After spending 6 months (believe it or not) in British Columbia we have finally moved on. Up the Stewart-Cassiar through Prince George, Terrace, Stewart and Dease Lake, we have now reached our first territory on this trip. We are getting a clearer understanding of the difference between a province and a territory.
Along the Stewart-Cassiar highway we stopped in Stewart which is just minutes away from Alaska’s friendliest ghost town. We didn’t need to use our passports to cross (shh don’t tell anyone!)
Another little drive up that road was Bear Glacier – a real glacier! And super close too, although it was freezing outside!
Coming into the Yukon, we bypassed Whitehorse and drove the Klondike Highway up to Carmacks where we got on the Campbell Highway to Faro. Now you might be thinking… Faro? I’ve never heard of Faro… That’s because Faro is Yukon’s best kept secret!
We arrived for the Sheep and Crane Festival the second weekend of May. That was probably one of the best festivals we’ve been on this whole trip! We saw Fannin Sheep – which are only here (nowhere else in the world!) And we saw thousands of cranes flying over our heads. With the binoculars and telescopes provided we could see both the sheep and the cranes as if they were right in front of us.
We met some amazing people. We would like to thank Sabine, who runs the RV Park and helps run the Interpretive Centre and who was an amazing person to spend time with during the festival as well as Jackie Dowell-Irvine (photo) who runs the Visitor’s Centre and the campground and is also an artist. We spent the entire weekend talking to her – she was incredible! Her paintings were hung all over the centre and we even got to take one home with us! She is quite the artist. Check out her other paintings – they’re amazing… jackieirvine.blogspot.ca
The town of Faro was originally built for 2500 people so there’s a huge school and a rec centre however only 45 kids attend the school (grades 1 – 12). 44 kids! Crazy, right? At least it is when you compare it to my high school (Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School) which has 2000 kids (grades 9 – 12) and counting. And if you really consider it, Trudeau is one of a hundred schools in Markham whereas Del Van Gorder School is for the entire town, every age. However personally, I think that it adds to the charm of the town.
During the festival Jackie, the artist, made some amazing cupcakes and another gentlemen – from New Brunswick – made these awesome bison burgers.
I’m not usually a fan of “wild” meat but he did a fantastic job! We saw a talent show put on by the school, went on interpretive walks and listened to a hilarious poem by the Chief RCMP who also happened to win the Miss Faro contest. The entire weekend was an incredible experience. We had so much fun and ended up staying an entire week in Faro!
After the festival was over we still had a few things left on our list like the Faro Silver and Lead Mine – which is the reason that the town was built in first place. We saw the hardware store where the introduction of the movie Wolverine was filmed! Now, we’ll be re-watching the movie with new eyes. Overall Faro was such an amazing week. The people were phenomenal, the views were vastly beautiful, the entertainment was extraordinary and the food was fantastic. We definitely agree that Faro is Yukon’s best kept secret – and the festival is Yukon’s best secret festival! We’re definitely adding this to our list of places to return to.
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