June 18, 2024.
I was intrigued by the Carcross Desert since noticing it on our driving map. Now it was directly in line with our route back to the Alaska Highway from Skagway, so we had to make a stop.
Sand dunes
A small informational display greeted us at the parking area. The Carcross Desert, not technically a desert due to its humidity, is a one square mile patch of sand dunes left behind by the evaporation of glacial lakes. Today, more sand is carried to the dunes from a modern day lake nearby. Whatever you want to call it, the dunes offers an awesome view and a great place to take a walk.
Obviously I wanted to walk up the highest sand dune. The sun was on full blast and the outdoors was calling. I kicked off my shoes, grabbed my fanny pack and hopped out of the van. The sand was very fine and soft. We wandered around from flower patch to flower patch, seeking out the endemic lupine and other beautiful blooms. I was shocked to see horsetail growing right out of the sand!
We made a beeline for the top of the dunes. Up there, we could see the dense forest just on the other side as well as grand mountain vistas in every direction. We could also see a bunch of ATV tracks and were reminded just how lucky we were to catch it at a quiet moment. I did a handstand, the first once since spraining my elbow about a month ago, and we ran back down the sand to the parking lot.
Whitehorse
About 45 minutes later, we ended up in Whitehorse, where I’d secured a place for us to stay for the night. While we were in town, we took advantage of town amenities like restaurants, laundromats and shops. My overall impression of Whitehorse was just, fine. I was happy to see all the nice murals, pride crosswalks and the inclusive vibes in most places. It just felt a little run down. People drove like maniacs, everyone was oblivious to pedestrians and there wasn’t actually much going on considering it’s the biggest town in Yukon.
They did have a nice Visitor Center, however, which provided us with a ton of information and a free 3-day visitor’s parking pass to use in town. And the MacBride Museum was excellent. We spent so much time wandering through the informative, interesting and beautiful exhibits that my feet were killing me by the time we were ready to leave. Otherwise, the food at both restaurants we visited was kind of bad and there’s not much else to report. Fortunately, the rest of the Yukon had been (and will continue to be) an amazing place to visit.
Miles Canyon
I checked a local events calendar on our way to Whitehorse and noticed that the Yukon Conservation Society was leading a free guided tour of Miles Canyon, so we happily attended. Our tour guides were two young, enthusiastic people. One grew up in Whitehorse and another was working there over the summer. Both had a passion for Canadian history and the environment and shared volumes of knowledge with us on our walk.
The purpose of the tour was to visit “Canyon City,” or what’s left of one of the old towns from the Gold Rush days. But they supplemented that story with the stories of First Nations history, modern government, local culture, botany and so much more. I realized while on this tour how very little I knew of the history of Canada. I was grateful that they (and the two older Canadians on the tour) did not judge me for my basic questions, instead offering up clear information to fill the gaps in my knowledge. They were all so engaged and happy to talk that our tour went over time by 30 minutes.
It’s really fun to find these free opportunities to meet local people (and travelers too!) as we go from place to place. I always end up learning about things I had no clue about. The phrase “you don’t know what you don’t know” is top of mind whenever I finish up a program. It’s one thing to read something from a book or sign, it’s another to be able to have some back-and-forth with a human being who is well-informed about a topic you’re not familiar with. I’ll keep reading online event calendars, visitor guides and bulletin boards to find these great local experiences.