The Adventures of Andrew Maurer

We had another scenic day of driving today up highway 37 and the Alaska highway. We started the day with a fantastic idea – adding chocolate chips to our oatmeal. It made for a very nice change. Later in the day we saw something that looked like a baby moose, but we later found out was a cariboo.

Sometime after Dease Lake, we realized that we would need gas within the next few hundred km. Unfortunately, all of the gas stations in the tiny towns we passed were closed for the season. We made it up into the Yukon and to the junction with the Alaska highway with the gas gauge down to empty.

Seeing a gas station, we drove to it, but found that it was closed. We tried to leave, following the tracks through the snow of another vehicle. Buy just as we got halfway over the little mound of snow, the car got stuck. We tried to reverse, but the car was being propped up by the centre on snow, so the tires weren’t getting any traction. After 30 minutes or so of digging and with the help of a climbing rope dog leash and a pull from some friendly Utah’ers, we were out.We made it the 25km to Watson Lake to a gas station to fill up. We were also pleasantly surprised to find some showers.

We made camp halfway to Whitehorse at a picnic site called Swan Lake. There was a snowbank in the way between us and our desired tent spot by the lake, so we got to work shovelling, and worked up a hearty appetite in the process. It was a beautiful tent site, with a stream (though frozen the next morning), and a brilliant view over the lake and the mountains. Dinner was sprouted green lentils with tomato sauce and a glass of wine.