Real Thing in Porter Creek
Intro
The Real Thing area is a wooded, undeveloped area along the south side of the Porter Creek subdivision in Whitehorse, Yukon. It is bounded by the Alaska Highway on the west, by the houses in Porter Creek on the north, by Mountainview Drive on the east, and by McIntyre Creek on the south. The name Real Thing comes from the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim (Lot 197 Group 5), that was surveyed in the area in 1910.
The Real Thing has many attractions:
- animals: squirrels, pine martins, porcupines, coyotes; transient moose, deer, wolves, bears
- birds: ravens, eagles, ducks, others; occasional seasonal swans
- natural features: hills, valleys, cliffs, lake, creek, natural springs
- trails: many!
- signs of human passage: survey monuments, mineral claim stakes, remains of old structures
- mysterious cut lines through the woods
See also the Old Dawson Road, which is in the Real Thing area.
And more! See Michael Gates' columun History Hunter: There is plenty of history hidden around Whitehorse, published by the Yukon News on August 6, 2021.
Access
The Real Thing area is one of the few wilderness areas accessible by public transit. Check out Route 201 Porter Creek East. The map below shows the nearest bus stops.
If you are not fortunate enough to live close to the Real Thing area, consider walking or cycling. There is a paved multi-use corridor running north-south through the middle of the area. This is the Pine Street extension between the south end of Pine Street and a bridge over McIntyre Creek. The trail is paved all the way through Takhini to the top of Two Mile Hill.
You can also drive. The map below shows some possible parking locations with easy foot or cycle access to the area.
Map
The best way to explore the area is to start with the map below (or even better, the full-screen version), click on ">>" in the top left-hand corner, then "Legend." Then you can turn various layers off to reduce clutter and focus on your interest.
You will find separate map layers for the following:
- main axes. These are the watermain corridor in the east, the hydro right of way in the south, and the Pine Street extension multi-use corridor running north-south in the middle. There's also a watermain corridor running roughly parallel to Pine St.
- trails west of Pine St. and trails east of Pine St. If you click on any trail segment, you will see the length of that segment and possibly more info. Trails are divided somewhat arbitarily into "trails" (longer segments you might want to walk on), "connectors" (segments between trails), and "access" (routes in from outside). These are only the most-used or most-useful segments. There are many others.
- bus stops The map shows bus stops that provide best access to the area.
- possible parking locations These are places where you can leave your vehicle when you visit the area.
- points of interest. There are more details on these POIs below.
- historical mineral claims. In addition to the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim in the west centre of the area surrounding Stinky Lake, there are older mineral claims on the western edge, overlapping the highway. These were formally surveyed. Modern mineral claims are generally no longer surveyed unless they go to production.
- Lot 437 boundary (partial). Lot 437 was surveyed in 1963 and left its mark on the area.
- mysterious (unknown origin) cutlines through the woods. These are uncorrelated with known survey parcels or mineral claims.
But again: yes, the map is cluttered. View the full-screen version and turn off the layers you don't need.
Points of interest
The table below lists 50 POIs that fall into several classes:
- survey. These are survey monuments and posts corresponding to registered survey plans. Some of these were placed well over 100 years ago. WARNING: Tampering with survey monuments is an offence. Even the old wooden posts that have rotted off and fallen down... please don't disturb them or turn them over. Leave them in place for others to find.
- claim. These are newer mineral claim stakes (1975, 2010) that are not part of registered survey plans. Please don't disturb these. The claims they mark are inactive.
- view. These are scenic viewpoints well worth hiking to.
- nature. These are natural features: springs, hills, special forest areas.
- human. These are traces of human beings other than "survey" and "claim" points, primarily remains of old cabins.
But who cares? You might not find old survey and claim posts very interesting. OK. However, if you visit every POI, you will see parts of the forest you would not otherwise visit. This is sort of like geocaching but real. Or orienteering or scavenger hunting.
You will need a GPS to find all these points using the coordinates below. Read more on GPS and GPS accuracy. See also Downloads below.
Can you find EVERY POI on this list?
| POI class |
Location | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1 survey |
60.74607 -135.13846 492452 6734512 |
 Metal stake in rocks. This is the southwest corner (post 10) of the Real Thing Copper Mineral claim surveyed in 1910. It's also a corner of several other surveyed parcels in the area. |
| 2 survey |
60.74646 -135.13987 492375 6734556 |
 Survey monument: silver metal disk in ground. This is an intermediate survey point on the border of Lot 437 near the Alaska Highway. You may have to brush away leaves to find this. |
| 3 survey |
60.74736 -135.14147 492288 6734656 |
  Survey monument: black disk on post in rocks. This carries the date 1946 (probably from the survey of the highway) but it's also the west end of the north boundary of Lot 437. |
| 4 view |
60.74662 -135.13657 492555 6734573 |
  Viewpoint. View of McIntyre Creek with Ravens Ridge and Fish Lake Road. Also view south along highway toward Whitehorse. |
| 5 survey |
60.74768 -135.13949 492396 6734691 |
 Metal survey stake. This is low to the ground and may be difficult to find. This marks the intersection of the western boundary of the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim Lot 197 (surveyed 1910) with Lot 437 (surveyed 1963). |
| 6 survey |
60.74842 -135.13997 492370 6734774 |
 High metal survey stake in a pile of rocks. This is post 9 of the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim marking an odd corner where it skirted a previous claim in the area. This seems to be a replacement. If you look around on the ground nearby, you may see the original 1910 wooden survey post. |
| 7 survey |
60.74835 -135.14044 492344 6734766 |
 Wooden survey post. This is one of the original 1910 posts (post 8) of the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim marking an odd corner skirting a previous claim. The post was originally held up by rocks but has rotted off at the base. It is not far from POI 6. Please do not disturb this fragile item. It has degenerated significantly in the last five years. |
| 8 survey |
60.74929 -135.14160 492281 6734871 |
 Wooden survey post. This is the original wooden post 5 of the Jack claim (Lot 76) dating from the early 1900s. Please do not disturb this fragile item. |
| 9 survey |
60.75212 -135.14158 492283 6735186 |
  Wooden survey post. This wooden post on the ground is post 10 of the Willow fraction (Lot 232), a surveyed claim from 1916 wedged in between existing ones along the highway and the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim. Please do not disturb this fragile item. |
| 10 survey |
60.75329 -135.14046 492344 6735316 |
 Metal survey stake. This marks the northwest corner of the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim. This is a quiet, shady part of the forest that people rarely (never?) visit. The northeast corner of the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim is exactly half a mile (805 m) due east on the cliff above Stinky Lake but there is nothing there to mark it. |
| 11 survey |
60.75594 -135.14079 492327 6735612 |
 Wooden survey post. This post on the ground indicates the northeast corner of the Whitehorse2 mineral claim staked and surveyed in the early 1900s. This claim overlapped the highway. Please do not disturb this fragile item. |
| 12 nature |
60.75604 -135.14081 492326 6735623 |
  Unhappy Forest. Trees in this area have deformities called burls due to some kind of stress. There is evidence here of people harvesting these burls for arts/crafts such as burl bowls. |
| 13 nature |
60.75741 -135.14076 492329 6735775 |
     Eagle Cliffs. If you look carefully along the cliffs before heading farther south on the trail, you may see eagles in trees overlooking the highway. They might be waiting for roadkill. If you approach quietly, sometimes the mature eagles will let you get close enough to take nice photos. |
| 14 human |
60.75940 -135.13841 492457 6735997 |
  Site of old water reservoir. Based on aerial photographs, the water reservoir here appeared sometime between 1965 and 1969. It disappeared some time after 2001. The black and white aerial photo is from 1990, © Natural Resources Canada. |
| 15 claim |
60.75878 -135.13037 492895 6735927 |
 Two 2010 claim posts wired to tree. These are near the corner of Fir and 9th. |
| 16 human |
60.75819 -135.13098 492862 6735861 |
 Chain grown into tree. Just another of the interesting traces of humans in the area. |
| 17 human |
60.75669 -135.13042 492892 6735694 |
  Strange structure on side of Bald Hill. This might have been the start of a cabin... except that there is no door opening and the logs are not very close together. And it's in a very difficult-to-access place. Built by determined children? |
| 18 view |
60.75528 -135.13225 492792 6735537 |
  Bald Hill. Good views of east, south, and west from here. There is a little-used trail up the back (north side, wooded) of the hill that corresponds to one of the unexplained cut lines in the area. The trail up the front (south side, open) is gravel, which can be slippery. |
| 19 claim |
60.75463 -135.13039 492893 6735464 |
 Two 2010 claim posts wired to tree. These are behind the tree and difficult to see from the nearest trail. |
| 20 claim |
60.75435 -135.13103 492858 6735433 |
  Three 1975 claim posts. Two of these are together; check out the handwriting on the bottom of the slanted one. The third post is a few metres away. |
| 21 nature |
60.75153 -135.13705 492530 6735120 |
  Sophie's Summit. This is the highest point in the area, even higher than Bald Hill although that might not be obvious. A small spiral of stones (or maybe it's an @) a few metres north of the nearest trail marks the spot. |
| 22 claim |
60.75053 -135.13102 492858 6735008 |
  1975 claim posts. One of these is on the ground. These are in one of the unexplained cut lines. |
| 23 claim |
60.75005 -135.13092 492864 6734954 |
  1975 claim posts. Associated with those at POI 22 not far away. Together, they mark the corners of four adjoining claims. These are in one of the unexplained cut lines. |
| 24 nature |
60.74959 -135.12870 492984 6734903 |
  Sasha's Spring. The water in this spring is not hot but it runs all winter. |
| 25 claim |
60.74627 -135.13038 492892 6734533 |
 Two 2010 claim posts wired to tree. These are not far from the hydro right of way. |
| 26 survey |
60.74608 -135.12567 493149 6734512 |
 Round bronze survey monument in the centre of four pits. This is post 2 (southeast corner) of the Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim. The idea of the four pits is to give an indication of the monument location that would survive a forest fire or other major change to the area better than flagging tape on a tree. |
| 27 survey |
60.74994 -135.12570 493148 6734942 |
 Round survey monument. This marks the interesection of the east boundary of Lot 197 (Real Thing Copper Mineral Claim) with the north boundary Lot 437. There is an adjacent pile of rocks that may have held some sort of survey post at one time, maybe to mark the boundary of Lot 197. When you are at this point, look north and south. You may be able to see a straight gap in the trees. This marks the edge of Lot 197 and was cut in 1910. The boundary of Lot 437 (more east-west) was cut in 1963 but is not visible here due to the growth of trees since that time. Why? Vegetation grew more easily in the relatively open area along the slope than in the shade of the corridor cut through higher trees. If you follow the Lot 197 cut line down the hill to the south, it quickly disappears before making the final drop to the hdyro right of way and POI 26. |
| 28 nature |
60.75286 -135.12778 493035 6735267 |
    Springs feeding Stinky Lake. Water bubbles up out of the ground in a triangular area on the west side of the lake. There may be more springs underwater in the area. This corner of the lake stays open all winter. |
| 29 nature |
60.75292 -135.12564 493152 6735274 |
   Cliff above Stinky Lake. There are good views west and south from here. The first crocuses grow on the south-facing slope in this area every April. |
| 30 human |
60.75457 -135.12559 493155 6735457 |
 Remains of old cabin. Only a few base logs are left. But if you search around, you may find indications (foundations integrating natural outcroppings) that may have been for an adjoining structure. There are some old tin cans scattered around, the lead seal plugs indicating they are pre-1905. It's not clear why someone would build a cabin halfway up the hill instead of down by Stinky Lake. Carrying water up from the lake would not have been easy or direct. |
| 31 nature |
60.75400 -135.12230 493334 6735393 |
 Magic Forest. This is an aspen grove in the middle of the forest. In mid-September, this area is beautiful gold and white. |
| 32 claim |
60.75051 -135.12216 493341 6735005 |
 Two 2010 claim posts. The tags face north. |
| 33 survey |
60.75108 -135.11871 493529 6735068 |
 Bronze survey monument. This is an intermediate point on the northern boundary of Lot 437. It was originally in the centre four pits (see POI 26 for significance of the pits) but the one on the path has been filled in. You may have to brush away leaves to see this POI. |
| 34 view |
60.75192 -135.11859 493536 6735161 |
 Dogs' Descent. There is a good view over Whitehorse to Mount Lorne from this point. |
| 35 nature |
60.74919 -135.11636 493657 6734857 |
  Mother Tree. This is the largest, oldest tree in this part of the forest. The 2022 firesmarting made this much easier to find. The Mother Tree started to lean after the 2022 firesmarting. A heavy wind in mid-Mar 2024 brought the Mother Tree down. |
| 36 claim |
60.74917 -135.11540 493709 6734855 |
 Two 1975 claim posts. One is on the ground. There is a third one several metres away. These are on the edge of the (very) Old Dawson Road. These posts disappeared during firesmarting in early 2022. |
| 37 claim |
60.75044 -135.11371 493802 6734996 |
 Two 2010 claim posts wired to tree. These are right beside the multi-use corridor (Pine Street extension). |
| 38 human |
60.74576 -135.11411 493779 6734475 |
    Picnic table by beaver pond. Yukon University does archaeological digs nearby. The area was used as a tool-making site thousands of years ago. The picnic table is not that old, however. |
| 39 survey |
60.74673 -135.10808 494108 6734582 |
 Circular bronze survey monument. This is a point on the boundary of Lot 437 near the bat house. It was originally in the middle of four pits (see POI 26 for significance of the pits) but only two of the pits remain. You may have to brush away leaves to find this POI. |
| 40 nature |
60.74755 -135.10878 494070 6734674 |
  Small spring. This feeds a short stream that runs all year into McIntyre Creek. This spring might be difficult to see because the surrounding area is heavily overgrown. |
| 41 claim |
60.74905 -135.10703 494166 6734841 |
 Single 1975 claim post. This one is often difficult to find. |
| 42 human |
60.74989 -135.10662 494188 6734934 |
 Remains of old cabin. You may find parts of an old stove and bed here next to the outline of the cabin. There is also some more-recent log wall construction near by. If you follow the faint path down to McIntyre Creek, you will note what a jungle exists in the undisturbed parts of the creek. |
| 43 survey |
60.75306 -135.10671 494184 6735287 |
 Circular bronze survey monument. This is in the middle of a circle of stones in the centre of four pits. This marks the northeast corner of Lot 437. See POI 26 for significance of the pits. |
| 44 human |
60.75153 -135.11485 493740 6735118 |
  Mysterious excavation. This is the size of a grave. |
| 45 claim |
60.75316 -135.11564 493697 6735299 |
 Four 1975 claim posts. These are at the junction of the upper trail and a connector to the middle trail. |
| 46 nature |
60.75624 -135.11361 493808 6735642 |
  Pixie Hill. This small hill has several old trees on it. There is a rare symmetric double-crown pine standing guard off to one side. Do the Little People who live in the hill come out and dance in the moonlight? There is a podcast on the subject: On the Marge, Episode 44: Firesmart. |
| 47 claim |
60.75710 -135.11537 493713 6735738 |
 1975 claim posts. These are between the upper and middle trails. Check for some posts on the ground. |
| 48 claim |
60.75682 -135.10775 494128 6735706 |
 Single 1975 claim post. |
| 49 view |
60.75868 -135.10890 494065 6735913 |
 Viewpoint. View to the east. |
| 50 claim |
60.76097 -135.11565 493698 6736169 |
 Three 1975 claim posts. Look around the area to find all of them. |
Downloads
| POIs for GPS | other info |
|---|---|
| file of POIs in GPS format for the Real Thing in Porter Creek ara that you can download. | At the same location, you will find a guide/checklist in PDF format that you can download and a map you can download for your GPS. |
TimmiT History Exploration Notebook