June 2, More on Whitehorse

There are lots of museums in Whitehorse and one can become overwhelmed with too much information.  We all decided that the McBride Museum would be the most "bang for the buck".  They have special programs during the day and we decided to attend a reading of the Death of Sam McGee, a poem written by Robert Service.  Robert Service is probably one of the most well known names in the Yukon and his name pops up frequently.  He was a banker during the gold rush  and later was earning so much from his poems that he quit the bank to write full time.

                                          The Robert Service Cabin                                        

This is one of the gold separators. Placer gold is shoveled on the top and then water is added and everything is sifted and eventually the gold being heavy falls to the bottom.

We also attended a gold panning demonstration.  You pay $5.00 extra and get to keep any gold you find.  No one in our group was convinced to pay the $5.00 but we did watch.

The museum also has a new wing that has all kinds of interesting memorabilia and contraptions.

 I had never heard of a hair picker before.  It picks horse hair and I guess other other from hay etc and then the horse hair is used for stuffing such things as mattresses and pillows.

Early rendition of snow goggles.  See the little slits .  The first nation people used these in the snow to keep from going snow blind.

Later in the day Nancy and I hiked the Miles Canyon, where the Yukon River runs and the river boats also give tours.

                      Bill and Liz tried to take this boat, but it was on May 30 and the tours didn't start until
                      June 1.  Apparently it doesn't matter what day June 1 falls on, they stick to the June 1      
                      opening.

                                           Pedestrian bridge over the river.

There are lots of trails in this area.  Country skiing is big and a lot of the trails are marked for skiers in the winter.

We checked the road conditions and have decided we will leave the Alaskan Highway in the morning and travel the Klondike Loop North to Dawson City and then  to Top of the World Highway and reconnect with the Alaskan Highway in Tok.  The road conditions are favorable, probably due to the early warm spring.