Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Tagish, Yukon ~ Atlin, BC

We left Skagway and Alaska behind us when we followed Hwy 2 north then turned onto Hwy 8 also called Tagish Road.  We had a fairly wet day for travel; we left after the White Pass train ride so it was not an early start.

Bridge over Tagish River in Yukon
We made our overnight stay on the Tagish River at the Six Mile River Resort in Tagish, Yukon that night.  We parked in a small grassy field with RV hook-ups, there were cabins and a restaurant and lots of things to see.  We did have a delicious dinner there, and enjoyed the hosts of the resort.  Click here to learn more about this great spot.

Lake views and Coast Mountains
The next morning was heavy fog again but the sun soon came out as we crossed the border again and traveled down to Atlin, BC.  This road was originally built to be part of the Alaska Highway and takes us 94 km (58 mi) from Jakes’ Corner.  The Atlin Road is partly paved with some parts gravel.
Teresa Island on Atlin Lake, BC
In the summer of 1899 Atlin was a busy mining town with a population around 10,000 people.  It thrived for about 15 years until the gold rush was over.  What a quiet quaint little town this is today with about 400 people enjoying this beautiful view of Atlin Lake.  Being an unincorporated community, much of it is run by volunteers.

Sites of Atlin, BC
There were several old buildings to see and old equipment on display at the museum making for an interesting walk around town.  Many of the buildings are used as the old courthouse shows. They host an Atlin Arts and Music Festival every year.  The fishing attracts fisherman to the area and the Atlin Lake, the largest natural, freshwater lake in BC. looks like a great place to explore.

The Tarahne
The Tarahne was a motor vessel that toured guests around Atlin Lake for twenty years.  It was abandoned in 1937 after a short but successful time.  The British Columbia Heritage Trust gave a grant to the Atlin Historical Society in 1985 and the Tarahne soon became the venue for many events held in Atlin.

Llewellyn Glacier
We considered staying out of town at a provincial park so took a drive out and came upon this view of the Llewellyn Glacier.  Looking at this photograph, it appears to be of a painting but it is not, it is just as it was when I took this photo of the glacier. 

Norseman RV park on Atlin Lake
We decided to come back to town and chose to stay at the Norseman RV Park, which sits right on the Atlin Lake.  We got to stay in the “penthouse” as the small spit was called and enjoyed our end-of-day visit in the sunshine.

Float plane take-off
Our evening included watching the float plane take off from right out in front of our RV park, would have loved to have seen the views he would enjoy.  The quiet lake on a quiet sunny evening as we sat around the fire made for a great finish to our day.

Raindrops on RV window
Morning brings the rain.  We have had lots of rainy times but having been driving most of that time, it really did nothing to spoil the adventures.  We’ve had lots of sunshine, too.  We made one more trip to Whitehorse for truck parts but would soon be heading home.  Click here to follow our final days of the great northern adventure.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails