Final Night Fort St. John

 Total km driven today 756. Total 5534.

Animals seen today. Lots-but all bison in a herd north of Muncho Lake.

 We had a wonderful drive today. I really enjoyed it even though we were retracing our previous route. The mountains were beautiful with no smoke or rain (sunny skies all day long).

The high temperature was at Fort Nelson at 32 degrees.

There was a lot more traffic today, both semi's and vacationers. I can only imagine how frustrating it would be with all the RV's going up to Alaska. We were stuck at times going 80 km/hr behind under-powered motorhomes.

We made it to Fort St John shortly after 5 P.M. We logged on to Hotels.com and booked Microtel. We found a Vietnamese restaurant nearby for supper, fueled up the Escape, and then checked in. Caro is finally able to watch some Olympics!

Coal River

 Total 605 km for a total of 4778 km so far.

Today was essentially just a driving day. We left Whitehorse at 10 A.M. after a light breakfast at A+W.

We are backtracking the Alaska highway rather than taking the Cassiar south. We are finding the drive more beautiful than when we came up over a week ago. The weather is probably a big part of it as it was sunny all day, no smoke and reached 30 degrees by the time we got to Coal River.

We saw only one animal today (a bison).

We are at a small motel/RV camp/gas station/laundromat right at the confluence of the Liard and Coal Rivers. This place is so remote that they have their food delivered from Whitehorse once a week, there is no cell service and in order to get internet I had to pay an extra $5 because (I assume) it is satellite. 

We decided to go walk a bit to see both rivers. When the manager here heard we were going out he gave us bear spray, told us how to use it, and explained that a guest yesterday had seen a bear and had scared it away by clapping her hands. The bugs are terrible so even though it was 30 degrees I put on my coat and Caro wore extra clothing plus we covered ourselves in "Off". Caro played music through her cell phone speaker to warn any bears of our presence. It must have worked as we saw none (of course it could be that they-the bears-don't like Shania Twain).

Supper was at the motel restaurant. I had pancakes (Breakfast served all day!) while Caro had a bison burger. Both items were very tasty.

Will be a quiet night tonight, with another 600-700 km to be driven tomorrow.

Kluane Park

 Total km driven 708. Total for trip 4173

Animals seen today. one caribou, one black bear and one fox (right behind where we are staying!)

This is what it looks like when a house cat wants to walk around on a dusty car sometime during the night

Today was a day trip from Whitehorse. We started by driving the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction. At the visitor information centre we talked to the information lady and asked which was the better highway to take for this day trip. She suggested highway three heading south towards Haines, Alaska. What a great suggestion! 

We started by heading to the furthest south point of our trip-the summit at Chillkat. Here we were above the tree line but unfortunately it was cloudy.

After a few bites to eat (it was about 12:30 or so) we started back with the first stop being Million Dollar Falls where we had a short walk to a pleasant little waterfall.

From there we went to the Rock Glacier where we had a bit of a strenuous walk up to the glacier. It had  a tremendous view of the mountains and valleys

Our next stop was a recommendation for the visitor centre lady and that was Kathleen Lake. 

Beautiful!

Once back in Haines Junction we decided to go for a bit up the Alaska Highway which had been an option in the morning. We made the better choice by heading south earlier. The road was a better quality but the mountains weren't as magnificent.

As we headed out from Haines Junction a cop also came out. The posted highway speed is 90 soooo because he was behind me (and stayed there) I could only do 92 km/hour. BOOOOORING!!! The highway was perfect for 110! Oh well!

After about 30 minutes of 92 km/hour and comparatively lousy mountain scenery we turned back and headed home. I "pushed the envelope" by doing 100 km/hr all the way to Whitehorse.

We decided to get Time Horton's chili again and we ate at the Air Bnb.

Back in Whitehorse

 Total km driven today 656 for a grand total of 3465.

I slept good last night but Caro did not. Breakfast was eggs and toast at the hotel restaurant.

We were on the road by 8:45 A.M.

We had a total of three pilot car lead sections of highway today.

We had a lousy weather trip for most of the day. It got much better near Whitehorse (bright sunshine)

We had some extra time today so we took a side trip to the town of Mayo. We went to a small museum there and according to the sign in book we were the first in two days. I wanted to see the spot where all the Galena ore from nearby mines was loaded on ships smaller than, but similar to, the SS Klondike for river shipment, eventually to refineries outside where the silver/tin and lead was extracted.  It certainly wasn't amazing to see this tiny town (it used to have upwards of 30,000 people) , and really if not for the extra time we would have stayed on the main highway. The side trip took about 90 minutes to complete.

We got into Whitehorse shortly after five, did some shopping, picked up chili from Tim Horton's for supper and went up to our Air BNB (which we have for the next two nights). 

Last day in Dawson

 Km driven-24 for a total of 2809.

We started off the day at a small bistro where we had a wonderful breakfast.

We wandered around the town exploring areas we hadn't seen before.

The church in the background is just a shell now, supported by beams inside and the outside all bent and seemingly coming apart.

We met up with Mark Mather (Karen, Susan, and Christine's first cousins from Aunt Muriel's side) and enjoyed a visit in a coffee house.He was a very nice man and he and his family run the General Store in town.

Our first tour of the day was shortly after lunchtime. We and three other people met with "Sue" again for a tour of the Palace Grand Theatre (a replica built to the same specifications as the original which was in too rough of shape to save). Interesting stories! The theatre contains the room for Klondike Kate (she was the girl friend of the owner of the place).

Just after that tour ended we headed up to the commissioner's house (the home of George and Martha Black back in the early 19 teens). We wanted just to see the house but  part of the tour was a "sit in a circle" discussion concerning the issues of the First nations that stem from colonization and lack of respect for their culture. There were only four of us on this tour (including a couple from this morning's tour; they had traveled from Montreal using their Sprinter van to sleep in). My least favourite tour of the four we took but the house was very nice.

Next we drove to the ferry and crossed the Yukon. There really wasn't much to see on the other side. It is the highway to the US but of course right now the borders are closed due to covid. We were on a return journey 20 or so minutes later.

We drove a few more of the streets we hadn't either walked or driven before going back to our room and figuring out our return trip home.

Supper was at a small burger/fish joint. My burger and fries were good but Caro's chowder was tasteless.

We are gassed up and ready to leave first thing in the morning. We have really enjoyed our time here but we have completed everything we wanted to do.

Monday night in Dawson

 Well another awesome day!

62 km driven for a total of 2785 km

We had a nice small breakfast in the hotel and then went to the visitor information center to meet up for our first tour of the day; a walking tour that took a little over one hour. Our guide was great; we had her for both tours today.The morning tour was just the down town area and entry into three buildings that are not open to anyone not on these tours. The buildings were a saloon, a bank and the original post office.

After our lunch (bunwiches eaten in room) we drove up to the cabin of Robert Service (The Cremation of Sam McGee) to have our second tour. This one was more of Sue (our guide) reading more of his poems and then a quick walk through of the cabin. Again it was very interesting.

Right across the street from the cabin is the home of Laura Berton from the 20's. I really wanted to see it so now I can reread her book and knowing what the house looks like and its' location in the town I will enjoy the book more.

From there we went back to the visitor centre to pick up some gold mining pans. We headed up to Bonanza Creek (14 kms away) for some more historical sites.

The first was the largest dredge built. Over the years it had dredged the Klondike River and after that was done it was moved to Bonanza Creek (which is a tributary of the Klondike). Over the years it slowly worked its way up the creek and finally it got to the point where it was too expensive to repair and the price of gold was not high enough so it was put out of service and just left where it was.

A couple of kilometres from there (up the creek) is the location of the discovery location that started the gold rush. 

A further two kilometres up the creek was the location for gold panning (with the pans we had gotten from the visitors centre). We spent about 20 minutes panning some known pay dirt. I got a couple of flakes but Caro wasn't so fortunate (mind you the flakes are probably worth only a cent or two!).

Once we made it back to town we then returned the pans and took the opportunity to watch a few videos of the gold rush etc.

With beautiful sunshine today and an uncertain weather forecast for tomorrow we decided to go up to the "Dome" and got some wonderful photos of the area

Supper was at a nearby hotel restaurant. Caro's was good but mine was average.

Tonight was a highlite night. The SourToe Challenge.!!You have to have a drink with a human toe in it and as part of the challenge the toe must touch your lips.

No problemo for me!!!! Caro took video of it and was able to edit out a couple of photos for me

Sunday night continuation

 Last night was enjoyable.

We got to Diamond Tooth Gerties (photo above) just before 7 P.M., and found it wasn't quite what we expected. It is essentially a casino with a small, limited choice menu concession (single man operation)  and a large area of tables where you then take your food to. Bar hostesses serve you at your table. The tables are placed on the dance floor area in front of a raised  stage.

We ate supper (excellent!) and because the band didn't start until 9:30 we headed out to walk the streets of the old part of town.While many buildings have been rebuilt in an old style the are a few remaining from the early days.

There are plaques at most of the buildings stating their significance and the photos above are indicative of the  many, many buildings that were originally here but were demolished in the last century. 

Robert Service (Author of The Cremation of Sam McGee) worked for two years in the CIBC Bank (photo below) around 1910. He had already written his very famous poems while living in Whitehorse. 

Beside the bank is the SS Keno; the only other paddle wheeler that still exists besides the SS Klondike in Whitehorse. Just behind them is the Yukon River. All of the town is directly east of the river.

The photo below is that of the store owned by the first cousins of Karen, Susan and Christine on Aunt Muriel's side. We hope to be able to say "hi" to them before leaving.

We were back at the casino/bar at 9:30 and watched a very talented trio performing a variety of modern songs. Unfortunately we are not here at the right time of the week to see a Can-Can dance show...bummer!

We stayed for the first set  and were back in our room by 10:30.

Dawson-I've waited over 25 years to see this place

 It has been a long time coming and I wasn't sure I would ever make it but here we are in Dawson.

Today's driving was 540 km for a total so far of 2723 km.

Caro grabbed a breakfast for herself at Tim Horton's (I wasn't hungry) and we were on our way at 8:30 A.M. The drive up was actually boring most of the time. Carmacks had a few nice views in the area.

Actually just before Carmacks we stopped at an abandoned road house (this particular one built after 1909 sometime (I forgot to note the date). It interests me because I have always loved the book "I Married the Klondike" written by Laura Burton (The mother of Pierre ). She tells the story of her first arriving (by horse and sled) to Dawson in 1908 (I believe) and using these roadhouses for eating and sleeping on the way from the south.

After Carmacks is a famous rapids on the Yukon River called Five Finger rapids. It was a huge danger to the miners rafts and some died there. Even the paddle wheelers had to know what to do to get through. There is a viewpoint right at the rapids but it is an hour return hike so we carried on.

We encountered a fair bit of road construction (pilot cars two times today) and there were long stretches of all season gravel (and incidentally no animals seen today)

We felt quite tired when arrived about 3 P.M.

Our first stop was the visitors centre where we immediately signed up for three different tours over the next two days. 

Our hotel is nice.

We walked around town, enjoying a banana split to keep us energized before retiring to our room for a bit.

Tonight we are going to Diamond Tooth Gerties for supper and a show (it is also a casino). It costs $15 each for a "season pass" to the casino/restaurant/showroom. It opens at 7 P.M. and because of covid it has been suggested to get there right at opening because of a 100 person max.

Our hotel is also the location the world famous "sour toe" cocktail bar so I will be indulging in that one of the three nights we are here.

I imagine we will have a later than normal evening. 

Saturday July 24 Whitehorse

Distance driven-18 km; Total 2183

Animals seen; many (but they were all stuffed and in museums)

I made a mistake when booking this bnb a few days ago. On hotels.com I read that the food selection for breakfast was very good but I never paid attention to the date of the review (it turned out to be pre-covid). This place is no longer a bnb but is just a small hotel, so after getting everything straightened out in that department we headed to Tim Horton's for "farmer's wraps" to eat.

I had my call from AHS concerning covid (same as Caro did the other day). 

Our first stop was to continue the visit to the MacBride museum. It took another 90 minutes to do so as it was chock-full of fascinating info on the gold rush. 

Next up was the S.S. Klondike paddle wheeler. We had to wait an hour for a guided tour at 1 P.M. as the covid rules are still very strict  here and only groups of 6 max can go at a time. While we waited our time we were able to see a 20 minute video on the life and times of the paddle wheelers that plied these waters for about a century. We also went back to our car and ate lunch there.

The tour was great. Ourselves and a couple of ladies (also from Alberta) were shown around by a guide who is originally from France. She was full of interesting information as we walked around the ship. I am very glad not to have been a deck hand on a paddle wheeler using logs for boiler fuel. Throwing a log inside the boiler furnace every 30 seconds in a 4 hour on; 8 hour off schedule would have been beyond exhausting!

We had started the tour by walking the outside of the vessel to get a idea how big it really was. Below is a photo of Caro underneath the paddle wheels

With that tour over about 2:15 we drove over to the Beringia Interpretive Centre. Inside were skeletons of extinct animals found here and a display concerning the formation (and eventual disappearance) of the Beringia land mass (the land bridge from Russia to Alaska). The guide said there had been only 7 people there all day (and when we parked we were the only car in the lot).  After watching a well produced video of the changes in the land over the eons the guide seemed so happy to talk to someone (anyone!).  He and I had a long conversation about the populating of North America (i.e. Clovis point timeline vs. new archaeological evidence suggesting much older migrations). Caro ended up getting so bored she wandered off to find something that suited her!

We were out the door shortly after 3:15 P.M. and with that our tourism interests had been fulfilled for Whitehorse.

We went shopping at a couple of the big food stores, buying breakfast and lunch food for our drive tomorrow.

Supper tonight was chili from Tim Horton's. It is close enough that we walked the few blocks from our room.

Friday in Whitehorse

 Today's drive totaled 552 km for a total of 2165 so far.

Our animal sightings today were limited. One porcupine (alive!) and one cinnamon coloured black bear.

We left Watson Lake about 8:30 and ate our breakfast in the car (buns with bananas and peanut butter). Everything was going smoothly as we turned off the Alaska Highway to revisit Carcross which we had come to on a train/bus tour from our Alaska cruise ship about ten years ago.

Before we got to Carcross we entered an area with cell service and Caro received a text from Alberta Health Services saying that she had been in close contact with a confirmed covid case. The text stated that BY LAW WE HAD TO QUARANTINE OURSELVES IMMEDIATELY so..... DAMN..... I turned the car around and we started heading home!!

A short while later Caro was able to find the part of the text that stated that if she was completely vaccinated she should just monitor her symptoms. Soon afterwards I got a text saying that Caro had been in contact etc and blah blah blah. By then we had reversed course back and were headed to Carcross

We arrived in Carcross and Caro got an actual telephone call from AHS and once we informed the nurse we were fully vaccinated she said we were OK to carry on with our trip but to monitor ourselves. She couldn't tell us the source of the covid but she was able to tell us the date (July 18) so that narrowed down the possibilities (at Crane Lake on a family get together weekend). Calls to Lisa confirmed that messages had gone out to the family and later Lisa confirmed that she had had a telephone call as well. Lisa was able to do a covid quick check and she was negative. 

Carcross  is suffering hugely with no cruise ships coming into Skagway. There have been some additional tourist facilities built since our last visit but there was hardly anyone around. In fact I haven't noticed many tourists at all.

The photo above is taken from the railway bridge at Carcross 

After about an hour we headed up to Whitehorse arriving about 3 P.M. 

Our first stop after the Visitor Information Centre was the MacBride Museum. It closes at four so we saw only a portion of it but will be allowed to finish it tomorrow at no extra cost. A really great museum so far and really worth the visit. I particularly liked the back ground story to the Robert Service poem The Cremation of Sam McGee. The museum even has the original cabin of Sam McGee. Photo below

We headed over to our Bnb to check in (which we had to do on our own as the owner is tied up with other business). The room looks wonderful and we hope our breakfast is good as we are here for two nights

We then ventured out again and walked along the river front for a bit before heading to Boston Pizza for our first legitimate meal of the day. We shared an appetizer plate of cauliflower bites (excellent) and then shared a Boston Brute. Of course being here in the Yukon we shared a pint of Yukon Gold beer too.

The sun was out for the first time on this trip and the temperature was 21 degrees with a slight wind so we decided to head out to Miles Canyon to see where the Yukon River smashes through a narrow basalt canyon. Wow!. Talk about a fast moving river. There is a dam downstream (close to Whitehorse) which has lessened the fury of this waterway but I can imagine the terror of those first few thousand gold prospectors heading up to Dawson in 1898.  Yikes!

Tonight we are relaxing in our room. We haven't even seen our host yet but we should tomorrow.

 

Thursday July 22/21@Watson Lake

 What a great day! Today we drove 521 km for a grand total of 1613 km so far.

We left Fort Nelson about 9:15 after a fabulous breakfast at the hotel.

There were some stunning views today and many photo opportunities. We had all sorts of weather; from rain,fog, having to drive through clouds as we crested high mountain passes, and finally ending up with sunny and high winds (which was a blessing because it kept the mosquitoes down to a manageable level).

We started seeing animals on the sides of the road. First off was a moose (later on, another), followed by a black bear and finally (and many times) by bison. At one point near Muncho Lake we were held up on the highway by a herd of bison.

Further on there was a bison bull sitting half on the road and half in the ditch.A BIG animal when you are only a few metres away from it!

One of the "must see" places to stop is Liard River Hot Springs. They lived up to their reputation. We arrived shortly after noon and left the site over an hour later. A really magnificent natural hot springs which (due to covid) wasn't crammed with travelers.

I decided I need some gas "just for safety sake" so I stopped at the Liard River Crossing Lodge to get some. They charged $1.90/litre so I only got $20 worth! Turns out if I had waited a further 60 km I could have paid $1.45. 

We had some dusty road construction (taken through by a pilot car) and some twisty turny narrow highway sections but for the most part the highway was great and I found our km/hr creeping up to 120 many times.

Official entry into the Yukon was at Watson Lake. We each had to fill up a covid medical questionaire and promise to upload copies of our vaccinations within 24 hours (which I did tonight). They gave us stickers to place on the outside of our vehicle to show we had been "OK'd" to travel in the territory.

Once we had checked into our room we ventured out to see the "Sign Post Forest". Multiple tens of thousands of signs of numerous types located in the "forest". We did not add any ourselves.

Chinese food for supper and trip to the grocery store to purchase some food for breakfast was all we did before heading back to the room to relax.

Wednesday July 21/21 Fort Nelson

 Yesterday we drove 470 kms. Today we drove 622 km for a two day total of 1092.

We left GP about 9:30 and drove through ,at times heavy smoke/fog sometimes coupled with heavy rains.

The highway continued to be a four lane divided until close to the BC border.

We did a quick drive through Dawson Creek with Caro managing to snap the following photo.

Our drive up to Fort Nelson was uneventful. There were a couple of really beautiful scenic spots on the way but other than a drive around Fort St.John and a gas fill up we just drove. The highway is in great shape with relatively few vehicles on it however every time a big truck passes by us we cringe waiting for a rock to smack our windshield. The rain had finished much earlier in the drive and we had occasional sunny breaks.

Tonight we are at the Woodlands Inn. We checked in about 3:30 (BC time) and after driving around the town exploring we came back to rest before going to supper at the on-site restaurant. The reviews of this restaurant said it was great and they were spot on. We had a wonderful prime rib hamburger and fries meal. Absolutely delicious.

Thunderstorms are all around us but so far no rain. 

We are gassed up and after the hotel supplied breakfast we will be heading towards Watson Lake and Yukon's check of our vaccinations and (hopefully) official entry into the territory.

Tomorrow we also hope to visit Liard Hot Springs about half distance through our planned day. Fingers crossed we can get in (covid has limited the amount of people allowed at any one time )

Yukon trip 2021

 Tuesday July 21/21

After waiting for nearly 25 years to go up north we are on our way to Dawson City. I cannot wait to visit that town!

We left home at about 9:30. Just as we passed under the Namao train overpass this happened!

Damn!

Back to Fort Sask. We had only gone 28 kms. Our first stop was Crystal Glass but they were full for the day so they sent me to their competitor, OK Tire (they have recently started doing glass).  OK Tire (and Glass) ordered the windshield and scheduled the install at about 2:30. The windshield turned out to be for an upgraded 2013 Escape but after a short discussion we decided to get it installed even though it was meant for a dimming rear view mirror and had a different mirror mount than the original. 

By 4:45 we had the Escape back, so we ate some Wendy's burgers for supper and were on our way by about 5:15

We made it to Grande Prairie by 9:30 and with help from Lisa (Thank-you) we got my password for Hotels.com and got a night at The Sandman Inn.

This night was almost completely paid for by Expedia because we had previously stayed 10 nights using Hotels.ca. I had trouble booking on line with my ATB card so I switched to my "Brim" mastercard. When I double checked my ATB mastercard  it showed about six or so pre-authorizations that I didn't realize had actually completed because of issues with my "on-line". I will have to watch to see if they are removed by Hotels.ca.

The bed was very comfortable and we had a wonderful sleep.