"The spell of the Yukon!" a Whitehorse Travel Page by Darby2

Lapie lakes on the Canol Road

Aah, the spell of the Yukon.... Northern lights, gold, cold (-63 C), endless forests, vast areas of tundra, the Highest mountains in Canada (Mount Logan, 19,524'), the midnight sun. I have visited this territory 4 times since 1975.
Largest city is Whitehorse, the capital which is on the Alaska Highway. The other major city is Dawson City, in the middle of the Yukon goldfields. At one time (1898) Dawson was one of the largest cities in northern Canada in the middle of the Klondike gold rush.

Dawson is near the southern terminus of the Dempster Highway which winds its way 730 km over the Ogilvie and Richardson Mountains all the way to Inuvik, NWT the most northerly point you can drive to in North America.

One of my favorite spots in the Yukon is off the beaten path- The Lapie Lakes on the Canol Road between Ross River and Johnson Crossing in the Pelly Mountains. Lapie Lakes is a pristine subalpine area of small lakes filled with the most beautiful Arctic Grayling fish. My fondest memory is fishing at 1AM in the morning under the midnight sun on the Lapie River.
As you drive along this backroad towards Ross River you will notice what appears to be a covering of white snow on the ground, especially where ther is little vegetation--but don't be alarmed, its the deposit of fine white volcanic ash that was left after the eruption of Mount Katmai ,a volcano in the Aleutian Penninsula in Alaska in June 1912. It covers a large area of Alaska and Yukon, in some places it was more than 6 feet thick! (See the pic in the off the beaten track section)

Read about the legendary Albert Johnson who eluded the Mounties in the middle of winter!

The Mad Trapper of Rat River

A mile-by-mile travelog of the Klondike Highway between Skagway and the Alaska Highway