Haines Junction exists because a road did. In 1942, when the US Army pushed the Alaska Highway through the Yukon in a matter of months to supply Alaska during the war, this spot became a junction where the Haines Road, running down to the Alaskan coast, branches off the main highway. A construction camp turned into a village of about eleven hundred people, and it has been the gateway to Kluane ever since.
Behind the town the mountains stand up like a wall. The St. Elias range holds the highest peaks in Canada, with Mount Logan at 5,959 metres, and the ice fields beyond them are the largest outside the polar regions. Kluane National Park has its visitor centre here, and the staff are well worth talking to about the state of the trails, the bears and the weather. The glacial rivers run milky grey-blue, and the light in the long northern summer evenings is something you do not forget.
The riding is part of the pleasure. The Alaska Highway runs north-west along the foot of the range beside Kluane Lake, a huge turquoise body of water that has a habit of changing colour with the sun. The road is paved and wide, but frost heaves, patched tarmac and gravel breaks are part of the deal, and the wind can come off the lake with real force. Dall sheep sometimes stand on the slopes above the road, and grizzlies roam the valley.
The town has fuel, which matters, because the next reliable pumps up the road are a fair distance away. It also has a bakery and a couple of cafes, and rooms and campsites for the night. Summer runs roughly from late May to early September, and the weather can turn cold even in July, so pack a warm layer and a rain shell. Fill up here, buy water, and enjoy the best start to a Yukon day that you are likely to find.