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Our drive from Whitehorse was fairly uneventful. We left Whitehorse
going west on the Alcan and a few miles out of town, the road forked
and we went north on highway 2, the Klondike highway. I think the
distance to Dawson is 330 miles. There were a few sections of gravel,
but most of the road was good. This road is not as wide as the Alcan,
but there is not as much traffic on it. Much of the road parallels
the big Yukon River. This is the waterway that was used in the late
1880s to bring the mining equipment and everything else to Dawson. The
stern wheelers were up to 300 feet long with a flat bottom, using
steam as power. Many also pushed a barge in front. These boats could
only run about 4 months out of the year because ice conditions in the
river. In some area the boats would get stuck on sand and have to be
cable winched using the trees on the shores. For a few years it was
the only way to get to Dawson. The Yukon river has a lot of water and
flows nicely.
After driving for around 5 hours we found a nice campsite on the banks
of the Stewart River near mile post 222. This is a big river that
flows into the Yukon. Our front door is about 30 feet from the river.
The nice thing is that it's free. We are about 100 miles from
Dawson. All along the highways are large turn out rest stops. They
are made for the traveler to overnight if necessary. These are not
fancy. They are gravel and have a trash barrel and outhouse. Often
they have a historical marker describing the point of interest.
Travelers can stop for a few hours or a whole night. Many times if
there is one RV stopped, there will be others shortly.
At mile post 212, you can take the Silver Trail highway to a mining
town called Mayo and on to Keno, the dead end of that road. We chose
not to take this road.
At mile post 298 is the junction of the Dempster Highway. This
highway will take you to Inuvik, inside the Artic Circle. That is as
far north as you can travel on land. It is a near 500 mile of gravel
road that is considered good in some parts and because of weather
conditions (rain) it can become impassable. Long strethes between gas
stops are also a problem. We will travel this road for maybe 30 miles
to view some of the attractions.
Now, on to Dawson... July 25th, our 25th day on the road
We chose to camp at the Yukon Government campground called Yukon
River. Over a 100 sites with many of them placed on the west bank of
the river. We choose #48, very close to the bank. The town is on the
east bank, therefore it is necessary to take the ferry across the
Yukon. I would guess the distance to be about 1/4 mile. It operates
on demand 24/7 and is free of charge. The longest time we have had to
wait was about 5 minutes. It is large enough to carry a semi truck
along with some cars and trucks. It also carries passengers and
bikers.
Dawson City is a throw back to the 1890s. It has everything, history,
shopping, sightseeing, gambling, fine dining, and no paved streets
with all wooden sidewalks. The first place we visited was the town
visitors center on Front Street. It is housed in the old 1897 Alaska
Commercial Co store and staffed by men and women dressed in 1890
dress. These people also do organized walking tours of the downtown
area several times a day. Videos of the old town and the mining
operations are shown nob stop in the theater room. Hundreds of old
still shots are hanging on the walls. The Dawson City was Yukon
Territory first capitol city, but was later moved to Whitehorse. Some
of the town's buildings are original, with the others being restored
or replicated to near likeness of the original. All are wooden framed
with clap board painted siding. To control the dust, the street dept
runs a water truck up and down the streets. I noticed that the town
has a power station, but it is not used except when needed. The town
is on a 115KV radial transmission line from Whitehorse.
Some of the attractions date back to the early 1900. One that we
attended was Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall. We attended the 8pm
show and it was sold out with every seat filled. We sat in choice
seating with a very good view, in the balcony. We spent about 11/2
hrs there and Barbara walked away with a little more money than we
came with. That's a good thing!
Our next attraction was the cemetery area where many of the founding
pioneers are buried. The state has installed replacement markers, and
restored it the grounds. Many markers were made of 2 X 12 wooden
planks with the names painted on them. These had rotted away and now
are standing tall with the names painted clearly on them.
The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has a cemetery across the
road. The headstones reflected most died in their 20s to 30s with a
few living into their 50s. I think Sgt Preston may be working
"undercover", in that area of town.
Our next adventure was the Midnight Dome, a drive to the high point of
the area, called the dome. We celebrated a beautiful near sunset that
occurred 2342hrs PST, just as 150 towns people did on last June 21st
110 years ago. This is truly the land of the midnight sun. Very neat
and a little hard to get used to for Barbara and me… We were joined
at the top by two German couples camping out at the viewing area.
They have been traveling the US for 9 months and are on their way to
Alaska. They had their RVs sent over on a ship and then they flew to
the US. I chatted with him for a while. This adventure kept us busy
well into the next day.
On our way back to the campsite we drove through the town that was
still buzzing with activities. We stopped and took pictures on second
street of the store fronts at 1202 AM PST. These pictures were taken
with no lighting other than the skylight, unbelievable and hard to get
used to. I've said it before, you don't run out of daylight, just
energy.
bnj
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