View across Kluane Lake
Butterfly, Haines Junction Visitor Centre
Packing up the campsite, Takhini Hot Springs campsite
Takhini Hot Springs
Tony writing the blog at Takhini Hot Springs campsite
With the trailer needing repairs it was decided that Charlie would go back into Whitehorse and find an auto-electrician with knowledge of electrical braking systems. Meanwhile the majority of our group stayed on at the Takhini camp and packed up tents, cooking gear and food containers. We then went for a swim in the hot spring pools which were immediately adjacent to the campsite. The larger of the two pools was at a very comfortable 37oC but the pool next to it was supposedly at 47oC which was far too hot to withstand for long, although Corinne spent a few minutes at this temperature before admitting defeat. After four hours in Whitehorse Charlie eventually returned with the trailer brakes fixed or more correctly, ‘back to normal’ although there was suspicion that they are still not fully functional. Once the trailer was loaded up we were back on the road by 1.30 pm and now having left the Klondike Highway we turned westwards onto the Alaska Highway and headed for Haines Junction. At Haines Junction there was an excellent Interpretation Centre giving very detailed information on the Kluane National Park and Reserve where we’re staying for the next two days. We then followed the Alaska Highway for another 100 km to our camp-site at Destruction Bay which is on the western shore of Lake Kuane. The camping ground is a large area and we were located long way from the facilities so access to water, toilets and showers was 250 m away. Once again we are without any electricity but there was a facility in the mini-bus for charging camera batteries. Team Two cooked the evening meal of chicken curry which was well received by the troops and after a chat and a few drinks around the campfire we all headed to bed for an early night even though it was well after 10.00 pm. There are quite a few walks and tomorrow we’ve decided to do another challenging walk involving a fairly extensive and steep climb!