Today is my birthday and I am 60 years young.
I did not get to sleep until very late and then because I am still on Ontario time, I was wide awake by 5:00am. I forced myself to get back to sleep for another hour or so. But eventually I just thought, why not use the time and started working on the blog. When I finally got up and walked into the living room, I was greeted with birthday decorations and gifts from Karen.
Our first activity for the day was a tour at 11:00am at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve but first we needed breakfast. After we got ready, we then headed over to Burnt Toast Cafe. We arrived at the restaurant at 9:45am and still thought we had time for a leisurely breakfast. The preserve is about a thirty minute drive from town. Because the restaurant is small and it was really busy for a Sunday, we ended up taking our breakfast to go.
The Yukon Wildlife Preserve is a 700 acre wildlife park located just north of Whitehorse. The park is home to a variety of native northern species. The park focuses on wildlife conservation and public education. There are a couple of ways you can experience the park. You can walk the five kilometre loop or you can take the guided bus tour. Which one do you think we did?
We headed to the bus and were greeted by our guide Carolann. We got very lucky because in total there was only five of us. The 1-1/2 hour tour is great because it makes regular stops so that you can see the animals and take pictures.
So what animals did we get to see? First up we saw the Mule Deer and Elk.
At our second stop, we spent time with Thinhorn Sheep and Muskox.
We had a three for one at our third stop … Red Fox, Woodland Caribou and Mountain Goat.
Our final stop was at the Moose enclosure but I was not able to get a good picture of them. At each stop, Carolann would give us some great information regarding the animals we were seeing. We never felt rushed at the stops. If you are ever in the Whitehorse area, make sure to visit the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.
After the tour, Cheryl met us at Bean North Coffee where we had a fabulous lunch. Thank you Cheryl for the birthday tiara and decorations.
On the way back to town, we drove down Fish Lake Road. Our guide had told us it was a good area for spotting wildlife. The only thing we saw was a couple of bald eagles flying above us.
When we got back into town, we stopped at The Horse of Whitehorse which is at the top of Two Mile Hill. More than two hundred Yukoners donated pieces of scrap metal for the sculpture.
From there we did a little bit of shopping including picking up my birthday cake which we enjoyed back at the AirBnb.
The three of us got into the car and headed over to Miles Canyon. It was nearly impossible to find parking since the area was busy with high school graduates getting their photos done before heading to the ceremony. So instead we headed over to Klondike Rib & Salmon where we had my birthday dinner.
We dropped Cheryl off at her car so that she could go home and we decided to head back to Miles Canyon. This time we were able to get a parking spot. We took the staircase down to the riverbank and walked over to the Robert Lowe Suspension Bridge. From there you can enjoy the spectacular views of the turquoise Yukon River winding through the steep basalt cliffs. And we had the place to ourselves.
Once we finished taking a ton of photos, it was back to the AirBnb because we were pretty tired.
A big thank you to Karen and Cheryl for making my entry into my 60’s memorable.
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