Dawson City
The drive from Whitehourse was 335
miles, our longest drive of the caravan. It felt longer than that
because of the “frost heaves” that raise up the road and if you hit them going
over 40 mph, you feel like you’re air borne!
They were nicely marked though.
The dreaded 18 wheeler coming down a gravel road can whip the gravel on
the road right up to your windshield and crack it. There was only ONE big truck on the whole
trip today and only scattered areas of gravel road but we managed to combine
the two and bam—like a gunshot-- our windshield got dinged!
But…we saw a moose drinking
in a pond right next to the road and another bear and some beautiful scenery so
it was a good day.
Dawson City, is the Land of the
Midnight Sun!
Dawson City is one of our
favorites so far! It is right on the Yukon river. It looks like a movie set
from the 1898 gold rush days. It was the
base for miners off to search for gold in the Klondike. It has settled into a
tourism economy. Some of the houses have
no running water so chamber pots for toilets.
Hydroelectric power downriver supplies power but they have a huge backup
generator. People that live here full
time (1,800) seem to LOVE it even with 4 hours of daylight and -60 F in the
winter! Even then the daylight is not really daylight as we think of it, but
rather is more dusk. The RV camp showers are two loonies ($2) and the summer
kids working here take advantage of the campground to bathe. Pete and I read “I Married the Klondike" by
Laura Berton, a book about life here and it made the area come alive!
The first night we drove up
to the “Dome”—a very high spot—where locals and tourists alike have celebrated
the summer solstice by partying all night to celebrate the midnight sun. We are here the end of July and the sun is
just going down as the moon is rising.
You can sit outside and read! A
beautiful sight! The land of the
Midnight sun!
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| What time was this picture taken? -- Answer, midnight |
A walking tour of Dawson by a
delightful local who came for a summer job 20 years ago and stayed was amazing!
The Royal Mounted Police ran a tight ship but looked the other way when the
brothels were doing business.
We went on a tour of a
retired gold dredge given by a young girl dressed in black with multiple rings
in her nose and lip. Didn’t get too much from her. The dredge was huge and dug up a lot of gold
until it was no longer cost effective
with the price of gold fixed at $35/oz at the time. It stopped operating in the
mid 60’s. It was 1972 when the price of gold was allowed to be sold at market
value and mining could start up again but never as in its heyday.
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| Dredge #4 in Dawson |
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| Laura Berton House |
Chicken and Top of the World
Highway--ALASKA
Off this morning to Chicken
via the free ferry which could handle 3 cars and one large RV. It was a short ride and the line went quickly for us --three hours for some.
The border patrol officer was
very chatty as we entered Alaska and told us where to stop and pick
blueberries. “Just follow the caribou
trails in to the woods”. We did that but
no blueberries and talked loudly the whole way with bear spray on Pete’s hip!
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| Caribou trail |
Off to Chicken
We were warned about this road
MANY times but we had perfect weather for the drive. It is on the top of the mountain ridge and
gorgeous view as we bumped along on the gravel and frost heaves. Some of the time we were along roads that
were very close to the edge and it was a long way down! Our friends from Cincinnati area Carol and
Ken met an RV coming down the mountain and it was so tight passing that only by
folding the side mirror in were they able to pass by! We were right behind them and forgot to take a
picture!
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| It took a lot of concentration to dive this road! |
Our log book for every drive has
turn, stops along the way, pull outs, points of interest marked and along with
instructions. This road is called “Top
of the World Highway” and here are some of our favorites: “road narrows, surface deteriorates and
hairpin curves”, “pavement ends”, “frost heaves ahead, proceed with caution,” “9%
downgrade”, “steep climb”, “soft shoulders”—which really meant “no shoulders,
don’t go off the edge or it’s over!”
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| This is the whole town! |
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| Chicken dredge |
Our staff made chicken tacos
for our dinner in Chicken after relaxing with wine and sharing the day’s
journey. The owner of the RV park provided
us with blueberry cobbler and told us stories about their life there and the
history of Chicken. He owned an
abandoned dredge and gave our group an awesome tour.
Tok, Alaska put us back on
paved roads! The Tok RV Park had a RV wash
station so when we arrived, we all lined up and everyone helped wash an
incredible amount of road dirt off 22 RVs and about 10 trucks and cars.
The owner of the Tok RV park had a great gig going! He would come right to your RV site and repair your nicked up windshield for $65. He had a lot of business, including ours!
Our fellow travelers all seem
to be very happy. There is no drama. We really enjoy the fun of sharing this
experience with them. Having Joe Symmes
the RV technician as tailgunner is such a blessing. Everyday two or three people are saved by
him. Jacks that don’t work, AC that fails,
flat tires on tow vehicles, a big RV was side swiped and his mirror taken off,
signal lights that fail, etc. He and his
wife Jewel add so much peace of mind and enthusiasm to our journey!
A good road, repaired windshield and no more leaks and we're off to Fairbanks. We stopped at the end of the Alaskan Highway for a pic!
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