A Short Look at Watson Lake (the town)

On Thursday, July 28, 2016, we moved from Teslin, in the Yukon Territory, south and east to Watson Lake, also in the Yukon.  We are now in new territory, because we passed the Alaska Highway's junction with the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, which we had taken north before turning northwest on the Alaska Highway.  While this stretch of the Yukon isn't as spectacular as other parts or many parts of Alaska, it has a striking beauty:

We arrived in Watson Lake, which is a sizeable town with lots of services and attractions.  Eddie and George already told you about the Sign Post Forest, which is very popular with tourists.  Another attraction is the Northern Lights Center, which features information, displays and videos of the aurora borealis.  Had we found a way to be up here in the winter, we wouldn't need this show to get our helping of beautiful atmospheric lights, but since the aurora borealis cannot be seen during the summer, this is worth doing and something we plan on visiting later this evening.

Watson Lake boasts not only a lake named "Watson Lake," which we bicycled to and we'll describe in the next blog post, but also several other lakes, each with its own particular beauty.  Directly across the street from our campground is First Wye Lake, which we hiked around and is about 2 miles in circumference.  Here is a photo from across the lake, looking at some of the buildings in town:

Because the lake was so close, we made it our destination each of the mornings we took coffee walks on this 5-night stay.  The lake is striking in the early morning sun when it's calm:

While the lake is not productive with fish, it does host all sorts of waterfowl, including a nesting pair of ducks, a flock of ducks, a pair of loons, and a family of three geese:

We guess that the one in the middle is the youngster, who will earn his/her wings shortly as the geese start heading south for the winter.

We were lucky that our stay included Saturday, because on that day each week, the town has a Farmer's Market at a cabin that is used as a warming hut in the winter and for other community functions:

We took the opportunity to pick up a scrumptious loaf of bannock bread, some lettuce, rhubarb and raspberries to make a pie, a peanut butter bar for David, some tomatoes, a jar of strawberry-rhubarb preserves, and a bag with a special Yukon blend of fireweed tea.  We consider that a very special haul, and we plan to enjoy these Yukon goodies for the next couple of weeks!