Day 20: Boya Lake - Marsh Lake: a long travel day in the Yukon

פֿאַרעפֿנטלעכט: 08.09.2024

1.8.24

The weather this morning is cold and windy. The seam was probably the coldest yet, we froze without a wool blanket.

Today marks the longest leg of the vacation:

We have over 500 km ahead of us towards Whitehorse. I thought for ages about how to plan the route and kept changing everything. When our Inside Passage ferry was suddenly unavailable on our desired date, I suddenly had 2 extra days for the north, which gave us the rest day yesterday at Boya Lake amongst other things. Since there’s not really much to see on the route today, we decided to drive a long distance. Originally, we resigned ourselves to having to find an fcfs spot somewhere, but when Yukon Parks opened a reservation window for 4 parks, it was clear: we want to play it safe and have a reserved site for the evening when we arrive.

So we opted for the Marsh Lake Campground, where I was able to reserve a site in advance. Now we can approach the day chill and stress-free without needing to look for an open campground.

For us, it’s total relaxation - others may find it stressful, but we feel better this way. And quite honestly: if we for any reason can’t cover the distance or find the perfect site elsewhere, then that’s how it is - I will have thrown 12 € (18 CAD) away.

We leave the beloved Boya CG around 8:30 AM. The lack of sun and the cool wind make our farewell easier.

Stewart Cassiar Hwy - Remains of a forest fire

However, we don’t get far today. After about 15 minutes, we have to pull over to the right, as our son complains of motion sickness for the first time on this vacation...

We repeat this game 2 more times, and then the teenager opts for the Vomex tablet - which completely knocks him out. He sleeps soundly in his seat at the table, with his head against the window and headphones on.

Okay, let’s let him sleep.

On the way to Watson Lake, we drive about 20 km through burned forest. It looks really bad. A truly terrible fire must have raged here.

We leave British Columbia and shortly after find ourselves in the Yukon!

Shortly after, we leave the Stewart-Cassiar Hwy and turn right at Junction 37 towards Watson Lake. The slight detour of nearly 20 km was planned in advance, as we need to refuel. We also want to check out the Sign Post Forest. Once we arrive in Watson Lake, we look for the Wye Lake Park, where we can dump for free. We don't have much water left either, but we hope to refill at Marsh Lake.

Next, we go to the Sign Post Forest - a true forest of signs where really all kinds of signs can be found. We are completely blown away and admire the many funny (place) signs, finding Frankfurt/Kelsterbach along with Berlin - just around the corner from our home. Hehe, how funny, we didn't even know we lived in the Yukon.

Sign Post Forest (forest of signs) Watson Lake

Since my eSim unfortunately continues to refuse to cooperate, we stroll to the nearby Visitor Center to use the free WiFi along with the restrooms. A quick check of a few emails and WhatsApp messages, checking the weather for the next 3 days (it’s supposed to get sunnier again), and then collecting some informational brochures.

The Visitor Center is nice, has many informative exhibits and videos, e.g., about the construction of the Alaska Highway. Additionally, there are showers and a fitness room (we don’t need it, but it’s worth mentioning 😅), and apparently also a swimming pool, as it’s also a Recreation Center.

We wake up our son and walk through the Sign Post Forest with him again, then we head to the gas station next door to refuel. We fill up for 1.88$/liter and continue on the Alaska Highway northward.

After another 130 km, we stop at the Rancheria Falls parking lot. It’s raining, perfect weather to have lunch (today sandwiches, pasta salad, and tacos). The rain stops just as we finish (perfect timing), and we walk the 500m trail to Rancheria Falls.

Nothing special, but the boardwalk is nice and a bit of movement after 500 km of driving feels good.

Today is the day: I get to take the wheel!

So far it hasn’t really happened, or my husband found driving not very strenuous (he enjoys driving the 'ship' too), but 500 km is too much for him now.

I get to drive the nearly 100 km stretch along the Yukon-BC-Yukon route to Teslin, where I park at the lookout on Teslin. Just as I’m about to continue, my husband grabs the keys and says he will drive on (bad co-driver 😜).

The weather remains mixed, the sun doesn’t show up too often, but the landscape is still beautiful, the mountains are rising, and the roadworks are decreasing. Today is a travel day, so I really don’t care about the weather.

Around 6 PM we reach the Marsh Lake CG, which is only half full. After 8 PM, it gets a bit busier, but many sites remain empty here. I had made a reservation, but it really wasn’t necessary here. This gives me hope for the days when we have to look for an fcfs campground (which will happen 3 more times), but it seems that it’s indeed less busy up here in the Yukon than in BC.

At least we hope so!

At the campground, there’s free firewood, which we find very cool. Our son finds his new hobby in chopping wood, and we enjoy our first campfire of this vacation! Hooray!!!!!!!!

There’s no fire ban here!!!

We walk briefly to the lake and the day-use area and find a water filling station. However, the water shoots out of the tap with extreme pressure. We have an empty liter bottle with us that we want to fill, as we hardly have any water left (and we need to brush our teeth). We manage to fill the water bottle without getting soaked from the spray 😜