The Yukon is the Place for Us!

 OK here it is.  Earthcaches are a great way to see interesting local sights.  And learn something in the process.  

So case in point is a place we went yesterday, the Beringia Interpretive Centre, where the geological history of Yukon is the focus.  Add to that the animals that were here, or are here now.  They have a huge wall of skulls to give you a sense of scale.  Interesting fact:  a large portion of Yukon was not covered in glaciers, rather was part of what is called Beringia, the area stretching from Siberia across Alaska to Northwest Territories.  So there are a lot of paleontological artifacts here in Yukon, including a LOT of mastodons.

  

Other cool spots:  the Miles Canyon.  This is south of Whitehorse and the result of slow moving lava flows that settled 15 meter thick columnar basalts here with the Yukon River forming a narrow canyon because it doesn’t erode like the lake bed does.  Views are tremendous.  Karen accused me of forcing her over dangerous terrain (the suspension bridge across the canyon).  There is now a hydroelectric dam just north of here, but in Klondike days this was 10 meters deeper and faster water which was treacherous for passage for gold miners.  

And then we get to escarpments.  So this entire area was a lake as the glaciers melted, and when the lake drained, the Yukon river was left, cutting its way through the land.  There are several areas where the remaining lake bed has resulted in these steep escarpments which are subject to erosion due to groundwater freeze/thaw cycles.  The one here is north of town and on the river but there is another huge one right in the middle of Whitehorse.  Its terrain is a bit odd actually, with the airport and the Alaska highway on the high ground and then a huge bluff and the downtown area below on the river bed.  We also checked out an oxbow lake (created when the river loops become cut off as the river straightens out and erosion/deposition blocks off the ends.  

To come over the next day:  pudding rock, another dangerous river area and some huge trench.  Stay tuned.