Paxson Lake, Alaska ~ Haines Junction, Yukon

We travelled from Paxson Lake with three overnight stops and driving over 750 km on our way back to Whitehorse, Yukon.

After our overnight stay at Paxson Lake Campground, we were ready to make our way south to Gakcona Junction then northeast to Tok.

Wrangell Mountains

We were north of the Wrangell Mountains so we could enjoy some of the mountain tops that were able to peek through the clouds.  There are several high peaks in that range but I am not sure which one I have this photo of but the windswept snowtop was impressive to see.

Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge

We had an overnight stay in Tok before we headed south to cross the border.  We made a stop at the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge for tourist information.  There are 280,000 hectares (700,000 acres) dedicated to the Refuge for nesting and migrating birds.

Beaver Creek, Yukon

 We crossed the border into the Yukon and would follow Highway 1.  We stopped at Beaver Creek, a small community with a tourist center, had our lunch and continued on.

Graceful swan dance

As we continued our travels on this nice sunny day, we made some stops and I was able to get some photos of a beautiful swan as he spread his wings.  He was one of several we saw along this stretch of road.

Saint Elias Mountains

The Saint Elias Mountains are the youngest mountain range in Canada at five to ten million years. Those many years ago, there was a shift of the continental plate causing a wedge from the Gulf of Alaska to push up under North America.  This created mountains from rocks that had been buried up to ten kilometres (6 miles) underground!

Long forgotten boat

The founders of Burwash came during the gold rush of 1903 but stayed on to establish a trading post after the gold rush was over.   They had a very successful guiding business, as well but there is very little left now.  What had once been a very popular resort only a couple of years ago, has now become a deserted building with remains of some old boats sitting lakeside.

Dahl Sheep 

We went into a very modest looking building at Burwash Landing called the Kluane Museum of Natural History.  They had a very impressive interior that was full of wildlife, most of them displayed behind glass enclosures in realistic settings, others were not behind glass .

Kluane Lake

Kluane Lake is the largest one in Yukon.   It is a good place to fish for whitefish, trout and chum salmon.   This was a busy fish camp and many would come here to trade before the Burwash Landing was established in 1904.

Pine Lake Campground view

We found a nice campsite at Pine Lake Campground just past Haines Junction.  It was a government park with large sites and no water or power but very reasonable rates.  We had a walk around the park and there were some very rustic but interesting sights to see before ending our day sitting around the campfire telling stories.