all levels was the museum of transportation.

Besides numerous insights and stories on how transportation evolved in the north of Canada they had parking lots full of old and sometimes restaurated vehicles, sometimes customized and singletons only.

All in all a more relaxing and “let the rain pass by” weekend…