Yukon/Klondike

Day 22

Today we left Haines Junction to head to Tok, Alaska. We went up the Alaska Highway which was pretty bumpy. On the way we passed lots of gorgeous terrain. We were excited to see a moose with a rack and a fox in the marshes.

We passed the border going into the U.S. again. So far we have crossed into Canada five times and into the U.S. twice. There was no border guard in Hyder, Alaska so we didn’t count that.

We stopped at the Tetlin National Wildlife Preserve. It was quite the view at the visitors’ center, though a little hazy. We really have had good luck with the weather. It is even hot! Hot in Alaska! What a unique occurrence!

We arrived in Tok happy to be through with the bumpy road for the day. This will be our last stay in Alaska for this trip and maybe our last as we want to explore other places.

We went grocery shopping, bought our last Alaskan souvenirs, and checked into our hotel which is really nice. They are having a heat wave here. The locals are complaining, as are we, that it is 80 degrees.

Day 23

We got up this morning at 4:00 a.m., because we had a long day ahead of us. We were driving to Dawson City which is a seven hour drive even though it is only 200 miles away. About half of the road was suppose to be paved and the other half was suppose to be dirt. We found that it was more like 10% paved. After two hours of driving, we came to the community of Chicken. It is very small and very well known in spite of its size.

The area was very beautiful, even though the road was very difficult to drive on because of the gravel and rocks. There were times we were driving close to a 500 ft. drop off. The scenery was spectacular to put it mildly. Even the fields and mountain sides of flowers were incredible.

It is called the “Top of the World Highway.” We came to an area with many rabbits on the road. Suddenly, in front of the car, we noticed a large animal ready to pounce on a rabbit. It was a lynx and it chased the rabbit into the brush. We then saw a very large female moose on the road. After four hours of driving we came to the Canadian Border, where we once again drove into Canada. Two hours later, we arrived at the Yukon River where we drove straight on to a ferry with about five other cars on board. As soon as we embarked, the ferry took off to take us to the other side of the river—which is where Dawson City is located.

Dawson City was something to behold. We felt like we had just gone back 100 years. There are dirt roads, boardwalks, and lots of old buildings. It seems like each is named after some famous person. We are staying at Klondike Kate’s a former well-known resident of Dawson. We have a cute little cabin.

Patty had read about a walking tour so we ventured out with her transport chair on the dusty roads. We were visiting some of the better known buildings. It was really hot, especially for Yukon, and not too easy to push through the really rocky areas. We found that the walking tour took us places that were really far away and uphill, so I went back and got the car.

We went to the Dawson City Museum which had displays on the earlier residents and of course the gold rush of ’98 which started just outside of Dawson. They had a film made in 1957 talking about life here and the gold rush. It was called “City of Gold” and was very well done. Then there was one on what it is like to live here in the winter at 40 below.

We then visited the Jack London cabin. This was found not too far from Dawson. The guide there gave a very interesting talk about Jack London and his visit to the North. He started in San Francisco, took a ship to Dyea, walked up the Chilkoot Trail, boarded a boat and came down the Yukon River to Dawson. It took him three months. He only lived here a year. But after that he wrote his two famous books: Call of the Wild and White Fang.

Afterward, we had a very nice dinner of seafood chowder and salad, then came back to our room and crashed.

Day 24

Today was a day much anticipated by Patty. Being the “rocker” that she is; she is fascinated with mining. We started the day at Klondike Kate’s Restaurant where Patty ordered the miner’s special. We then ventured out to see the mining areas along Bonanza Creek.

Just outside of Dawson the entire area has hundreds of piles of rocks left over from the gold dredging. We drove up about ten miles to the spot where gold was first discovered---The Discovery Claim. It is amazing that the Klondike Gold Rush occurred because of gold being discovered in this little creek.

Then we went to a spot where you can pan gold for free; but instead we found a few interesting rocks for our rock garden. Two rocks from the Bonanza Creek. Wow! We then went to dredge #4.

We took a tour of the dredge which was really interesting. This is large boat that moves on the water by forming its own pond. It then digs down and picks up the dirt in ton size buckets, takes it inside the building, separates the dirt from the gold, drops the gold inside, then spits out the dirt (or something like that) This is the process that creates the hundreds of rock piles throughout the area. This particular dredge was in operation for about fifty years and recovered 5 million dollars in gold with gold only being worth about $35 an ounce. The tour took about an hour and was very interesting. This dredge is the only one left, out of 26 dredges. (Patty is standing in front of it.)

Mining is still ongoing in a lot of places. Last year Yukon pulled out $44 million is gold. The tour guide at Dredge #4 explained that we were probably standing on 1.5 million dollars of gold. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get to the gold because it is located next to the bedrock hundreds of feet below the ground. It is also layered in permafrost (ground that is frozen all year long). This is a lot more difficult to mine then what the first miners had to do. They just had to pick up the nuggets out of the river or sluice the gravel and pick up the gold left at the bottom of the pan.

We returned to town, filled up with gas, had lunch, walked along the Yukon River, and went to the visitors’ center to watch several interesting movies. We then came back to the room and Patty made an appointment to have her car serviced in the next town we are in-Whitehorse. At this point we have now traveled 4,000 miles. Amazing!

Day 25

Yesterday was a driving day. It was 31 degrees in Dawson City when we left. On the way to Whitehorse was saw a moose grazing on the side of the road. She was as fascinated with us as we were with her.

We stopped to view “The Five Fingers”. This is an area on the Yukon River where four basaltic columns separate the river into five channels. This made it very difficult for the stampeders’ boats to pass through this area of the river. River ferries going up stream through the “The Five Fingers” had to be hooked to cables and pulled through because of the rapids created by the channels.

We arrived in Whitehorse to set up camp. There is something about a long dusty day on the road that makes setting up camp tiresome. But when you get to the campground and discover you can’t park at your campsite, but have to haul all of your gear in; that makes things a little worse. This is especially true if you have a 40 lb. tent. Oh well!

After setting up camp, we drove into town to see the McBride Museum. It was very interesting, but we probably didn’t enjoy it as much as we might have because we were exhausted from setting up camp.

We then did a little window shopping and ate at a place in town located in the second oldest building in Whitehorse. It was very rustic.

We came back to camp. Our tent is set up next to a branch of the Yukon River. There is a path right below us. We took the transport chair out for a walk. It was very nice. It is very interesting to go to sleep when it is still light outside. I know, you are thinking, “What’s so different about that! They always go to bed when it is light outside”. There are 19 hours of daylight in July up here! It was very soothing to hear the river while falling asleep.

Day 26

After breakfast, we took Patty’s car in to be serviced at the Toyota dealership. That took just a little more than an hour. We then went to The Berengia Interpretive Centre. Berengia was a place during the last ice age that did not glaciate. There was not enough water. Therefore many animals, like the Woolley Mammoth thrived there. During the mining operations in Dawson, the miners uncovered numerous fossilized remains of these Woolley Mammoths. They also discovered the remains of Giant Sloths, 8 foot beavers, Steppe Bison, etc. This whole place was covered in grasses because there was not enough water for trees to grow. They have also uncovered artifacts from the early natives who lived in this very inhospitable and cold area.

We next visited Miles Canyon. This was probably the most treacherous place for the stampeders to navigate on the Yukon River. The river narrows drastically at this point. Because of the volume of water and the narrow channel, great rapids occurred. Numerous stampeders drowned. The rapids are not visible anymore because the people of Whitehorse built an energy dam in 1959.

We took our final outing of the day up Fish Lake Road to see a beautiful lake and another marsh area with lots of wildlife. We then made a fire to cook our dinner and roasted marshmallows. A man from Japan came to our campsite to visit with us. He wanted to practice his English. He was hard to understand. He is a retired high school science teacher. He said he would like to come to the U.S. to visit Monument Valley and Tombstone, Arizona.