20 June. Enjoying Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

We were not prepared for how much we would like Whitehorse, Yukon.  It's the capital city of Yukon, with between 25 and 30 thousand people, about 80% of the total population of the entire territory.  It is a quaint town, clean as a whistle, and very modern.  There are well-kept parks all over the place.  The centerpiece of the city is the Yukon River. It's beautiful.  There are mountains to the west, but looming over the city is Grey Mountain a slab of granite rising to 5,000 feet, about 2,000 above the town itself. So we promptly decided to climb that puppy. And did.

The drive to the trailhead reminded me of any of a dozen drives we've made to mountains in Colorado.  4WD is required. The drop-offs are memorable, but at least the road is steep.  

It didn't take me long to figure out on this trail we would be above treeline.  Note, treeline this far north is at about 4,000 feet, quite different from the 12,000 foot treeline in Colorado.  The treeline gets closer and closer to sea level until somewhere around the Arctic Circle, where there are no trees.  This is potential habitat for two species of ptarmigan, Rock Ptarmigan and Willow Ptarmigan.  I was on the hunt.  It was spitting rain, so we were a little surprised to meet two women in their mid-20's on the trail. Both sported nice binoculars.  Turns out one was doing her PhD dissertation on Golden-Crowned Sparrow in the area. She said they were nesting, so it would be unlikely we'd see any.  I saw two beautiful birds, both males calling one of the prettiest songs in the genus.  I asked if they had any knowledge of ptarmigan in the area.  They said, "There is a Rock or Willow female with chicks that is pretty reliable over the ridge line."  I was off.  In short order Bean flushed a Rock Ptarmigan mom and one chick. The female flew to a rock about 20 yards from me. I was able to get some great photos.  Life Bird. Yeah!

2,000 feet above Whitehorse, the Yukon River looms in the background.  The trail reminded me so much of working to summit a 14er in Colorado.  Pam, John, and Mary were troopers.  Even against some exposure, they did very well.

The uphill sections were one thing, but we still had to make it back down. I am not sure how much longer any of our knees will be able to take the punishment.  Bean loved it as you might imagine.  Dory has a knee problem herself, but it did not seem to affect her excitement in the least.

Black Bear number 10 for us.  We saw this little guy while driving back from the trail head. John and I both carry bear spray at the ready. Truth is you don't really need to worry much about Black Bears.  However, I did see my first grizzly this morning while out birding on my own.  He ran across the road in front of my vehicle so I was not able to get a photo.