Whitehorse Rapids Fishery

We were back on the road heading toward Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon. On my quest for the best cinnamon bun, I read an advertisement in the Milepost Book that stated that the Historic Johnson’s Crossing Lodge and RV Park was the Home of the Best Cinnamon Buns!  So we stopped and I purchased a couple for the road and you know what?  There were the best tasting buns ever...better than the ones in Testa!
Lee was hoping to see more wildlife but the only thing we saw was a low flying peregrine hawk diving into the highway to pick up some food….sorry that I couldn’t get a picture since it happened so fast.
We crossed over the Yukon River which is the fourth or fifth longest river in North America.

We arrived at the campground early enough to go sightseeing.  Our first stop was to the Whitehorse Rapids  Fishery to do a little salmon spotting….unfortunately the salmon had not yet arrived but are due very soon…we were able to learn about the life span of the chinook salmon.
The fish-ladder allows migrating salmon and other species of fish to travel past the Whitehorse Dam…
The fish ladder is built in a series of steps that span a rise of more than 15 meters.  Each step has a vertical baffle and a submerged opening, allowing the option of jumping over or swimming through.
The flow of water through each section creates a series of eddies, allowing the fish to rest between each step, while providing enough flow to encourage the fish to continue swimming.  Halfway along the ladder, the fish enter a holding area where the staff can observe and record the size, sex, origin (wild or hatchery) and condition of the fish.  At this time some chinook salmon are collected for the hatchery.
The Hatchery raises and releases about 150,000 chinook salmon fry each year!
Once the chinook are fully grown (living in fresh water for a year) they are ready to travel in salt water and head out for the Bering Sea.  When they are ready to spawn, the will swim all the way back to Whitehorse (1700 miles) to begin the cycle again!

They had a cute fenced in sitting area to view the dam and the falls.  On your way, you were treated by a mural of hand decorated fish.  This mural was created in 2009 to commemorate the 59th anniversary of the Whitehorse Rapids Fishery…members of the public and Yukon schools participated in painting the fish.