Day 6 to 11... Alaska border to Dawson City to Whitehorse then Fort Nelson

Alaska border

Day 6 – June 10 - Today we were supposed to be heading into Skagway Alaska to Haines, then up through to Chicken Alaska to Dawson City Yukon, but... we were turned back at the border. Some stupid misdemeanour from 30 years ago on Moo's passport, that should NOT be there and seriously needs to be rectified when he gets back! Man. We went over the border, back and forth many times last year during our trip out east! Never a problem! Oh well. So we headed back to Whitehorse.

We at least got to go into Alaska! The American border crossing is about 13 kms past the actual border. And we got to see the moonscape-like scenery of the White Pass of Klondike fame.

Lake Laverge

Anyway.. back to Whitehorse (as i said), for some dinner at 'Sanchez Cantina' (chicken enchiladas in mole sauce & beef something-or-other. and we stayed Lake Laverge Campground. VERY nice vista off of a little knoll near the campsite of the HUGE lake (that Sam McGee was cremated at), and the surrounding rolling hills & mountains.

Met a couple of quite interesting characters across from us at the campground! John & Jeremy.. two best friends, born & raised in Whitehorse. John was very colourful.. He broke his neck rolling his car 5 times, a few years ago, and walked away! Spent that night at home having a little 'fun' with a couple of female friends, then went to the hospital the next morning. When the doctor saw him with him barely able to walk, and his neck bent sideways, he went nuts & got John to lie down. He was SO lucky that he didn't sever the spinal cord, or he wouldn't be walking right now.

Anyway, SUCH a friendly guy... If this is a typical example of a Yukon local, i guess i'm going to like Northern boys!

NOTE:  BTW, most of the pics i take will be taken by me OF me AND the scenery.  I'm not a travel photographer... You can get nice pics of JUST the scene online.  This is about me, so the pics will be of me.  You may get sick of seeing my silly head in every shot though!  Lol!

Now THAT's a bun!!

Day 7 – June 11 - Bought a massive cinnamon bun from Braeburn Lodge, on the way to....


Dawson City..! Yay! Wow, i definitely LOVE Dawson City! Now i'd LOVE to live there! Hmm. Will have to figure out how. There IS the Yukon School of Visual Arts there. I thought of taking my foundation year there, and i still may try to apply there... thatis IF i actually start painting while i'm in Yellowknife. I've got to include pictures of recent paintings, so i'll need them for a portfolio.

Dawson City, Yukon 

MIDNIGHT, Dawson City, Yukon

We took the little ferry across the Yukon River (it's free, about a 4 minute ride, and works 24 hours), over to the Yukon River Campground right on the other side. A VERY nice campsite! There weren't many people there, so we got a site right on the river. At midnight, when we went to bed, there was still light on the mountain across the river! Apparently the sun 'set' at 12:40 am, and came back up at around 2:30 am. Of course it was dusky between that time.. always light! Now that is REALLY the north!! :-)

Day 8 – June 12 – Our day in Dawson City! Of course we got our 'Olde Tyme' pics taken, like we did in Salem, Mass. last year! Murray was supposed to be a 'gentleman' gold miner, and i was a trapper. I wore the old mukluks (hand-made by an Inuit woman in 1962, and given to me by my friend Ken), some beaded aboriginal earrings, long johns, heavy jacket & wrapped a small animal skin around my head.

'Dredge No. 4'

We drove down Bonanza Creek to see 'Dredge No. 4' (a MASSIVE dredge they used to gather gold in the early part of the 20th Century... fascinating!!), and went to the 'Discovery Claim'... the claim that triggered the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897-9! But the thing about the Dredge... the Ranger mentioned that you can stake a claim now, and how to do it at the claims office... and a NEW plan was hatched! I want to stake a claim!! Oohh....

Sternwheeler Graveyard'

Sternwheeler Graveyard'

Found the 'Sternwheeler Graveyard' just down from our campsite... Very cool!

Anyway... we walked around Dawson, bought a few things, ate some stuff, and generally enjoyed just being there! :-D

We went to Diamond Tooth Gertie's that night... Canada's first Casino! With can-can girls & gambling! In an 'old-west' like town (Dawson City.. with dirt roads & wood sidewalks)... How cool is that??

See my gold? 

Day 9 – June 13 - Still in Dawson City... We were supposed to leave today, but i wanted to do a few things, so we stayed an extra day. For instance, we had passed 'Claim 33' (on the way to the Dredge & Discovery Claim the previous day)... and i wanted to try my hand at gold panning! Let's see if i could even handle panning on a claim! I did well and had fun... but i can see how it would be awfully hard on one's back! I was standing at a water-filled trough, but at the creek, i'd be on the ground! I don't think i would want to actually mine though. That would be even harder! But... i will research it. The woman (who showed me how to pan)'s husband has a claim (he's mining it),and she showed me a HUGE nugget he found on his claim! Did i say i want to stake a claim?? Hehe.. That nugget was very rare though. I wouldn't really expect to find much (if ANY), but... just how cool of an experience would it be to say you had a legitimate gold claim & worked it?? Hmm. I need to find a partner for this endeavour. Someone who has a big dog & a gun....

We drove all the way back to Whitehorse & stayed at Takhini hotsprings again... After all that driving (550 kms), i really NEEDED that soak! The mosquitoes were even WORSE this time!

Day 10 – June 14 – We wanted to get all the way to Liard Hotsprings, so we started out early after some breakfast in Whitehorse (at the Burnt Toast Cafe). We also gave 'The Chocolate Claim' a try (after already trying 'Starbucks' & 'Baked' a try for cafe mochas)... Wow... it was GREAT! For some reason she gave me a medium size double mocha (i hadn't asked for a double), and i had blackberry syrup put in it too (i watched her put an entire shot glass worth in!), and it only cost $3! The same thing would cost me almost $7 at Blenz! Anyway, a superior mocha for 1/2 the price! I shall remember that for when i'm in Whitehorse next!

Watson Lake, Yukon Signpost Forest

Passing through Watson Lake, Yukon (the 'gateway to the Yukon), just on the border of Yukon & BC.. we went to the Aurora Centre & saw the show there. For Moo, so that he can see what i'm hopefully going to be seeing...  The Signpost Forest is there too....

Liard Hotsprings

It was a very long drive. By the time we got to Liard Hotsprings, we had logged 690 kms. Not our longest day, but long enough. The longest drives were 862 kms on day 3, and 839 kms on day 4. The campground was full, but they let us camp in the day parking lot. We pitched our tent on the pathway to the washroom (a wide field by some trees..it was actually quite nice!). And needless to say we headed off down the wooden walkway to the hotsprings! MAN was it hot! Hotter than the last time we were here 3 years ago! But it was nice! And just as gorgeous as i remember it! If you haven't been to Liard Hotsprings, i highly recommend it!


Day 11 – June 15 - Another long drive today. We have to make a decision tonight ... We've stopped in Fort Nelson, BC, (on the Alaska Hywy) because it's near the Liard Trail, which is a route up to NWT. It's a much shorter route, but the problem is, it's all gravel! We may have trouble on it. But... the alternative is to go south and loop around... an extra 400+ kms! Murray wants to take the Trail... I guess we will. Hopefully it works out, because there's nothing much happening on that route if things go wrong...

Also, we're staying at a motel instead of camping, so that Moo could watch the final game in the Stanley Cup (and the ridiculously juvenile 'fan' behaviour afterwards on every freaking channel...*sigh*)... And so i could get caught up online. Get some blogging done, a bit of facebooking done (including my pet Johnson on Pet Society.. hehe). And upload a bunch of pics onto facebook too. It's ... CRAP.. it's past midnight, and i'm still writing! I haven't posted this last batch of blog posts yet! I'd better get my *ss in gear!