The first 200 miles today was pretty……………….boring!!
After our overnight stop in the rest area overlooking the Yukon River valley, the rest of our 350 mile drive from Whitehorse to Dawson City was straight, level and for the most part very samey. There were some interesting sections where we followed a Yukon Department of Road Fixing truck, which was laying down water to kill the dust, but we couldn’t see past him to get by, so traveled for about 10 miles at 20 mph, in a dust cloud.
We have parked the supercoach at Guggieville RV park, on the outer limits of the town, and we are surrounded by huge mega piles of rocks. In between the rocks are pools of incredibly clear water. These rocks were put here from the massive rock dredging machines, which until the end of the fifties, were used to dig up ore looking for gold. What they use now we have no idea.
Dawson City was once home to over 40,000 inhabitants at the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, and was in fact the Provincial capital. When you think that there are now only about 30,000 people living in the whole of the Yukon Territory, it gives you some idea of it’s importance back then.
The town sits on the convergence point of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers, and there is a 24 hour ferry which takes traffic over the rivers, so you can continue your journey.
Where the rivers meet is interesting as the Klondike River is sparklingly clean, and the Yukon is a light brown muddy color, so there is a distinct difference for several hundred yards until they mingle proper.
There are also some very small huts, floating on rafts made from oil drums and plywood. These are vacation huts!! People come up for the summer, pan for gold and boat out to these little huts on the river! Crazy!
The main income for the Yukon is tourism, closely followed by gold mining. There are over 40 mines, some just small mom and pop affairs, in this area alone.
We inquired about gold panning, and were told that for $ 7.00 we could be taught how to pan, and we would even be guaranteed some gold. They put $5.00 worth in the gravel before they let you loose!!
The town itself is quaint, and has sort of been preserved with the turn of the last century feel. Of course, it is for the tourists, but there are still a lot of people who live here and work in the mines.
What we found neat was that all the sidewalks were raised wooden boardwalks, and all the streets were gravel and dirt. We do not want to be here in the winter, when snow turns to mush. It would be a real mud bath.
We have to mention the weather here. While the rest of the US swelters in the heat of the dog days of August, we were looking forward to lovely, 70 degree temperatures.
We have had all the coach windows blacked out, and both AC units going full blast coz it has been in the 90’s here!
Air conditioning up here means opening a door, and one store proudly boasted that it has AC, so we went in, sand found the smallest, Wal Mart cheapo window unit, no colder than an ice cream!
We had lunch, and then, on the way back to the RV park, decided to explore a side road. It went up and up and up the side of a mountain, and right at the tippy top was a small parking lot, with the most wonderfully vast 360 degree panoramic views, for miles and miles around. We could see the river convergence area, virtually all of the town, the ferry, and miles and miles of forests, rolling hills and distant mountains. This place is a meeting place for the townsfolk on June 21st, the longest day, to celebrate the summer solstice, or get drunk, or both.
Talking of beer, I have found another brewery, you will be pleased to know.
It is the Yukon Brewery of Whitehorse, and so far I have imbibed of their Chilcoot Lager, which was reasonable, the Yukon Gold, “an English Style Pale Ale”, which is very nice, and the Cranberry Wheat, with a grizzly bear on the label, which was crap.
Talking of bears, ( see how I move smoothly and effortlessly from subject to subject?) the bear we sent pix of yesterday was actually officially known as blonde grizzly. Although they are all brown bears, they can vary in color tremendously from black to almost white.
We are going to bed early, have set the alarm for 2.30 am, coz we have been reliably informed that as tonight will be clear, we should be able to see The Northern Lights.
Then we are off to Chicken tomorrow.
Wildlife watch today was a suicidal scampering squirrel, lots of huge ravens and a delightful blue grey jay type bird, who sat on an information sign at a rest stop we were at, then flew down right by my feet, hopped over to the feet of the Marlipops, and flew back to the sign. Fascinating, he had no fear………….at least until he got near my feet!!
