The rest of the North Klondike Highway

A leisurely start the next morning and pretty much the whole next day was spent driving - not because the distance from Carmacks to Dawson City was all the great (about 400 kms) but because there were just so many lovely places to stop, look out, and take pictures of course!

Five Finger Rapids was a dangerous place on the river during the Klondike gold rush and river travel eras.  Towards the end of sternwheel river traffic the area was finally widened, reducing the effect of the rapids and making travel much safer - although it still is a very beautiful spot along the river. 

A little bit further along and another fantastic view of the river.

Lhútsäw Wetlands, also known as Von Wilczek Lakes and locally known as Jackfish Lake, is an important wetland complex for duck staging, nesting and moulting.  It has been identified as a Special Management Area under the Selkirk First Nation Final Agreement and, when the management plan is completed, will be designated as a Habitat Protection Area.

Pelly Crossing is home to approximately 300 full-time residents and is the traditional territory of the Selkirk First Nation.  Before the settlement of Pelly Crossing, trade in the area was centred at Fork Selkirk, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post built at the confluence of the Yukon and Pelly rivers.  Fort Selkirk was a stopoff for sternwheelers travelling the river during the gold rush and served as a ferry-crossing point until the 1950s when a bridge was built over the Pelly River, along the North Klondike Highway.  At that time the residents of Fort Selkirk relocated closer to the bridge, where the community of Pelly Crossing now stands.

Again, stopping for a look along the Yukon River:

This important wetland, known as Gravel Lake, on the Tintina Trench is a major travel corridor for migratory birds in spring and fall. Waterfowl nest here in early summer, joined by rafts of ducks in late summer.  Because of its location on the trench, unusual birds are sometimes seen here and yellow water lily blooms carpet the lake surface in July.

The Tintina Trench is the largest geological fault in North America, and is one of two major travel corridors for migratory birds in the Yukon.

And after a day of driving the final destination was Dawson City.