Back on the Cassiar, we drove through the first real rain we
had seen in months. We saw rivers and bogs and lakes every-
where. Unlike our dry California, they’ve still got old fashioned
multi-gallon flush toilets up north.
We also noticed that the seasons, as reflected by the trees,
change as much by latitude as by time of year. The trip started
with bright green trees and just a few days later, the leaves
were turning red and yellow. We even saw a deciduous conifer
that was turning yellow, weird. The fall colors accented the
majestic green mountains that were capped with snow. What an
unexpected treat.
It took three days just to cross British Columbia; redefining
my concept of huge. Passing a sign marked “Entering the Yukon
Territory” we knew we’d come a long way and we noticed the
increasing cold.
The Yukon is the historic home of the Klondike Gold Rush –
a place of legends. Ore trucks now replace logging trucks of old.
Once in the Yukon we traveled the legendary Alcan Highway.
The road took us north into the Yukon before passing back
through British Columbia and dropping down into Skagway,
Alaska. It had been forty-six years since I last stepped foot in
Skagway. Except for the huge docks to anchor city-sized cruise
ships, it was surprisingly familiar. A small town wedged into a
narrow valley leading to the Lynn Canal.
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
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