Whitehorse to Dawson City - #52-11

July 2, 2005 (Sat)
Pioneer RV Park, Whitehorse, YT (2)

We both slept well last night - and late. We didn't get up until well after six. After breakfast we went with Ed and Kathy to see Miles Canyon - a narrowing of the Yukon River - where many gold rush miners lost their supplies or lives trying to negotiate the rapids. It was interesting but not spectacular. A hydroelectric dam has since been built that has calmed the waters greatly. We were going to tour the S.S.Klondike, a stern wheeler used during the gold rush to transport supplies, but found it booked up with a caravan group. We were going to eat lunch at the best Chinese buffet in Whitehorse but found it closed, as were most other stores, because of Canada Day weekend. Staples and Walmart were open though. So was a knitting shop where Joy bought some yarn from Nepal. The quilt shop was closed because it had a flood last night - both shops are in the basement of a larger building. We couldn't locate Canyon City, a ruin that Ed and Kathy were interested in seeing but we did find the fish ladder built to help salmon negotiate the dam. We also explored some back roads.

This afternoon we sat back and put our feet up in preparation for a hot domino game in the evening.
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July 03,2004 (Sun)
Pioneer RV Park, Whitehorse, YT (3)

After on-board showers - the campground showers are for those who paid for hookups and have a limitless supply of water in their rigs so don't really need the campground facilities - and breakfast we headed back into Whitehorse. The first stop - a drive-by actually - was at a three story log building billed as Whitehorse's first skyscraper - there aren't many buildings of any type taller even now. Then we took in the tour of the S.S.Klondike.

This was a fascinating tour lead by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable Yukon Parks guide. The Klondike is one of three surviving river boats that moved freight and people up the Yukon River to Whitehorse and gold and people down the Yukon to Dawson City. It was very interesting seeing the working areas of the boat and to see how people traveled "way back" in 1938. We got back to the campground just in time to meet Bob and Pat arriving after their long ordeal getting a fuel pump replaced in Watson Lake.

After lunch the six of us, in Ed and Kathy's little Tracker, went to the Beringia Interpretive Center, a museum of prehistoric Siberia/Alaska/Yukon when it was all one land mass. A 17 minute video and a small but well done display told of migrations back and forth between what is now two continents. It was the story of woolly Mammoths, giant sloths and beavers, and man. Of particular interest was the current belief that the elephant and camel originated in North America and migrated west into Asia.

Q's battery was dead when we got back. Mark had forgotten to unplug the inverter, used to recharge the computer's batteries this morning. We got him started, barely, and took a short drive to bring the power up a bit then dumped and took on water in preparation for travel tomorrow. Dinner was on our own but we all got together over munchies to discuss up coming mutual destinations. We went to bed early and watched two "crossover" episodes of Law and Order that we had taped before we left home.
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July 4, 2005 (Mon)
Pelly Crossing Campground #10 dry free D

Whitehorse, YT to Pelly Crossing, YT (184/5502 miles) Q017816

Up at 5:30 (52°) and off at 6:45 (54°). Q started with great reluctance but started and we were on the road again - hopefully far enough ahead of the caravans to be by ourselves. We'll be traveling with Bob and Pat for a few days up the Klondike Highway. Ed and Kathy will stay on the Alaska Highway and meet us in Tok, Alaska on Saturday. Our first stop was at a road side rest area at the site of a large forest fire in 1998. There was a short walk with interpretive plaques which we took.

North of Carmacks, YT we stopped at the Five Fingers Recreational Area. The recreation is a 2 mile (round trip) walk to a Yukon River overlook. The "Five Fingers" refers to the Yukon splitting into 5 channels as it passes through the rock cliffs here. Negotiating the river through them was a tremendous challenge for river boat pilots but for us the challenge was getting to the overlook. It was some 219 stair steps down and, more challenging, 219 steps back up. The view was worth the effort though and we needed the exercise.

A few miles up the road we pulled into a rest area, took out our chairs and ate lunch watching two thunder storms move into the Yukon River valley. What a life!

This is a free campground on the Pelly River, maintained, sparingly, by local indigenous Indians. There was no information about how or where to register so we inquired at a little store across the road and learned that we just go in and set up. We felt a little uncomfortable about staying here at first, there were no other campers, but a few are beginning to come in as I write this. Chip and Kim pulled in as we sat around our pre-dinner campfire. It was good to see them and to hear what they had been doing since we last saw them in Skagway.
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July 5, 2005 (Tue)
Guggieville Campground & Gold Panning, Dawson City, YT #39 dry $9.90 D-
Pelly Crossing, YT to Dawson City, YT (159/5661 miles) Q017975

Here we are in Dawson City, Yukon, in the heart of the Klondike gold rush country. We followed the Klondike River most of the day and are now camped in a campground built atop the trailings of the Guggenheim Gold Miles. We got off this morning at 6:50 (54° and partially cloudy) after on-board showers, breakfast, and a short walk around the campground.

The turn-off to Mayo (YT), an old silver mining town and major shipping point just prior to the stampede to the gold fields, is about 40 miles north of where we were camped. The six of us squeezed into Bob and Pat's toad and drove 30 some miles into the wilderness. In town there are a museum and several plaques around town illustrating what life was like there in the late 1900s. It was interesting but the highlight of the trip was seeing a lynx cross the road in front of us. The young woman in the museum said she'd lived there all her life - she was about 20 - and she never seen one of these cats. We felt very privileged.

This is an interesting campground - the full name is Guggieville Campground & Gold Panning - in that so many of the permanent camping units are in their last days, rusting and falling apart with lots of clutter. We are in the no hookup section. Of the 20 or so campsites here, 8 or nine have tents. They all look as if they have been here for weeks. We are guessing that the residents are workers of some kind, maybe mushroom pickers. There is no one around. Most of these units are across the road from us out our living room window. Bob and Pat's RV is parked about 10 feet to our rear and Chip and Kim are 10 feet or so behind them. There is a pond - of sorts, left over from the gold dredging operations - out our dining room window and another permanent tent in front of us.
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July 6, 2005 (Wed)
Guggieville Campground, Dawson City, YT (2)

Breakfast this morning was high carb and sinful but delicious! There is a little bakery about 5 miles south of where we are that produces and sells the most wonderful breads. We had a cheese danish (Mark) and a cinnamon danish (Joy) and coffee. We also bought a few things to bring home. We declared ourselves "good" for not indulging more. It was a hard fought battle!

Although about the same vintage as Skagway, Dawson City presents a completely different atmosphere. Like Skagway, it came into existence with the discovery of gold on the Klondike. But while Skagway is a tourist attraction, Dawson City seems more an old town that caters to tourists passing through. There are several small gift shops as expected but there are also more routine stores such as grocery, drug, and a hardware store mixed in. Except for the main road through, the streets are all dirt with wooden sidewalks that actually serve the purpose of lifting pedestrians above the mud - and there was mud from some recent rain. Most buildings are gold rush vintage in various states of repair - from well maintained to falling down. In many ways the atmosphere is much more authentic. Since we needed the exercise, we walked the 2 1/2 miles into town, wandered the streets, then walked the 2 1/2 miles back to the campground. While in town we had a wonderful lunch of halibut fish and chips.

This afternoon we again squeezed into Bob and Pat's toad and drove 12 km up Bonanza Creek to see the world's largest gold dredge. Before Bonanza Creek, it saw service on the Klondike River. It is now retired and is owned by the Canadian Park Service. It was a fascinating tour lead by a well informed and well spoken young park guide.