We visited Whitehorse on our way north and found it to be both scenic and interesting, so it was no surprise that we wanted to spend time there on our way south. One of the more interesting attractions was the Beringia Interpretive Centre. Beringia is the name that has been given to the land mass that connected Asia and North America during the last ice age. For nearly two million years, most of the Northern Hemisphere was cover by glacial ice, causing sea levels to drop several hundred feet. Even during an ice age, warm periods occurred and allowed plants to thrive on the exposed land. This attracted animals, and in turn humans, to cross between the continents. Archeological digs have found fossilized remains of mammals from that period, such as mastodon, giant beaver, and saber-toothed cat.
We also checked out some of the local plants that grow so well here, despite the short growing season.
The South Klondike highway leaves the Alaskan Highway near Whitehorse and terminates at Skagway, AK, where most of the prospectors arrived during the 1898 gold rush. This highway is among the most scenic places we encountered on this trip, although smoke from nearby forest fires did spoil the views somewhat. The light green color in this lake is caused by a white marl in the lake bed, the result of glaciers.
Many of the lakes in this region are fed by glaciers and have a distinct coloring caused by silt from the glaciers.
There were many majestic waterfalls along the highway.
Notice the different color where the glacial stream enters the river.
There are actually two lakes here, one fed by glacier while the other is created by a non-glacial river. They are separated by a narrow sand bar.
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