The Klondike Highway

This highway connects Skagway, Alaska to Dawson City, Yukon.  The highway was built in several stages.  First from Whitehorse to Carmacks in 1950, and then from Carmacks to Dawson City in 1955. The final piece of the road, known as the South Klondike Highway, from Carcross to Skagway wasn't completed until 1978.  I am driving it from Dawson City to Skagway.

I was surprised to see all the bicyclers along the highway, all headed in the opposite direction.  There were dozens, mostly in groups of two.

Carmacks is at the junction of the Klondike Hwy and the Robert Campbell Highway, which leads to Faro and Watson Lake.  This is the highway I originally intended to take from here, but I've pretty much had my fill of gravel roads, so I've decided to stay on the Klondike and make a side trip to Haines rather than the drive to Faro.

I realize it's probably inconvenient for you to receive all of these posts at the same time.  I wish there was something I could do because it is a real pain to try to put these together days or even weeks later and sort out the pictures, etc.  The Internet isn't always available.  Sorry.

I'm spending a couple of days in Carmacks so I can catch up on some wash and some internet items, like this blog and my banking.  All is good for electronic banking, but you still need internet to do it.:)

The Silver Trail - Side trip to Mayo and Keno City

Dawson City, Mayo, and Keno City are all abandoned mining towns.  Keno City has a population of 25 persons.  All three have walking tours of the historic buildings in their towns.  They are pretty interesting.

Mayo, originally named Mayo Landing after one of the early riverboat captains, was established in 1903 to service a growing number of prospectors who had discovered gold on nearby river bars and creeks.  Mayo grew rapidly after Louis Bouvette discovered silver at nearby Keno Hill in 1919.

Silver ore was hauled by teamsters onto paddlewheelers at Mayo Landing on the Stewart River.  In 1922, a record 12,000 tons of ore from Keno Hill was stockpiled in Mayo awaiting shipment.

In Keno, I drove up to the top of Keno Hill to the end of Signpost Road.  At an elevation of about 6,000 feet, the site is perched above the steep slopes of Gambler Bulch, on the edge of Louis Bouvette's Roulette claim.  The road was pretty rough in places.

Interestingly, in talking with one of the locals, they get almost no American tourists here; the tourists are mostly from Germany and BC.

Driving the Dempster Highway

As you may remember, I drove to the Arctic Ocean from Fairbanks. The Dempster Highway to the Arctic Ocean is Canada’s northernmost highway, stretching 460 miles (plus another 90 miles from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk) through some of the most beautiful wilderness scenery in the world.  It winds over two mountain ranges, crosses the continental divide three times, passes through three natural regions and traverses the Arctic Circle and loosely follows the old dog team routes to the Mackenzie Delta.  It is a VERY different drive from the Dalton Highway in Alaska.

Completed in 1978, the Dempster Highway was named for Sgt. WJD Dempster of the Northwest Mounted Police, who, in the winter of 1910-1911, was sent to search for the “Lost Patrol.”

The guidebooks say to plan a week for this trip, and I would agree with that … at the very least 4 days.  I, however, did it in two because I didn’t want to leave my coach too long and I didn’t want to take my coach on this road.  It is a minimum of a 16-18 hour drive each way (depending on the schedule of the three ferries you have to take and how many stops you make) to reach Tuktoyaktuk.  Add into that driving time my two flat tires and the trip I made to the hospital ….

I really wanted to take this drive.  I checked with the forest service to verify weather and rain and road conditions and I set aside the time.  The morning came and I didn’t want to go – just a feeling I was having – so I didn’t get as early a start as I had hoped.  Anyway, I shut off everything in the coach, checked the solar panels, gassed up the Jeep and off I went.  I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong and considered turning around at the Arctic Circle.  Shortly after that stop, my Jeep told me I had a slow leak in my rear driver side tire, so I turned around and drove the 40 miles back to Eagle Plains, the only “service” area on the road.  They said the leak was too small to detect and it should be fine (famous last words); I filled the tire up and set off again.  At mile 276 my tire was completely shredded (so much for a “slow” leak) and I did not have cell service.  The surface of the highway is rock and dirt (a VERY dusty drive); the rock is very slick and sliding is easy if you’re not careful.  When I got out to check the tire and start the process of getting out my spare, I tripped on the hard dirt piled at the side of the road, fell and rolled down the embankment, spraining my wrist and forearm, getting all dirty, scrapes, etc.  So now, not only am I filthy but I can’t use my right arm (I’m right-handed).  As I started walking down the road, a very nice couple from Norway stopped and helped me change the tire and gave me a pain pill for the wrist, and off I went. (She had fallen and broken her nose a short time earlier).

By mile 445, I again have a “slow leak” indicator and no spare.  My wrist is swollen huge and I’m miserable.  I drove into Inuvik at 11:30 pm on 6 psi in my rear passenger tire to a hotel that couldn’t find my reservation.  I begged some ice for my wrist, tried to take a shower and went to bed for a couple of hours.  It was in the 80s and no A/C.

The next day I bought two extremely expensive tires and stopped at the hospital to have my wrist wrapped.

The Highway starts off the Klondike Highway, 25 miles east of Dawson City.  I saw bear and moose and a fox along the drive.

The Arctic Circle is at Mile 252.  From this latitude northwards the sun never sets at the summer solstice, June 21, and never rises at the winter solstice, December 21.

The highest elevation on the Dempster, at 4,229 feet, is at North Fork Pass (mile 51, and the first crossing of the Continental Divide.

Mile 289 is the Yukon/NWT border crossing and there is a time change.

Eagle Plains is the halfway point and provides the only services for the next 120 miles.

There is a ferry to cross the Peel River and again at the Mackenzie River and Arctic Red River. 

Inuvik (place of people) is the homeland of the Inuvialuit and Gwich'in peoples as well as the residence for a wide variety of other people and cultures. A place of rich diversity, Inuvik is located on the Mackenzie Delta - Canada's largest fresh water delta, close to the Arctic Ocean, with a spectacular view of the Richardson Mountains.

Tuktoyaktuk is on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and is home to Parks Canada’s “Pingo National Landmark,” a collection of ice hills.

You know how I’ve mentioned from time to time the mosquitoes?  In Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk even the locals were wearing mosquito netting, not only for mosquitoes but the biggest, angriest black flies found anywhere.  Regardless, I really wished I could have spent more time at these two communities and at the ocean.  It was a shame to drive all that way and have to turn around right away, but there was that drive home …

On the way back a camper got stuck getting off one of the ferries and we watched for about an hour and a half as a crew tried to dig it out and get it off the ferry.  It was really stuck.  We even tried moving the ferry and, at one point, I moved my Jeep over and the semi behind me tried to lower the ferry enough for the RV to move.

I got back to my coach at 2:30am.  I have no idea why but my solar panels didn’t keep my batteries charged (they should have had no problem) so my refrigerator/freezer was shut off.  Today I tossed all the food.

Bottom line – two new tires, pain and suffering, gas at $6.38/gallon, hotel room with no A/C, spoiled food, and 32 hours of driving in two days  = priceless.  It was a fantastic drive and I will remember it always.

Dawson City, Yukon

The Klonidke Gold Rush was touched off by the August 16, 1896 discovery of placer gold on Rabbit (later Bonanza) Creek, a tributary of the Klondike River.

The Klondike got its name from the Indian word “Thron Diuck” meaning “Hammer Water.”  Early settlers had difficulty with the pronunciation and thus it became “Klon-dike.”

You arrive in Dawson Creek from the Top of the World Highway by ferry across the Yukon River.  The Klondike highway here is surrounded by large piles of rock; the result of industrial mining by old dredges.  88% of all gold mined in the Yukon comes from the Dawson area.  In 1904 the Klondike was the largest gold producer in Canada and the fourth largest in the world.

As I waited 3 hours for my turn on the ferry, which made it very late getting to my campground, in hindsight I wished I had spent another day in Chicken.  I would have liked the drive to Eagle (another gravel road).  Or spent the night at the Yukon River Campground and crossed in the morning.  It was a long day.  As I later saw pictures from the drive to Eagle, I was kicking myself for missing it.

Jack London Museum – The site features a log cabin built with some of the original logs from Jack London’s cabin, a food cache and a museum containing memorabilia of his life in the north.  They show several films that were interesting, but the best was the talk given by the docent.  She was really good.

The cabin was first discovered by trappers on Henderson Creek.  It was rediscovered by historian Dick North (one of the films is how he found the cabin and what was done to restore it), dismantled and moved to Stewart Island.  In 1969 two replicas were built using the logs from the original cabin.  One cabin is located at the Jack London Interpretive Centre in Dawson City; the other in Jack London Square in Oakland, CA.

The museum contains a collection of photos tracing London’s journey to the Klondike in 1897.  The exhibit links London’s literature with the people he met and the events that occurred in the Klondike during the Gold Rush.

View of the Yukon River from Midnight Dome

I had my mail forwarded to Dawson City, thinking there was plenty of time.  Unfortunately, it is still sitting in customs and won't arrive for another 2 weeks, so I'm moving on without it.

Here is my attempt to lesson the mosquito population ....

 I also went down the Yukon River to attend the Moosehide Gathering.  It is only held every 2 years.  The Moosehide Gathering is an inclusive event that brings together people from across Canada as well as Alaska and beyond, to share in Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and other Indigenous culture – enjoying performances, guest speakers, feasts, dancing, drumming, singing and more. Artisans are invited to bring arts and crafts; musicians are encouraged to bring instruments.

Glenn Highway to the Top of the World Highway/ Taylor Highway and Dawson City, Yukon

I’m on my way home; this starts my return to the lower 48 and the second half of my trip.  From here I’ll be working my way south.

The Glenn Highway is 130 miles of pure beauty.  This part of my adventure was unique as being one of the very prettiest drives (Glenn Highway) I have had on this trip and the very worst road (Taylor Highway) I have driven on (and I’ve been on several gravel, low maintained roads!).  The road between Tok and Chicken was so rough, it shook my mattress (very heavy) off its foundation.

I also crossed back into Canada, which was kind of sad.

I had the Tok Cutoff all to myself for hours.  It will be hard getting back into “traffic” when I’m back in the lower 48.

While I was driving, an eagle swooped down into his nest next to me, but there was no way I could get a picture.  Bummer.

 Of course, no trip is complete without a stop in Chicken!