Dawson City, Chicken and Tok--Gold Rush Country!

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!

 

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. 

Dredge #4 in Dawson

Laura Berton House

 That evening we walked to the “Berton house—author Laura Berton”and Jack London’s museum.  Then on to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s (a real historic person) saloon for drinks, dinner and a fun show.

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!

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!

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!”

Chicken has a summer population of 30 and a winter population of 5-10.  It has a lot of character!  There is a gift store, liquor store and café.  It turns out they are all connected and one guy running back and forth servicing all the stores!  Small town!  Bought our 4th cinnamon roll here--not good!
 

This is the whole town!

 There is this giant chicken to welcome us to a dusty but nice campground whose owners have the good sense to winter in Arizona.  The owner is a true gold miner and collects old authentic equipment from the gold rush days like this dredge. Loved Chicken and so glad we made the drive here.  This may be the last caravan to take this road since the road is so rough!

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!

                        

Beginning the Alaskan Highway--the ALCAN Dawson Creek to Dawson City

BUT FIRST--Some of our faithful blog followers have questions regarding our accommodations.  So here's the scoop! 

The Bailey Buggy has wall to wall carpet, sky lights, an attic fan, air conditioner, flat screen TV, DVD player, DVR, a printer and very convenient toilet facilities less than one step away from our king size bed.  All these amenities make up for the less than spacious living area!  The galley kitchen offers a sink,  microwave, frig, two burners (never used), 20 inches of counter space.  Objects appear larger than actual size!  All of this supports fabulous dining—meaning that if you’ve exercised enough, ANYTHING tastes fabulous!

Galley

We are in Hinton, Alberta at a very nice KOA campground which is booked a year ahead. They met us as we pulled in and escorted us to our site—PAINLESS!  Our back window has been leaking slowly getting the sheets, mattress pad and some pillows wet before we realized it.  So we stripped them off and into the dryer and we’re good for now.  It rained all day so we spent the morning watching old Big Bang reruns all cozy in our sleeping bags and then off to the hardware store to get some caulk for this window.

We went to see the Beaver Dam Boardwalk which was amazing.  It was a natural wetland where the beaver had made 4 dams to create a pond with their den right in the middle!  The boardwalk and trails were neat—around the pond and into a beautiful woods.

The Army Corps of Engineers could learn a thing or two from these beavers-not a leak in sight,  better than Buckeye Lake

Our Adventure Caravan leaders provide morning coffee and donuts, as well as a get-together at 5 pm every day.  We get a quick overview of the next day, snacks and wine.  In the morning Joe goes around and hits all the tires around 7 am or before  with a 9 iron which is ostensibly to check for flat tires but I really think it's our alarm clock!  No one will admit to this!  The pace is perfect for us.  Carol, Dan, Jewel and Joe all work very hard—I would not like to do their jobs but they love it!

Up at 6:30 am to hit the road to Dawson Creek, BC—276 miles.  Most of the roads were fine until we hit pot holes and had to slow down.  We stopped  at a Costco on the way to get gas—a bargain at $1.27 per liter!  The Costco set up is a replica of the ones in the states—down to the $1.50 hot dog and drink and the samples!

Our campground is a bit soggy after 4 inches of rain in 4 days but the canola fields are loving it.  

View from our campground!

 A speaker came to our campground and gave a  presentation on the construction of the Alaskan highway.  Dawson Creek was the most northern stop on the Canada railroad so when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the big push was on to connect Alaska to the lower 48.

Dawson Creek is “Milepost 0” of the Alcan highway (1500 miles) which was miraculously finished in 8 months!  It is an amazing story. 

The sun is shining today and we had a great walk around town checking out its history.

The original milepost 0, but the traffic circle makes pictures diffiult

People over 55 are great to travel with—this group is ALWAYS on time and follow directions!  We had this photo taken in 10 minutes. 

 

The photo op milepost 0 about one block away

Our back window started leaking again with all the rain so we put trash bags and towels under the window.  We had offers of  couches to sleep on, trash bags and spray sealer that is guaranteed to keep us dry! Pete masked off the paint and window and sprayed 4 layers of the magic stuff so we will see how that goes!

Fort Nelson is our first stop on the Alaskan Highway.  There was a neat Heritage museum right next to the campground.  It has all kinds of neat old cars and the100 year old owner to tell you all about each one.  

Off to Liard River, British Columbia.  On the way we stopped at a small place Muncho Lodge to buy a cinnamon roll and heard about how RVs have ruined the lodge business in Canada.  People no longer need rooms because RVs have taken over and I’d say it is 3 to 1 RVs to cars on the road.  However, she does sell over $200,000 a year in fuel to them along with the 400 cinnamon rolls a day!

Here are some funny signs along the way:  BACON IS THE DUCT TAPE OF FOOD!   and THERE ARE TWO THINGS ON THE MENU—TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT!

We saw a sheep family munching along the road and a baby bear that ran across the road too fast to photo.

This lodge had its own bush plane to take people out on fishing trips and apparently it is such strenuous work that they need their own bar to regain strength!

Liard River Campground blew out its circuits with so many RV air conditioners running—some of these big rigs have 3 of them.  It was cool enough so our fan did just fine.  The big excitement was a buffalo wandering around in the campground!  Pete decided to follow it to get this picture.  I am reluctant to include this picture because I don’t want to encourage this behavior but he’s out of control!

The Liard River Hot Springs was across the road and great fun.  There was a long boardwalk through a wetlands where moose hang out—on vacation while we were there—that led to the best hot springs ever.  It was a natural setting with one end 98 degrees to 125 degrees.  Pete’s kind of place!

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Fireweed grows everywhere!  It blooms from the bottom up in summer and when the top blooms are out, then you know it’s time to head home—winter is close!

We met a group of 15 girls bicycling from Houston, Texas to Fairbanks, Alaska in 70 days—makes my thighs burn just to think of doing that!

Liard River to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory

It is hard for pictures to do justice to the gorgeous scenery.  The scale of the mountains, rivers, lakes, and sky is so immense!  The forests are endless and so thick that the trees are 2 feet apart.  Makes me feel less guilty about all the paper plates we’re using!

Black Bear

This buffalo was grazing right along the road and there was a black bear ignoring Pete who was of course out of the car to get this picture!

Bears are so soft to pet

Watson Lake is famous for its “Signpost Forest” and museum.   

A lonely young man made the first one while building the Alaskan highway.

First sign made by the lonely soldier

There must be thousands of signs that people have added over the years.  Our RV caravan made this sign and we all signed our names.

I saw one sign from Dublin, Ohio.

Our caravan sign

Whitehorse, YT

 Off we go with a stop at Rancherie Falls which was a hard to find turnout that a lot of us missed.  Pete and I just did a U turn but the big boy rigs had to go up the road to a turnoff to get back but it was worth the trouble!  Very nice path down to two falls.  The drive was outstanding!

We saw another bear on the way and this time Pete decided to back up along the berm and then get out of the RV so he could tell if this was a Grisly bear!  We wonder why men don’t live as long as women!

WHITEHORSE

We had a great time here even though the Pioneer RV Park had us crammed in like sardines!  The weather has been gorgeous and we are glad for the AC.  It is hard to travel in the summer without AC so that makes the National Parks without electric less attractive.

Note the Reindeer Milk!

We started off touring the famous paddle boat S.S. Klondike which was the lifeline between Whitehorse and Dawson City.  It could only operate about 5 months because the Yukon River freezes.  They loaded it down with all kinds of supplies—especially Whiskey to last the long dark winders.  Nice movie there also. 

Visitor center gave us free parking passes and off we went to the pre-paid museums.  The MacBride Museum tour was given by Jana who grew up in the arctic circle.  She knew a lots of the grandchildren of the originals famous settlers.  One of the exhibits was about the merchants who supplied the gold rush miners and made a lot of money.  One of the investors was guess who….Donald Trump’s father!

Yukon Transportation Museum was a couple miles away and nice.

The salmon are on their way back to lay their eggs where they were born.  They come from Japan, California etc where they’ve been for 2-5 years and swim up the Yukon river 1500 miles against the current to spawn.  Whitehorse has a hydroelectric plant that stops the progress so they built a “staircase” around it to get the fish up and over it.  There was a camera in the water and we could see the salmon trying to figure out how to get around the power plant.

 There was a piano down on the viewing platform inviting guests to play and lots of people did—including me!

Miles Canyon was our favorite place today with that green water made from the glaciers scraping the rock…called rock flour.  Steep cliffs with a suspension bridge was part of a long hike along the gorge.  Three guys jumped off the rocks as we were watching!  A long but wonderful day!

Before the dam this was wild whitewater the gold rushers had to negotiate on their way to Dawson