July 9 -15 Dawson City – full of history, fun places, phenomenal setting and much more.
We arrived late on July 8 at the downtown campground which means we are wall to wall with other rigs, but we can walk almost everywhere. As we arrived, the odometer on the car read 9,148 km (5684 miles) from Milton. The trailer has travelled 7,850 km (4878 miles) because of several side trips by car alone, including Fort Mac Murray, and soon “up the Dempster” to Inuvik.

The native people speak the Hăn language and belong to the Tr'onděk Hwěch'in tribe. Tr'onděk means ‘hammer stone’, used to pound the stakes in the river beds for salmon traps. Hwěch'in means people. Somehow the white people, trying to pronounce Tr'onděk, made it into Klondike. When a local native woman pronounced the name for us, it sounded a bit like Klondike (same intonation), so we can understand how this happened. They lived on the plain here by the river before the gold rush. They fished salmon and hunted caribou inland. When the rush of prospectors started coming in 1898, their chief realized that to protect their way of life the tribe must move. They settled 5 km downriver at Moosehide, a place that today is the site of a huge gathering every summer. They have adapted very well from their pre-contact subsistence to a successful self-governing body that owns many of the local businesses. Their pride is evident and to be admired.

The Gold Rush lasted only 1 or 2 years (1898/99), but the mining continued and prospered as large companies took over. Today there are 120 active gold mines in the Yukon, and the revenue from this activity is about $50 million annually. The Gold Rush story is so much more interesting than we had expected. To Skagway by boat, over the mountain passes with 1000 lbs of gear per prospector, building boats to carry them 500 miles downriver to Dawson. Of 100,000 that started, about 30,000 made it to Dawson area.

Did you know that Pierre Berton grew up in Dawson and that many of Robert Service’s poems are based on prospectors’ lives here and the beauty of the land? Joan gave us a wonderful book of Robert Service poems which takes on a whole new meaning as we learn about this land and its history! Dawson today has about 2000 permanent residents, but through the summer and especially during music fest, the population swells.

The buildings are from ‘that time’, and the new ones have the same design. The first buildings were put on the ground - frozen permafrost – and as the building warmed the soil, they moved and tipped. Two structures here have been left to illustrate this. Today buildings are placed on huge pressure-treated beams to leave space. The outer walls extend to the ground with ventilation to allow free flow of air. Many buildings have been restored and are in use while some are still in disrepair because the small population cannot afford to tackle it all at once. This adds to the charm and reality and provides great contrast and eye appeal.

We took a trip up to the Midnight Dome – a mountain top at 3000 feet with a phenomenal 360 degree view. We sat there for a few hours and enjoyed the peace and the view - there are some pictures to illustrate. The three of us panned for gold in Bonanza Creek and soaked up the atmosphere. No gold, though I imagined that some of the miniscule flakes left in the pan were actually gold – see picture. It could of course have been pyrite (fools’ gold) but the flakes were so small we could not save them. By swishing the sand and stones around in the pan, the gold (19 times heavier than water and much denser than any other material) will settle to the bottom. We learned the technique of washing the sand and rocks out of the pan – to leave any gold that might be there. We certainly have a small sense of what it could have been like to search for gold. To quote Robert Service:

There’s gold, and it’s haunting and haunting;
It’s luring me on as of old;
Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting
So much as just finding the gold.
It’s the great, big, broad land ‘way up yonder’,
It’s the forests where silence has lease;
It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.

Joan flew out on Tuesday, and it was really great to share one week with her. Dawson International Airport is the smallest airport we have been to. The arrival/departure hall was about the size of a large living room, the customs hall was a 2.5m corridor and the check-in guy took the bags to the plane. We could park free in front of the terminal and concluded that the ‘long term parking’ on the other side of the road must be less expensive because it wasn’t paved.

Anne-Grethe and I went to the 10:30 cabaret at “Diamond Tooth Gertie’s” and walked home at 11:30 with sun shining on the mountains around us! The sky is still blue and there is still a midnight show, if we want it. I think we shall call it a day!

We apologize for all the pictures, but we would like you too, to share this amazing place.
We have 3 more days here.

15 Dawson

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July 8. The northern half of the Klondike Highway is spectacular. I don’t have the words, so please look at the pictures.
We made two very interesting stops at native village interpretive centres. The first just south of Carmacks was called “Tage Cho Hudan” meaning Big River People, referring to the Yukon river. We met a multi-generational family and one lady in particular was very willing to explain many aspects of their lives. We watched an aunt making a ceremonial vest of moose skin with many embroidered bead figures and fancy stitching. It is intended for an uncle in Regina who is marrying at the end of the month. Incredible work – and time consuming. Family relationships are defined differently. A young girl anxious to tell us about her things has multiple grandmothers, because your sister’s and brother’s grandchildren are also your grandchildren. Thus the family becomes larger, and all look after each other more closely.
The other village centre, the Northern Tuchone (teh-cho-né) people, was at Pelly’s Crossing. Their clan system is composed of two ‘moities’, the Wolf Clan and the Crow Clan. A matrilineal system, your clan affiliation is determined by what clan your mother is from. A Crow must marry a Wolf, or vice versa, according to traditional law.

There were many sections of highway under repair and thus lots of gravel, some dusty some muddy. Late afternoon as we arrived, the rig got a thorough wash again so we could be presentable at the campground in Dawson City where we shall be for about 10 days. The weather is perfect – mid 20s, sunshine and clear dry air. More about Dawson next time.

14 Klondike Highway

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July 3 & 4. We arrived safely in Whitehorse, though fooled by information which suggested our camp was near town. But we are well settled and the extra 20 km do not matter. It is great to be in one place for 4 days. There’s time to clean, repair, grease – and still sightsee. Whitehorse is a really great place! Well to do with a core down area, wide streets and a warm feeling. The Yukon river curves past the city with small islands and some wide reaches. The backdrop is mountains, some high enough to have white streaks of snow. Up above the city is an elevated plateau where the highway runs and where the airport was built.

July 5 & 6. Joan Reid-Bicknell arrived in late afternoon ready to share the next 8 days of adventure with us. On the second day we saw the rest of the sights and nearly all the museums and ate a fabulous dinner at Klondike Rib & Salmon where there are line-ups every night. Look at the menu on in the pictures – and we were not disappointed. The “Frantic Follies” finished of our evening – a rip-roaring 90 minutes of laughter based on the old ‘follies’ format. We even learned how to pan for gold and walked away with some very tiny ‘nuggets’ – if you could call them that!

So many people from south have settled here. We met numerous young Ontario folks who wouldn’t think of leaving The Yukon. It is easy to see why, especially if the outdoors is your life.

July 7. On the way north to Dawson City, we stopped half-way at Carmacks, right beside the Yukon River. It flows fast - about 10 km/h here. A drink on the dock and BBQ with lamb chops went down very well. As we drove north, away from the Alaska Highway, the mountains became more rounded and the terrain less hilly. We expect this to continue tomorrow.

12 Alaska Highway

13 Whitehorse, Yukon

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June 28. We had to fill up with water in downtown Yellowknife and got underway about 10. We were sorry to leave this pleasant town and decided it could be a great experience to come back in the winter. The Aurora Borealis alone would be worth it. The first 100 km on the way back (to Rae) is the worst of the road and I hit a few bumps the hard way and managed to dislodge one of the drawer rails in the kitchen (repaired the next day in Fort Simpson) – and cracked the beer shelf in the refrigerator door! Several other items moved around as well.

After we re-crossed the Mackenzie River we turned on to the “short cut” to Fort Nelson BC. This is 500+ km of gravel road – and the trailer has never been dirtier. We had to wash both vehicles and it cost $50 in Fort Simpson. Our alternative would have been to drive south to near Peace River and then northwest. Probably two days of hard driving, along a route we had already seen. We stayed overnight in Sambaa Deh Falls Park (means Trout River) about half way to Fort Simpson. The falls were spectacular.

Even though lakes and rivers are everywhere in NWT, water here is probably the most expensive in Canada. As the population lives scattered or in small communities, most houses have tanks and buy water that is trucked in when needed, only in the centre of the largest cities are there water mains.

Fort Simpson lies 63 km off the direct route on the gravel road – the only place to buy gasoline. Here we have another beautiful view of the Mackenzie River (1.2 km wide) and the friendliest hardware store (for the stuff needed to fix the drawer). But the ferry ride across the Liard River was treacherous. Steep gravel road down to and up from the river (between 15 and 20% grade we were told by the local transportation superintendent. We needed extra blocks under the wheels to prevent the back of the trailer digging in as we boarded and left the ferry (see pictures). The river can change 13 metres from low to high flow depending on season and weather (snow or rain up-river, south of here.)

The Mackenzie River is Canada’s longest river system, about 2,800 km, and Great Bear Lake (about 1000 km northwest of Great Slave Lake) is the largest lake entirely within Canada’s boundaries.

June 29. We stayed overnight in Fort Simpson and met Dene cousins on two different occasions whose last name is Norwegian! Yes “Norwegian’. One lady and her brother manages the campground and their cousin is involved with a power project using the Mackenzie River flow to generate electricity. He said his great, great grandfather had red hair and blue eyes. His father (name unknown) had travelled with the explorer Franklin in the early 1800s, and on his third visit, he decided to stay and marry a native girl. Later when the Jesuits began to take census, they asked about the light-haired, blue-eyed children and were told the father was Norwegian. That became the name for the family.

June 30. The ferry ride back across the Liard River was a bit easier, but the drive south on the Liard Trail was not. A gravel road being beat up by 20-30 large trucks a day does not stay in good shape and constantly needs repair. This is done by adding 6 inches of new sand/gravel mix and when you meet this topping before it is compacted, near the top of a steep hill, you are VERY glad the car has all wheel drive! We had several close calls and were told by one engineer we met that 3-4 weeks earlier we would not have made it through.

Canada Day! – and it rained all day. We had stopped in Fort Liard, 38 km north of the
BC border. An early start got us to the Alaska Highway in 3 hours. Thrilling but slow drive for another 4 hours with mountains (tops not visible), step hills and wildlife. We stopped at the Liard (yes same long river) Hot Springs and had a wonderful bath in 45 deg. C water with high concentration of Calcium Sulphate. It still rained when we walked back to the trailer, and we were ooh so relaxed.

July 2. The drive today was only 210 km because we wanted to stop in Watson Lake, Yukon Territories (YT) and see several museums and exhibits. We encountered a large caravan of 32 motor homes and trailers in Liard Hot Springs and they stopped here in Watson Lake as well (see picture). A sudden downpour coming home from the visitors centre meant our jeans and socks had to be hung in a variety of places in the trailer to dry. Optimistically, we purchased our Yukon fishing licenses. There has to be a fish waiting for our new baits somewhere in the next 2+ weeks!

10 Three days to Liard

11 To Watson Lake

Yellowknife continued.
The name of the city is not taken from a native chief as I had thought. The yellow knife is based on a copper powder knife used in the mining industry. It was important for the dynamite suppliers to use a copper knife because opening the powder cases with a steel knife could cause a spark.

We tried fishing in the Yellowknife river yesterday. This was supposed to be a great spot for jackfish (pike). It turned out not to be so for us, but we had a great time, with our bug suits to make sure the mosquitoes also did not bite! You will notice that some of our pictures are a bit hazy. There is a huge forest fire in Saskatchewan and the smoke is drifting northwest all the way up here. Last night is smelled as if someone was having a small camping fire nearby, though that is unlikely because the fire hazard here is marked as ‘extreme’. Even the sun late yesterday was red.

Tomorrow, Jun 28, we start our drive toward Whitehorse, but it will take many days and there are two days of just gravel roads. It will be a while until the next internet connection.

Here are two sets of pictures - and we should now be up to date.

08 NWT

09 Yellowknife