Wednesday 20th May, 2009
Day 68


Snafu Lake (Atlin Road), Yukon
Snafu Lake (Atlin Road), YT
Miles: 11302
N 60.13423°
W 133.80891°



Earlier in our trip we had bypassed Atlin with the thought that we should make that side trip later in the season when, we hoped, more things would be open and the lake might be blue rather than white. So at Jakes Corner, we made the turn and started the 98 km journey to Atlin. The day was clear, blue sky, and bright sun; a perfect day for this scenic road. Interestingly the lake was still partly frozen, with slushy ice covering a good proportion of the lake area.

The town of Atlin has a beautiful setting, right on the lake shore, looking across to snow covered mountains. On the lake front in downtown Atlin is an old wooden boat/ship called the Tarahne, which is now out of the water sitting on wooden stands. This craft built in 1917 to haul cargo and passengers on Atlin Lake, was the first propeller driven and gasoline powered craft in the north.

After a short visit in the town we drove out along the Warm Bay road to Palmer Lake where we stopped for lunch. Following lunch we decided to take a walk along the road for some exercise, and in the process discovered a warm spring. The dog in the water with me belongs to some people from Colorado that were also at the spring.


Our short visit to the Atlin area over we drove back towards the Alcan Highway and stopped for the night at the Snafu Lake campground. As you may know SNAFU is a military acronym for Situation Normal All F@!$%& Up. There is also a nearby lake called TARFU Lake.

Snafu Lake was a lovely secluded and scenic camping spot.