They opened the road to Whitehorse at 8 last night. The line of trucks was as far as you could see in either direction. The RCMP ran the first set of trucks through with a pilot car and after running all night the road was open for everyone when we got up. Since I was awake at 5:30 and managed to wake Karen up also, we decided to get an early start and we were on the road by 6:30 the morning. It took us over an hour to drive to the point that the washout closed the road. The road was closed for about 150 miles because most of the space between contained many bridges and no services so they didn’t want anyone stranded there. If emergency services were needed, they were not sure they could be provided if any additional areas went out. Except for the areas that had been washed out, the road was in surprisingly good condition.
This early start allowed us to get to Whitehorse about noon. Since we were so early, we decided to see what we could of Whitehorse and leave for Dawson City tomorrow. We headed into town as soon as we set up and took a tour of the SS Klondike. The SS Klondike is a stern-wheeler that was used to move material and passengers between Whitehorse and Dawson City until 1955.
Next stop was a Quilt Shop (go figure?). Then we went to a grocery store. Ever been to a grocery store where entire sections (like the whole produce section) were empty? Supplies had to be flown in during the road closure and the shelves are just starting to be restocked. They still had not received any produce and had shortages of other fresh items, like dairy and meat. The town is clean and modern, and many buildings have murals painted on the side.
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