Whitehorse

The S.S. Klondike, on display in Whitehorse:

I asked a guy to take my photo at the paddlewheel.

I showed him where the iPhone lens was, but his finger managed to find it..  :-)

This guy may have the largest bicycle-wheel ball in the entire Yukon!

(But I haven't verified that)

Well, I'm back for breakfast at the McBlog Central Command and Control Center!

Road update:

It's hard to get news about the road here. the official website just keeps saying "closed" with no indication of how long repairs will take.

Some snippets I've heard from people on the street:

The grocery stores are having bare shelves for bread, milk, produce.

One store had a sign yesterday that they are having milk, meat, produce flown in.

The manager at McDonalds said they were only out of a few items, but she heard that the Campbell Highway may be open by late today.

I'm going looking for confirmation of that today.

If so, I would be able to backtrack 112 miles from Whitehorse back to Carmacks, and take the Campbell through the boonies to the Alaska Highway at Watson Lake, bypassing the washout around Teslin.

The Campbell "Highway" is 365 miles of gravel.

(Map at http://511yukon.ca/ )

Depending on the conditions, I may have to run it at 25-40 mph unless I can find somebody to trade my Concours for an Adventure bike with knobbies.  :-)

If I decide to go that route, I'll pick up a couple cans of chunky soup or pork & beans in case I have to spike camp. And first I have to confirm that there is gas available at Ross River.

A concern I have about waiting in Whitehorse for the Alaska Highway to re-open:

Can you imagine the logjam of tourists and trucks sitting in Teslin and Watson Lake waiting for the opening?

You can be sure that when it opens, it will be one-lane only with a pilot car to follow each way.

It could be the biggest line of traffic jam the Yukon has seen in years!