Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory. It gets its name from the Whitehorse rapids which were one of the major challenges for the Yukon gold seekers in 1898. The Whitehorse rapids were drowned below Lake Schwatka which was created when a power dam was completed just below them in the last 1950s. The dam also tamed the rapids in Miles Canyon, which ends about a mile above the dam. We spent the morning getting ourselves oriented to the town by visiting the Visitors Information Center and walking around. Our afternoon was spent climbing Grey Mountain, a peak that is about 2000 feet above Whitehorse (elevation about 2300 feet). We made the climb in our truck over a four wheel drive road. In the evening we attended The Frantic Follies, a long running vaudeville show with 1890s music and humor.

When we left the Frantic Follies around 11 p.m. the sun was still out. Whitehorse gets nearly 20 hours of daylight this time of year. By the time we headed back to the campground we were able to catch a sunset over the hills to the west of Whitehorse. It was still light at midnight. The sunrise is around 3:30 a.m. They call this area "The Land of the Midnight Sun." While the sun is not up at midnight, it is quite light at that time. They don't need to burn street and house lights much in the summer... the payback comes in midwinter when the sun is only up for about 5 hours.

Some have asked why we had not placed any video clips in the pages we published to date. The reason is that we have had some technical difficulty using the video editing software. We think that it is a software issue and are working to resolve it. In the meantime we will try to include video clips taken with Susie's digital camera.
Northern view of the Yukon River from Grey Mountain
Whitehorse viewed from Grey Mountain
A storm approaching Grey Mountain
Float plane approaching a landing on Lake Schwatka passing below the summit of Grey Mountain
Main Street
Frantic Follies dancers
Click here to view video
11:45 p.m.... almost sunset