October 11, 2025
This is my 1,500th post to the blog!
I had spent one night in Whitehorse on my way to Alaska and scheduled two nights for this stay. My initial impression was that it is a nice little town, and I wanted more time to explore it.
Well, that plan went south when I had the oil and filter in my car changed mid-morning and was told that my right rear tire needed immediate attention. When I bought this car in late April of 2025 it had relatively new Michelin Sport tires on it, which wear faster than the tires I normally buy. I had been keeping an eye on the tire wear and, while the other three still had tread on them, the right rear had virtually no tread left. I still don’t know why it had gotten so bad, so fast but there it was. Fortunately Whitehorse is a big enough town to have not only a Canadian Tire store but also one or two others.
The mechanic who spotted it thought Canadian Tire would be booked two or three days out and recommended another store. I went there first and was told they wouldn’t even be able to look at until Tuesday (this happened on a Saturday). Not only were they closed Sunday, but Monday was a Canadian holiday. I went to Canadian Tire and they set me up with a new tire and, even though they had other customers waiting, had it finished by mid-afternoon. I was greatly relieved and very appreciative. Tomorrow I would be driving east a considerable distance on the Alaska Highway, but the next day I would have a long drive on the very remote Hwy 37 with very few gas stations and probably fewer mechanics. If they hadn’t been able to put a new tire on, I would have stayed in town until they could.
So that shot about 6 hours and I didn’t do as much exploring as I had hoped to. It was also a cold, windy day so I drove around town a little bit and then parked the car and walked along some of the main streets. I really didn’t see much that I felt was blogworthy but did take an odd assortment of photos of things which appealed to me.
My Airbnb was a house being remodeled and I was the only occupant. My part of the house was completed, and it was a pleasant stay. When I went out to my car in the morning this little construction worker was propped up by the mailbox.
I also noted while I was in the Canadian Tire parking lot that the crack which started three or four days ago, on the worst section of the Alaska Highway, had now spread left towards the driver’s door after having started just right of the center of the car. In another day it will turn downward and stop. I was glad it hadn’t reached the left side of the windshield. It doesn’t leak and I don’t think it will affect the structural integrity of the windshield. I will probably have to have it fixed before I get the car inspected, but since it doesn’t connect two sides and doesn’t obstruct my vision it might be ok.
The next three photos are of artistic images by the indigenous people of the area.
The next one is two moose statues above the entrance to a restaurant.
And the rest are just artwork or graffiti.
One good thing that happened during the night was that I was FINALLY able to see the Northern Lights!
This was taken at 243am. I was staying north of town and this was looking north, so even though there were streetlights, and lights on at the house across the street, I could clearly see them. I also have some videos of the lights moving around a bit. It wasn’t as impressive a display as I had hoped for, but at least I saw something with my own eyes.
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