Day Five: Destruction Bay to Whitehorse, YT

Highlights from Saturday, July 26:

• Woke up on time as usual. Breakfast wasn't as great as I'd hoped--just a set of pancakes and some tea. I otherwise liked this B&B, but I'm used to getting larger breakfasts and this was rather small by comparison.
• Kiersten is feeling MUCH better. We don't hear a wheeze, and she's acting normal, so we think our planned hike is a go.
• We stop at Kluane's north visitor center first to check with a park ranger about recommended trails and bear sightings. We're told that a mother bear and its cubs were sighted a week ago, but nothing more recently. We're also told that the Sheep Creek trail should be pretty enjoyable. The ranger also shows us some bighorn sheep high up on the mountain range through her telescope. There's also some sheep skulls and volcanic ash on display, and she lets Kiersten play with them for awhile.
• We get to the Sheep Creek trail around 10:30 and set off with Kiersten loaded in our backpack. On the way, we encounter a memorial sign for a young hiker who was killed by a bear several years ago. It's rather sobering and scary all at once.
• The hike is fairly steep, even though it's only a few miles. We find ourselves taking a lot of rest stops, because we're not used to working out our ankles this way. Much to our dismay, the mosquitos use our rest breaks as an opportunity to chew us. Even repeated sprays don't seem to keep them away. The only positive we note is that the mosquitos seem to keep away from areas with no trees.
• We meet a lot of foreign hikers, including one group from Germany. We seem to be meeting a lot of Germans in this part of Canada, so we curiously ask what brings them here. They reply that they've seen pretty much everything else there is to see, so the Yukon is all that's left for them.
• We estimate that we've hiked maybe 2 miles; it's a lot less than we'd have liked, but the hill is VERY steep. The weather is also variable: it's cold when cloudy, but we're roasting when the sun comes out. We finally take a break for lunch in an open area. Kiersten's been a little upset, so lunch cheers her up.
• We continue hiking, and Kiersten takes it upon herself to walk. We think she's crazy, but she actually manages to make a little distance. Plus, it helps tire her out for her afternoon nap. (By the way, isn't my beard coming in nicely? It's not often I can go a week--much less three--without shaving. Bless those military regulations.)
• This hill goes on forever! We finally decide to turn back around 12:30 p.m. If it were just Christina and I, we'd probably keep going (and have gone a lot farther). However, Kiersten's needs are more important, so we decide that we're content with what we've seen. We've gotten some excellent views so far anyway.
• Kiersten goes down around 2 p.m., and we head back to Whitehorse. Nothing to report on this leg; it's largely the same drive we did for the last part of yesterday.
• We get to Whitehorse around 5 p.m. and hit the Wal-Mart (civilization!) to stock up on supplies. We get to our hotel (a fairly modern facility) around 6.
• We make dinner and give Kiersten her bath. After we unpack tomorrow's needs, I put luggage back in the car. We'll need to get going fairly early tomorrow, since we need to get to church (it's Sunday!) and we'd like to take in at least one sight before we drive on. Kiersten and I find "Peter Pan" on TV and watch a little (she' s now curious about Tinkerbell) before we put her to bed.
• Results: Good hike, even if it wasn't as far as we originally planned. So-so for the rest of the day. Grade: B.

Distance traveled to date: 1,140 miles.