Day 20 Dawson City, Yukon

Spence and Madi Schaaf #2 Tailgunners Monday, June 28, 2010


We woke up to the sound of raindrops. We were kind of hoping for sunshine today, but you get what you get! Can’t let a little rain stop us! We did have a brief orientation to Dawson City and the things to do and see here, given by our Wagonmaster Ken, via CB radio this morning since it was pouring down rain.


Immediately after that we held our long awaited craft class, with myself as instructor, to make ourselves American flag pins just in time for our Fourth of July celebration in a few days. #12 Ivan and Shirley Yurtin had offered to let us hold the class in their motorhome if it was raining. Well, as mentioned earlier, it was. So 14 of us (including one gentleman) made our way to Shirley’s motorhome and began to craft our flags out of safety pins and beads. A great time was had by all. Even those who claimed they were not crafters were able to make beautiful finished products!

After the class was finished, several went into town to have lunch and discover what the small settlement of Dawson City has to offer. The town is famous for the Klondike gold rush of 1896 when gold was discovered in what is now known as Bonanza Creek. Gold is still mined here today and the famous Dredge #4, the largest wooden hull dredge in North America, gives tours daily.

In the evening, the rain had stopped, and we all made our way to Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall for a wonderfully entertaining Can Can show. The ladies singled out several men, including Larry Beavers and Ivan Yurtin for a little embarrassment. Our very own tailgunner, Spence, was hauled up on stage- much to his dismay- to perform a dance with 3 other gentlemen and the can can dancers. He had some pretty nice moves, don’t you think? For his reward, he retrieved a garter from the shapely leg of one of the can can dancers.

  

  

 

Right after the show, several of us made our way up to the Midnight Dome. The views were spectacular because the clouds had cleared enough to let us view the entire town of Dawson, see the Yukon and Klondike Rivers, and get a distant glimpse of our next journey, the Top of the World Highway. 
 

Tomorrow, let’s hope our clear weather holds!

Day 19 - Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT

Ken and Carole Adams #1 Wagonmasters June 27, 2010

We would like to welcome #19, Karen, and her beautiful bird, Bobby, to our group! She joined us in Whitehorse after a layover from a previous caravan.

Today we travelled from Whitehorse to Dawson City, goal of the Klondike gold rush of ‘98. It was a beautiful morning, with just a few clouds in the otherwise blue sky.

No journey on the Klondike Highway would be complete without a stop at Braeburn Lodge. This is a great little spot in about the middle of nowhere. Their specialty is huge cinnamon buns. We hear the breakfasts are excellent too. Check this out:

                                     Note the bite mark and missing corner – Mr. Kenny did it 

For some reason, the wildlife all took a vacation for us today; our most exotic encounter was a ground squirrel who tried to play “chicken” with our motor home while we were rolling up the highway. We think he lost.

We travelled mile after mile through the boreal spruce and birch forests and plains, interspersed with lots of lakes and ponds and rivers. As we headed north, the trees got shorter, in some areas stunted due to the cold winters. The roads started to really show the effects of cold too. There were countless asphalt patches, uneven surfaces, and even a few respectable frost heaves. This encouraged us to slow down, which gave us an opportunity to see the fireweed just starting to flower out. There were also lots of lupines and other wildflowers just coming into bloom, as well as lots of lush green grasses for the local wildlife to munch on.

Approaching Dawson there are miles of dredge tailings. Dawson is a quaint town. Almost all the buildings look like the 1890s. There is much to see and do in Dawson: the museums, the First People’s Cultural Centre, the S.S. Keno sternwheeler and a drive up to the Midnight Dome for a wonderful view of the town, the Yukon river and the Top of the World highway. We hope to see a lot of these tomorrow.

Day 18 - Whitehorse, YT

Wolf & Barb Schlichting     Rig # 18                                                            Saturday, June 26, 2010

This is our last full Day in Whitehorse before heading to Dawson 347 miles away

The day began with the meeting at 9 AM to explain next day travel

At 11AM we meet at the SS Klondike Steam Ship for a Tour and learn more about the Yukon River traffic during the Summer

In October the Ships had to be stored on Land for the Winter till April the following Year

The Klondike during the summer made 10 to 12 round trips to Dawson 4 days to go down River 10 Days coming back

Most impressive thing from a Men’s point of view the Steamers Paddle Wheel

After Lunch we boarded the MV Schwatka for a cruise through Miles Canyon we where eight from our caravan Rig 7, 16, 17 and us Rig 18 the sun was shining and we had a good time 

The highlight of the stay in Whitehorse was the Frantic Follies Show starting at 8:30 PM

The Show was entertaining and funny and a fitting end of our stay in Whitehorse

There is nothing else to report

Safe Travel

Barb & Wolf

Day 17 - Whitehorse, YT

Gary and Sally Johnson #17                                                                           Friday, June 25, 2010

Aaahhh! Finally, our first free day since joining the caravan on June 17. Time to relax and kick back – NOT! We were up early to do laundry, walk the dog, wash the truck, and do a few other chores before exploring the Whitehorse area.

One of the more interesting things we discovered today was right in our RV park. We met several German tourists who were riding on a Rotel Tours bus and who told us about how the tour operates. This bus is like a regular bus in front, but the back half has berth-like sleeping quarters for up to 26 people, including the driver who also doubles as the cook. The cooking facilities are at one side of the bus, and all cooking is done outdoors with the help of the tourists on the bus. The tour company operates similar vehicles all over the world.

After watching the Rotel bus pack up and leave we headed into Whitehorse to the Beringia Interpretive Center. Basically, Beringia was the land bridge exposed during the ice ages and used by man and animals migrating between Asia and the Americas. The term “bridge,” however, is misleading because Beringia was 1,000 miles wide and twice the size of Texas. We learned that much of Alaska and a good part of northwestern Yukon was not covered by ice. Many mummified and fossilized animals have been found in those areas, including the wooly mammoth. Our museum guide also told us that Whitehorse was covered under a mile of ice at the height of the last ice age.

Next we visited the Yukon Transportation Museum which depicted every form of transportation used in the area, from airplanes, railroads, steam ships, and cars to dog sleds, horses, and snow shoes. In front of the Museum is the “world’s largest weathervane,” a 1942 airplane mounted on a pivot so it can turn with the wind.

We couldn’t have all culture and no play, so off we went to the Yukon Brewing Company where we met many other members of the caravan and sampled beers. If we’d just had some chairs we could have spent the afternoon there.

But culture beckoned again and off we went to the MacBride Museum of Yukon History. There we saw depictions of the gold rush, animals, minerals, daily life at the turn of the 20th century, and a picture gallery of the painted ladies of the gold rush saloons. There is also the original cabin of Sam McGee who Robert Service immortalized in his poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee.”

Last but not least, we visited the Whitehorse Dam on the Yukon River and the adjacent Fishway that provides access to the upper reaches of the Yukon to migrating Chinook salmon. The salmon travel almost 2,000 miles to spawn, a journey that takes them three months to complete if they’re lucky. But then they really aren’t lucky because they die. The salmon will reach the Fishway in early August.

Now as the sun doesn’t set, we are ready for bed. Like every day on our caravan, we’ve had a full day of adventure and new experiences.

Day 16 - Watson Lake, YT to Whitehorse, YT

Jenks & Nancy Jenkins -               Thursday, June 24, 2010

Traveling from Watson Lake to Whitehorse

The day started out with the electricity turned off, the utility lines were being worked on. We decided to move the coach outside of the park, to give others room to hook up at their leisure and also to run our generator for a little breakfast before heading out.

As we drove along Hwy 97N you have gravel hillsides and placed on these hillsides were names, sayings and initials that people have placed, written with the stones from the hillside. This was nice to see, better than spray painting names on large rocks.

The scenery was just beautiful with each turn of the highway you could se the mountains off in the distance getting closer and all the trees in the thousands. I can see how someone could get lost in the woods here in Yukon Territory.

We didn’t see a sign stating we had just passed over the Continental Divide but we did stop off at a little Hotel, Restaurant, gift shop called Continental Divide, cute little place.

Today was a very uneventful day for wildlife, not one little animal was seen by us.

There were a number of bicyclists heading south, but that was it.

We had intended to stop at the George Johnston Museum but we stopped just before and then caravan #18 had problems getting their coach started. But not to worry, Wolf knows his coach very well and knew exactly where to look and got it repaired and we were back on the road in an hour. We decided not to do the museum and headed for Whitehorse.

Tonight we will be staying at Pioneer RV Park in Whitehorse, and we will have two full days of rest and exploring. I know that we are looking forward to the extra days here as I’m sure all of the other members of our caravan are.

Day 15 - Liard River, B.C. to Watson Lake, Yukon

Marlene and Nelson Cahill Rig#15

Our Assignment was to describe our journey from Liard Hot Springs to Watson Lake – an approximately 128 mile drive – taken on June 23, 2010. Our day began to the now-familiar tune of the tail gunner thumping our tires. Because last night was the first of two “dry camping” nights, we fired up the generator to brew our coffee and heat the water for our showers.

We made a discovery this morning: Tiny, pesky flies LOVE the smell of our window cleaner. We attracted quite a swarm while cleaning the windshield.

As we exited the campground, a posted sign warned us of “Buffalo on the Road.” Boy, were they right! Just outside of the park entrance, a wood bison crossed the road right in front of our rig. Further down the road, we encountered an entire herd of wood bison crossing the road. The largest male had a yellow tag around his neck.

As we drove, we passed a huge section of forest that showed signs of fire damage. On the one hand, it was sad to see the burned trees. On the other hand, we realize that fire helps clear the way for new trees to grow.

About 45 miles down the road, we saw a black bear sitting on its haunches, enjoying the view of the RVs traveling down the highway.

The daily trip log showed that we would cross from British Columbia into the Yukon for the first of seven border crossings. The Yukon Territory takes its name from the First Nations word “Youcon” meaning “Big River.” And, of course, the Yukon River is huge – beginning 30 miles from the Pacific Ocean and flowing for 2000 miles before reaching the Bering Sea. After about 84 miles of driving, we encountered our first “Welcome to the Yukon” sign. We then crossed back into British Columbia about 10 miles down the road. We encountered our second “Yukon” sign just before arriving at our campgrounds and just after about four miles of gravel road.

At about 3:30 p.m., we joined the rest of our caravan to car pool to town for a visit to the Sign Post Forest where over 67,983 signs have been left by travelers from around the world on their way through Watson Lake. It is the largest forest of its kind in the world. Our group proudly erected a commemorative sign to show that we have been here. Several of our group placed individual signs as well.

In the early evening, many of us attended a movie at the Northern Lights Center about the Aurora Borealis – not visible at this time of the year.