Category Archives: camping

Posts about where we stayed the night.

Whitehorse to Haines – A study in beautiful scenery

There was so much adventure and fun (i.e. struggle!) during this 4-day stretch!

The storms threaten!

Whitehorse to Haines is about 250 miles, with one small town (no grocery store) and one stunning mountain pass. We left Whitehorse later in the day after being thoroughly spoiled by our friend Alice. In fact, we were so well fed that we didn’t even bother making dinner that first night, opting instead to eat left-over pancakes from the breakfast she had made us!

Dirt turned to mud…

We camped a mere 20 miles from Whitehorse, just a small bit off the road on a small patch of hard-packed dirt next to an abandoned truck trailer. It was a great, hidden spot… but then the rain came. That hard-packed dirt became cement-like mud and after packing up in the morning our shoes were piled high with the stuff. It was like walking on platform boots!

The riding is good.

The storm threatens!

The rain was to come and go for the next three days en route to Haines, but somehow it wasn’t too bad for us. We put our coats and pants on and off, on and off as the showers moved over us. One day, we put them on 7 times! Our second day out of Whitehorse we rolled into a campground just as a big storm reached us. We were so lucky that there was a 24-hour restaurant attached to the campground, where we got the $5 pie special and found a sheltered spot to cook. They offered us free showers, but since we had spent all day in ‘showers’, we didn’t even want them.

Our big accomplishment so far: 1000 miles since Anchorage!! We were about 10 miles from Haines Junction, and we stopped to celebrate.

1000 miles!

We bought day-old cheese stick bread in Haines Junction, and headed out on Haines Highway. The rain continued to come and go, but it didn’t matter to us because the scenery was still stunning. Our longest day (79 miles) yet ended at Million Dollar Falls campground – we had ridden an extra 20 miles for the promise of a picnic shelter. We were not disappointed, the shelter was excellent and we ignored the ‘no tents’ sign and slept out of the continuing rain.

Hot dogs… bike-touring in the Yukon style.

Now, finally, here is the amazing story of the post:

After we made breakfast at Million Dollar CG, we went to retrieve our ‘smelly things’, which we had stored in the back of the bear-proof garbage bags right next to the shelter… and they were GONE. It seems that the park employee had changed the trash bags, and assumed our little bag was trash. We were at first numb, then we started to list all the things that we would need to get anew – Jason’s hand medicines, our spare prescription glasses (!!), our toothbrushes, creams, floss, etc. It was awful. Daisy had a meltdown when she thought the leatherman was lost too, but then we found it in a bear canister. So, finally, we got our stuff packed and limped out of the campground.

At the entrance to the highway we flagged down a Yukon Government Road Maintenance truck, hoping he would have a radio to call the park guy on. No luck, but he said that he knew the guy and a few of his hangout spots, and would check for us. Then if he did find the bag, he would bring it to the ‘Green Shack’ the next day. He also warned us that he believed it was a lost cause…

We continued on, trying to find some silver linings like: ‘Well, the bags are a lot lighter now!’, ‘I guess we didn’t really need that anti-itch cream.’, and ‘At least everything smelly fits in the bear canisters now!’. It took a long time to get cheered up, especially as we climbed higher up and toward the pass with the rains continuing to come and go. On the bright side – the scenery was stunning!

More scenery.

As we neared the summit, we saw the ‘Green Shack’ that we have heard so much about. It looked like nothing special from the outside, but on the inside we would find it to be a warm, cozy oasis. We turned off the road to leave a note for the road worker, and just as we did we saw his truck turn in behind us. Could it be true?! His passenger hopped out of the truck holding our bag full of items! He had found it, and driven all the way up to nearly the summit to get it to us! We were in so much shock, awe, and happiness that we didn’t even get the whole story from him before he got back in the truck and drove off the way he came.

The miracle workers in the Yukon truck.

The rest of the trip into Haines was actually great. The sun came out, the border was no problem, and the scenery continued to be stunning. As we neared town we met some rafting guys who live with our host in town (Thanks Andrew!). Haines is a great, great town, we have met and chatted with many folks and are happy to spend a few days here seeing the sights. Next stops – Juneau, Skagway, and then back to the Yukon!

Here are some more pictures of our descent into Haines. It was so lovely. I highly recommend this road to everyone!

Fish Wheels.

Scenery rolling into Haines – notice rockslide on the left.

Litter and it will hurt.

A long travel between towns – Dawson City to Whitehorse.

There are 333 miles between Dawson City and Whitehorse, which translates to five and a half days of riding through isolated, forested terrain. It was beautiful, and long, and almost always daylight. We saw ground squirrels, a fox, and a grizzly bear. We spent three nights camping next to the road, hidden in little pockets out of the view of drivers, and two nights in lovely Yukon government campgrounds. Now we are resting for a few days in Whitehorse, and staying with a friend I (Daisy) made on my last trip through the area nearly four years ago.

The 5-Finger rapids on the Yukon River.

This part of our trip is challenging: we must plan for long stretches between grocery stores, and spend many hours pedaling through scenery that is vast and very slowly changing. At times, it is psychologically tiring, particularly when the road is straight for miles at a time with strong headwinds! I will give you the highlights in this post.

Tailings cover the entire valley as you leave Dawson City.

Outside of Dawson City we rode through miles and miles of ‘tailings’, the giant piles of rock that were left over after the massive dredges finished digging up the rivers in search of gold. It is absolutely remarkable how we humans have changed the landscape, even in these remote areas. The first day of riding south was good to us – there was a strong enough tailwind that we didn’t even mind the rain that blew over us. We rode through miles of forests, and spent our fist night camping near a gravel pile. It was actually very nice!

Gravel pile campsite. Not bad!

Daisy and the largest mosquito we’ve ever seen!

We kept riding and riding, and finally found a little outpost of humanity in the quirky Moose Creek Lodge, where we also had our first experience with a tour bus full of folks. It was a big group from New Zealand milling around this funny little spot full of moose antlers, funny sculptures, and baked snacks. We ate some, filled up water, and kept riding until we found another hidden spot to sleep near the road.

The weather really began to get warm our third day out of Dawson, and we rode in short sleeves and shorts. The bugs are out too, and we started to get many many mosquito bites. I even got bites on my rear while sitting in a camp chair. Those little things are vicious. Just as we were getting ready to find camp this third day we head a crash in the woods next to us and both looked in time to see the back end of a grizzly bear, running quickly away from us. Of course, we decided to ride a little farther before making camp! Don’t worry, we take basic bear precautions and always cook far far from camp (like 10 miles), and store our food away from where we sleep too. I always cuddle the bear spray.

Our first glimpse of people and services again was in Carmacks on our fourth day out, where there was a wonderful grocery store with divine Nanaimo bars. We also met a fellow who had ridden from there to Guatemala and back. We spent far too long eating snacks and chips and cookies outside the grocery store, before carrying on to Twin Lakes: a lovely campground on the shore of a clear lake. We even waded in and splashed water on our tired, dirty arms and legs. What a treat!

Twin Lakes – just beautiful.

The scenery began to get fantastic the last two days before Whitehorse, and we had the sense that we were experiencing bike touring at its best. The valleys, rivers, and lakes next to us seemed almost prehistoric in their beauty, and I half expected to see Jurrasic animals loping across them. We made good time and loved watching the hills and mountains pass by us. We also loved stopping at a lodge for a meal-sized cinnamon bun. Yum! We actually didn’t even need lunch that day.

Fox Lake with a partial ice cover. It was noticeably chilly near the water.

Fox Lake with partial ice cover. It was noticeably more chilly near the water.

We spent our last pre-Whitehorse night on Lake Laberge, a stunning lake formed by the Yukon River. It was peaceful. When we awoke the next morning, however, the still air was gone and there was a roaring headwind all the way to Whitehorse. The highlight of that windy ride was a bold little fox, who didn’t mind our gawking at all.

The happy couple at Lake Laberge.

Now we are resting, and feeling very pampered. We are staying with a fantastic cook who has been feeding us non-stop. She has a lovely condo overlooking the Yukon River, and directly adjacent to a trail leading downtown. We will finish these updates and go to town to be tourists!

After our time here, we will go back to Alaska and visit Haines, Juneau, and Skagway. The stories up here of the gold rush era are intoxicating, and I can’t wait to go find a few books on local history at the bookstore!

We made it to Whitehorse!

Top of the World Highway: Tok to Dawson City Part II

I (Daisy) have been dreaming about this stretch of road for going on a year now. It did not disappoint – it was both beautiful and incredibly challenging.

Leaving the campground near Chicken, the road was gently climbing and the snow was coming down. Road conditions worsened until there were huge chunks of crushed rock between the size of an apricot and a clementine. This was a very difficult section to ride! We only had to walk a little bit though, and eventually the dirt was back. We have never been so happy to see a dirt road! It didn’t help that it snowed on us most of the morning as we climbed into the hills. We did, however, resist the urge to flag down a truck for a ride. We were tempted…

Yikes! SNOW!

Up, up, up, and cold.

Terrible gravel chunks on the US side. We had to walk a bit!

Goodbye for now Alaska – it has been memory-making.

As we got closer to the border, we started to climb, climb, climb, and the clouds started to clear. I think it reached about 40 degrees, which actually felt hot with all the clothes we were wearing. The views were expansive, and we climbed up the side of a mountain and could finally see the border crossing – a little cluster of buildings perched high up. We were so excited when we finally reached them, that we wanted to whoop and yell, but the border guard was so very serious that he kind of killed the mood. No matter, we were soon past him and into the Yukon.

We wild camped next to the road, and spent a very cold night warm and snug in our tent. In the morning we could see that it had snowed, and accumulated a bit on the tent. We opted for a quick breakfast of peanut butter and jelly tortillas before heading out. It was to be a tough, tough day for us, although we didn’t know it yet. The Top of the World Highway mostly sticks to ridges as it winds across the Yukon, but often dips far into a valley before climbing steeply up onto the following ridge. Some of those climbs felt eternal to us!

A dusting of snow and frozen water bottles in our wild camp.

The sun finally came out on our last day on Top of the World.

The weather was cold, but we could still see far in all directions and the mountains and river valleys were lovely. The road was sometimes pavement, but far more often it was gravel. We had a resolve-testing moment on an incredibly steep slope that had just had fresh dirt and gravel dumped onto it. I dubbed the machine doing that work ‘The Dream-Smasher’, and yes, we did have to push the bikes up a bit. It was so so steep!

Recently opened road next to big snow wall.

We realized in the afternoon that we did not have sufficient water for dinner, and started to worry a bit. We scooped up some snow to melt, and flagged down a car to ask if they had any extra water. The guy looked at us and said ‘You know, it would be faster to just commit suicide.’ Ummm… whatever? He had no water for us, but the next truck did. Phew!

After dinner we were very very excited because the road became more civilized, with guardrails and gentle slopes. Then…. the wonder of the downhill sign appeared. 14 km of downhill! It was incredible, particularly when it switched to pavement midway. We found the Yukon River campground just across the way from Dawson City. It is a lovely campground, where spent 3 nights as we took two rest days in Dawson. I am so excited to be here! Next Stop: Whitehorse.

The blessed ‘downhill ahead sign’. It was a wonderful descent.

Top of the World and Taylor Highways: We have been tested…

Woohoo! Dawson City!

And we passed! The past four days have truly been a challenge. The weather changed quite dramatically, we headed farther north, and we climbed substantially in elevation. Also, the road became very hilly and eventually turned to dirt and gravel. As you can imagine from these facts, we have been living adventurously these past days! Because you are reading this, you know we made it unscathed, and are now safe, happy, and warm in Dawson City.

Spring is around here somewhere…

Leaving Tok was a blast, literally, as we were blasted down the highway by a strong tailwind. It was a wondrous feeling to float practically effortlessly down the Alaska Highway. That all changed when we turned onto the Taylor Highway, where we immediately slowed to a crawl. The road dove up and down for the next 35 miles with lovely views of forests in various stages of recovery from forest fires. After lunch, eaten huddled below a turnout sheltered from the wind, we got very cold and had to run around in circles stomping our feet and clapping our hands. We likely looked just as crazy as we felt.

Eventually we reached the days highpoint, and then descended into camp on the banks of the West Fork of the 40 mile river (yes, that is actually the river’s name). We had enough water for dinner, but the campground had no extra for us. Then, there was a disastrous mishap during dish washing (oops), and we spilled it all. The river was far away, so we ended up filtering from a large puddle near our site. We were worried because the water was brown, even after a filter and a UV treatment, but we drank it anyways. It turns out that all the water in this area is brown!

Views from the Top of the World Highway.

Views from the Taylor Highway.

Taylor Highway – downhill ahead!

The only other camper there came to chat with us and warn us of the conditions on the Top of the World highway. We nodded… but of course we knew we would carry on regardless!

Beautiful Downtown Chicken – about the size of a postage stamp.

We rode up and down hills into the teeny tiny ‘town’ of Chicken, Alaska. In truth, it is a post office that is open 2 days a week, and three businesses that each claim to be the ‘true’ Chicken. In the end, we went to Beautiful Downtown Chicken, which wasn’t actually open yet, but luckily the cook there was willing to make us burgers on wheat bread and serve up some chicken soup. This place was a riot, and it was a blast to hear the characters coming through there.

Chicken Poop. Hee Hee!

For example, the cook was talking to a miner passing through and told the story of the last time he used a satellite phone, when it cost $7 per minute. He was on an isolated lake on a hunting trip and ran out of alcohol. He called his buddy, instructed him to go to his house and pick up a plastic bottle full of vodka, then tie something red on it and fly over the lake to drop it in the water. Apparently, hunting is impossible without vodka!

The Post Office in Chicken: Open 2 days a week.

After Chicken it was all dirt road but in excellent condition, at least until the next day when we began to climb into the hills towards the US-Canada border.

We camped just about 20 miles from Chicken. The next day we would start the loooong climb to the US-Canada border, and from there embark on Top of the World to Dawson City. That, however, is a post for tomorrow!

Pavement ended. Climbing out of Chicken.

The Philtrons

Cycling South America in 2026 with kids

Category Archives: camping

Whitehorse to Haines – A study in beautiful scenery

A long travel between towns – Dawson City to Whitehorse.

Top of the World Highway: Tok to Dawson City Part II

Top of the World and Taylor Highways: We have been tested…