Whitehorse, Yukon to Dawson City, Yukon

June 8, 2011

We start the morning at the RV wash station. Mucho mud, mucho needed.

We pass the Whitehorse Airport on the way out of town. They have a most unusual weathervane. It’s a DC-3 mounted on a really long pole. Would love to see that baby spin in a wind storm.

We turn off the Alaska Highway to drive the Klondike Loop. We’ll catch up with the AlCan in a couple of days. We follow an old stage coach route which passes the remains of Montague House, a log cabin-type structure which served as a roadhouse for passengers who rode the stage.

The Braeburn Airstrip is one of many private landing strips we’ve seen over the last 7 days. This one is a 3000 foot long dirt strip with nothing but a windsock to make it look for-real. Just as we pass, a bush pilot skims the trees and comes in for a landing. He nails it. Doesn’t even need the whole 3000 feet. Gutsy guy.

Carmacks is a tiny settlement named for George Carmack who extracted more than a ton of gold from a creek he named Bonanza and its tributary Eldorado. His discovery set off the Klondike Gold Rush and changed this place forever.

We stop for lunch at Five Finger Rapids. The Yukon has broadened to a colossal width up here, broad enough to encompass large islands. These particular rapids run through 5 timbered rock pillars creating a sight to behold, but a hazardous passage for river boaters. There are 219 stairs leading down to a closer view of the rapids. Just one of us gets a closer look. Cutters Range rises up behind the river. It’s named for the men who stockpiled wood for the sternwheelers.

The roadway up here is riddled with rough patches and frost heaves. As Jim says, “ride ‘em cowboy” He doesn’t slow down….much.

We drive alongside the Tintina Trench the longest fault in North America. The migratory birds use it as a flight path. To us, it looks like a wide green valley.

We pull into Dawson City, the end of the road. Yukoners call this the North End. To go further, we will take a ferry across the Yukon River, but not for a couple of days. We’ve got some looking around to do. This is a real gold mining town, the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush. To prove it, miles of gravel and rock tailings are piled high and at random along the sides of the road. They are leftovers from the 1930’s. Aside from this rather ugly entry, Dawson City is a cute little town. They have preserved old buildings, added gazebos and flower plantings and attempted to make the town look like it used to when it was labeled “the Paris of the North.” It sits on one bank of the Yukon, picturesque, with its brightly colored buildings and unpaved streets.

Today’s wildflowers are brilliant purple fireweed in broad sweeps and patches and in borders lining the highway as if they were planted there on purpose. Tiny forget-me-nots bloom in masses of baby blue and bright yellow creeping buttercups mixed with ice blue arctic lupine create roadside bouquets. The wild roses are just starting to bloom.

One week on the road already. It’s flying by. 

Wildlife count: 0

Airstreams: 2

Miles: 340

Gratitudes: PKB: the sound of rain on the aluminum roof JMB: the distance from reality

Gin Score: J: 890 P: 950

Weather Vane

Five Fingers Rapids