After going through the Canadian checkpoint, we crossed into Yukon and continued on the “Top of the World” highway until we came to the Yukon River. On the other side of the river is Dawson City.
The only way to cross the Yukon River into Dawson City from this side of the river is by ferry. There is no bridge and the ferry is free. Dawson City is a Gold Rush town of 1898 and today in 2009, the town (I would never call it a city) still looks the way it did in 1898. Some buildings are restored and some are empty and falling down and all the interior roads remain unpaved. Dawson has a restored river steamer (the Keno) and a nice riverwalk pathway to hike. It has a very good museum and also the cabins of Robert Service (the bard of the Yukon) and a replica of the cabin used by Jack London (the real one was moved to Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.). There are still active placer mines here and gold is still a major part of the economy. The temps will drop to 60 below zero in the winter so anyone who isn’t really serious about mining or privacy leaves the city in the fall.
August 22 – 24, 2009 –KLONDIKE HIGHWAY – ALASKA HIGHWAY – SOUTH
Leaving Dawson City and heading southeast we followed the Yukon River. This river was in our sight most of the drive. This country is pretty remote and settlements are few. But the scenery is beautiful!
This road is still the gold trail and passes Mayo and Keno, the sites of gold and silver strikes in the early 20th century. We crossed the Tintina river at a place called Stewarts Crossing and had lunch there. Onward to our overnight stop in Carmacks which was settled by the pioneer George Carmack.
From Carmacks we went on to Whitehorse again where we spent the day going through places Jo had not seen as she was in Orlando when I passed through the first time.
We had another overnighter just outside of Watson Lake, our last stop in the Yukon. Watson Lake is world famous for the “Signpost Forest”. The forest was started in 1942 by a homesick U.S. Army GI who was working on the Alaska Highway. He erected a sign pointing the way (and stating the mileage) to his hometown. The forest now covers several acres with signs placed by tourists designating their home towns. There are signs from all over the world and there are over 60,000 of them. This is a fun place and you could spend all day wondering through this forest looking for familiar towns and signs from your home area.
From Watson Lake to Dawson Creek BC, it is a long trek through empty country. On the way we passed by Muncho Lake; a beautiful blue green lake set in high granite peaks, very similar (except for the color) to Lake Tahoe.
Scattered along this road are a few 'lodges' with cafes and gas stations set in places where the US Army placed resupply points along the Alaska Highway route during construction. We were coming through rather late in the season so a lot of these places were deserted and boarded up for the coming winter. A lonely but picturesque drive.
We came upon Bison walking along the road and at one point saw a group of wild horses grazing alongside the road. It started to rain real hard and they all turned and wondered back into the forests.
We stayed the night at a campground next to Toad River Lodge; a place that has a ‘World Famous Alaska Highway Hat Collection” with thousands of baseball caps hanging from the ceiling.
August 25 – 27, 2009 – DAWSON CREEK, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Reaching Dawson Creek you know you are out of the northern mountains and back onto the prairie because the first thing you see are the Grain Elevators, the tallest building and ever present in every town across Canada from the Rockies to the east coast. We spent a day in Dawson restocking our supplies and exploring the downtown area. Dawson Creek is “Mile 0” of the Alaskan Highway. The start of the Alaskan Highway, or the end depending on what direction you are going. For us it was the END.
There is a lot of Alaska Highway history in this city and on the main street several of the buildings have murals depicting this history.
All over Canada there is a chain restaurant called “White Spot”. This is a family restaurant that was started in the 20’s and was committed to being the “cleanest spot in town”. We found one of these places in Dawson City and the food is really good. So if you are ever traveling through Canada, and see one of these restaurants, it’s a great place to stop and eat.
From Dawson Creek we headed south and east across the prairie through Grand Prairie and Grande Cache into Alberta where we will spend the next 4 days in the Jasper and Banff National Park area.
Stay tuned for Vol 8 – Alberta and British Columbia.
