Day 2: Whitehorse, Yukon

The minute you walk outside you can feel that the pace and lifestyle is more relaxed.  We started the day with a brief hunt for an iPhone charging cable which Bruce forgot.  The first store we tried didn’t have one but got directed to The Source beside the Wal-Mart, close to the Canadian Tire.  As those stores were the wrong direction we carried on to Downtown Whitehorse.  We strolled down by the Yukon River and soon realized we were getting hungry.

We stopped at Baked, a local bakery/coffee shop and really busy place.  The menu board advertises a winter special:  30 cents off any hot drink whenever the temperature dips below -30C.  

Refreshed with coffee and food we carried on to the Whitehorse Visitors Center to find out what is still open – we are travelling off season.  Some plans have changed but we won’t spoil the surprise.  The information center runs on its own schedule.  Behind the counter a digital sign told us that the next showing of a movie was in 14 minutes.  We asked what the movie was: As the crow flies was the response, but we won’t make you wait 14 minutes, we can start it now if you want…  The film offered some fabulous views of the Yukon from a Crow’s perspective.

After the film we carried our walk along the Yukon River going upstream.  We passed the SS Klondike, a National Historic Site.   It is now lunch time in Whitehorse and the path has a steady stream of walkers and runners on it.  We carry on upstream the wind is in our face and it chills, though not clean through to the bone.  The highway to our right is the Robert Service Way.  A series of interpretative signs tell us we are on the Millennium Trail.  A 5km loop along both sides of the river.  We decide to walk the whole trail enjoying the smell of fall leaves and the chatter of wildlife (squirrels).

After the walk we were both parched.  Based on the precipitation we are told that Whitehorse is a desert climate. We were warned we would be thirsty. After quenching our thirst we carried on shopping.  This time we go to the original Coast Mountain Sports.  Turns out Bruce also forgot his gortex shell.
We eventually found the charging cable at Staples; we found it before The Source.  Close to Staples was a Coffee and Tea shop.  We decided to pop in.  As soon as we went in we found a product we have been looking for: eCloth.  Can’t find it in Ottawa; found it in Whitehorse.  Friends swear by it for cleaning windows and our windows at home desperately need it.

Now we had heard about a set of stairs, the Black Street Stairs.  They connect the downtown with the trails that lead around the airport. Frequently used by runners for training.   Joanne has complained about it on Facebook and we read about (scroll down on link) the stairs before heading to the Yukon.  It was something we had to experience.  Today we walked the stairs.  Soon we will run them.  They will be tough.

Once Joanne got home and had a chance to relax – we all headed out to dinner at a local restaurant and called it an early night as none of us really had a full night’s sleep last night.

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