Date: November 26, 2005 - Kilometers Traveled: 725 Weather: Cold and sunny

Whitehorse! We made it to the first Territory. We are so close now that we can almost taste it! The road from Liard was excellent. We did the 725 kilometers in great time. There wasn't much in between, so there was no real need to stop (except for some road-side “relief”).

We started out at about 6:45 AM and drove the first three hours or so in the dark. We saw a small herd of buffalo, but it was too dark to get a picture of them. Even in the dark they looked really tasty!

The darkness is closing in on us with each kilometer we drive north. Today we crossed the sixty degree lattitude line (as in north of sixty), and the late sunrises and the early sunsets are proof positive that we are getting further north. The sunrise this morning in Liard was at about 9:00 AM and it was set by 4:00 PM here in Whitehorse. It’s pretty chilly here tonight too…not cold mind you, just chilly. It’s eight below with a wind chill of about thirteen below. So, just cool - the cold is yet to come I guess.

There’s another, although expected, implication of being up north. The skin on my lower legs and forearms is so dry that it is almost to the point of bleeding. It’s a strange sensation actually – half way between pain and itch, but definitely uncomfortable. I spent an hour or so slathering goop all over them and now they feel fine. I guess we will have to stock up on goop.

The strangest things intrigue me, so I checked out this "dry-leg" phenomenon on the internet. I'll spare you the scientifics, but apparently, my half paining, half itching leg skin is due to two factors – the small amount of moisture in the air, which dries out the skin, and, the modern person’s propensity for hot showers, which also sucks moisture out of the skin. The result is what I like to call “screaming skin”. I guess it’s going to be just another issue to deal with.

I am writing this in the lobby of the hotel. They told us that we would have wireless internet service in the room, but that isn’t the case. People walking through the lobby are looking at me like I’m a geek – maybe they are right.

We will be staying in Whitehorse for a few days so we’ll do some exploring tomorrow and take some pictures. I will post some more detailed descriptions about this place then.

Cheers!