So I have traveled for two days to get to the research site (Dechenla Lodge in NW Territories of Canada). The first day involved commercial airplanes, and then the second day involved the prop plane. Some amazing views, mountains like I have never seen…
Day 1: I left my house at 4:15am, and finally arrived in Whitehorse, YT Canada by 4:45pm. So yes, our first stop is in the town/territory that is most famous for the Klondike gold rush. The Sam McGee poem is inspired from events that occurred here, and a 21-year old Jack London hiked along the Yukon River here, went back to his native Oakland, CA and then penned both Call of the Wild and White Fang, all based off of this area.
I met up with my former student Lilly in the Vancouver, BC airport, and then we flew here to Whitehorse. Once at the hotel, we dumped our stuff off before meeting up with some of our fellow Earthwatch participants for dinner. What a diverse group, with what will be a total of 6 participants. Here are some pictures of Whitehorse, YT. I would say, based on accents, many, many Europeans and Australians are visiting Whitehorse.
Day 2: At 9:30am we were picked up by the Tintina shuttle, which took us to the airplane hanger that this private. We, of course, stopped at Tim Horton’s for breakfast (a Canadian staple…). Because it was a beautiful day, the 2 hour plane ride was magnificent.
Pictures from the air:
Once we arrived at airstrip 222 in Northwest Territories (NWT), it was another 2 hour drive along the Canol trail to the Dechenla Lodge. Each vehicle (completely open, no windshield or roof) could only hold 3 people, including the driver. So we had to make two trips, and 2 hours each way, needless to say it was a full day of travel.
While waiting for our ride to come back and get us, our leader Steve showed us around a little bit. The lodge, and research site, is along the Canol Trail, which took 3 years to build (joint effort between US Military and Canada), it is a 10-inch pipeline that transported oil between Norman Wells, NWT to Whitehorse, YT during WWII. However, it was only in use for about 13 months before being shut down. However, we now have this 220 mile trail through this amazing area
Check out these abandoned vehicles from WWII (Steve pictured here)
And then it was finally our turn to be drive up the 10 miles on the Canol Road. This ride is ROCKY, through (not across) rivers!!
Video of this ride
And then I had this amazing video of us going through the river in this vehicle, where I am tilted at a 45 degree angle, but I can’t seem to get it to upload. If I can figure this technical glitch out,
But again, the mountains go on and on – I can’t even express how amazed I am.
Tomorrow, we start going to the first site….
Your trip just started and it’s already quite the adventure! Pretty awesome, thanks for sharing.
Glad you are enjoying!