Whitehorse to Dawson City

7/2/17




Left Whitehorse at 8:00 a.m.  The Wagon master told us that we were traveling 335 miles over steep hills and valleys and that the roads were not good - lots of gravel and ice heaves.  The key to get through is to drive with caution and slowly.  We did and it took almost 9 hours to get to Dawson City.    Our first stop was at Raeburn Lodge where they have the largest cinnamon buns I have ever seen.  Of course, we had to buy one.  We will probably be eating on it for a couple of days.

Cinnamon Buns

We saw a big cat of some kind running across the road on our trip.  Couldn't identify it - but by the coloring and how it ran, I would guess it was a cougar.  We also passed Twin Lakes, Yukon (this is for my sister).  There was a lake on each side of the road, with beautiful aqua water and good sized.  Our next stop was at Moose Lodge.  We didn't go in, just needed to stretch our legs.  Here is some of the artwork out front.  Dad, you will especially love the old car.


Moose

The 6 Ft Mosquito

"My Driving Days are Over", says the car

Lots and lots of heaves in the road.  Every winter the road takes a beating from the extreme below zero  temps and the road creates large mounds, pot holes, and big dips.  The road maintenance people have their hands full trying to keep the road passable, but it is still very hard on vehicles.  Also, after many hours on the road, you are ready for a smooth surface and rest.  Here is a narrow bridge that we crossed.  The bridge was not only narrow to begin with, but they had one lane closed for repairs, and on the only space left, they put up wooden barriers that made it even narrower.  We crept through it. 

Narrow  Bridge, even narrower

We arrived at Bonanza RV Park in Dawson City at 5:00 p.m. - 9 hours later and in the rain!  Hooray, we  have internet.  I started catching up on the blog with all that we saw in Whitehorse.  Had dinner, and went to bed - too tired to do anything else.


 








7/3/17






We were able to sleep in 'til 8:30 this morning, and it was such a good long sleep.  Today, the tour is taking those who want to go on a walking tour of Dawson City.  The tailgunners told us that there were a lot of up and down steps and about 90 minutes of walking, so I am passing on this tour.  Instead, we are having a lazy morning, and will then get in the car and see Dawson City ourselves.  We left the RV for a driving tour of Dawson City, the hub of the Klondike gold rush of 1898-1900.  At that time, Dawson City was the largest city west of Winnipeg and North of Seattle.  Most of the miners who came here to find their 'El Dorado' lived in tents and worked the mines.  Very few ever made enough money to call it a success, but Dawson City flourished for a short time.  Now it is a tourist town.  They have left the streets dirt, the same as the gold rush days.  When it rains, everything turns to mud.  The main street, called Front street, is paved but that is it. 

Front Street, Dawson City

We parked the car on Front Street and walked through all of the stores along the main drag.  The only stores that really interested me were the bakery and the creamery.  I guess I was hungry.  Here is a picture of the restoration of a building on Front Street, and the Keno, a steamer paddlewheeler that ran on the Yukon River.

Restoration

The Keno

Probably the most famous resident of Dawson City was Jack London, the writer of "Call of the Wild" and "White Fang".  He made the stories of the winters in Dawson City come to life.  Here is a picture of his cabin, built during the gold rush days.  Although he never struck it rich panning gold, he did with his writings. 

Jack London Cabin

 

At 7:30, the tour took us to Diamond Tooth Gerties, a gambling hall and show in downtown Dawson City.  We sat and listened to 1890's music and had hamburgers.  Then the show started a 8:30.  Gertie herself sang, and she was pretty good.  The show comprised of 4 dancing girls doing the can-can and some other dancing, along with the songs by Gertie.  It was very entertaining.  I had time to play a little blackjack.  It was a little different than Vegas rules - the dealer only took one card on the initial deal; there was no insurance offered; if you got a blackjack and then the dealer made a blackjack, you had a push; the house only allowed doubling down on 10 or 11. I found out that any winning kept by the house went to the community for improvements,  in other words, it was a non-profit gambling house.   I could not get pictures there as the lighting wasn't good, and they did not want us to take pictures.  Here is a picture of the outside of the building. 

Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall

7/4/17 Happy 4th to all Americans!




We have the whole day to ourselves today, at least until 5:00 when we have a Wagon Master meeting.  So we took off for town to get a couple more pictures.  First, we went up to Midnight Dome, a hill before you get into town, with a  great view of the convergence of two rivers, the Klondike and the Yukon.  The muddy water river is the Yukon, flowing northward (upper left to right in the picture).  The Klondike is a smaller river and is the clear water, flowing from lower left to right to joint the Yukon).  The water always stays separated. 

The Klondike and Yukon rivers beside Dawson City

convergence of two rivers taken from Midnight Dome

Next we drove over to the Ferry crossing to see how big the Ferry was.  We were surprised to find that it was only 65 ft long and held only one RV and about 5 cars.  I think with our 24 rigs and 22 rigs from another caravan both leaving in the morning, we will probably be in line for 8 hours!  So.... we decided to leave late tonight (the Ferry runs 24 hours/day), around 11 p.m., and hopefully the line will not be so long.  Once we get across the river, we can dry camp in a pullout on the other side and go to bed.




Tomorrow, according to the Wagon Master, the road is worse than what we have seen so far.  The trip from Dawson City to Chicken is only 105 miles and should take 4-5 hours.  That is about 25-39 mph for the whole trip (not looking forward to it).  Also, it looks like we will not have internet service until we get to Fairbanks on 7/7/17.