June 13 - Whitehorse to Dawson City

Pretty much the entire road from Whitehorse to Dawson is 500 kms of rolling mountains, trees, bogs, muskeg and swamp spruce. We packed gas because we weren't sure about the reliability of the gas stations along our route but, it turns out, we were fine. Our first stop was Carmacks which has a very nice little hotel (Hotel Carmacks) and, in front of it, an Esso Station and the Tatchun Centre Store. The store is fantastic - a very nice grocery store that also has a small deli. They also have a very impressive selection of house wares, clothing and almost anything else you might need. 

From Carmacks, we carried on and pulled over at the Five Finger Rapids rest area. We took a few pictures and reminisced about our river trip back in 2009 (more on that later). The Five Fingers was a notoriously tricky spot on the river for the paddle wheelers back during the gold rush. They had to use cable and winches to guide the big boats through so they didn't get smashed. 

Further down the road, we stopped at Pelly Crossing which also has a very nice general store. Our last gas stop was Stewart Crossing and, just beyond that, there is a pull out where you can look out over a vast valley, the Tintina Trench, which is a fault line that runs diagonally through the Yukon. Millions of years ago, the trench shifted 450 kms. Prior to the shift, Ross River was close to Dawson City so if you look on a map, you'll appreciate how far the landscape moved.

 

From here, it is only 60 kms to Dawson City. As you near Dawson, on both sides of the highway is a moonscape of vast piles of undulating crushed rock - left overs from the enormous dredges that worked this valley from the 1930s - 1960s. We decided to stay right in Dawson City at the Gold Rush Campsite. It's a very convenient spot, within walking distance of the entire town which is great. We need to get out and walk after all these miles on the bikes!

One of the things that has been particularly lovely has been all of the wild flowers that are in bloom all along the highways right now. There are loads of pink flowers that looks like pea vine, blue and pink lupines, masses of wild roses, tiny white daisies, fireweed, yellow wild flowers of some kind... alll them casting ribbons of colour along the roads and hillsides. So pretty! 

Since leaving Whitehorse, it's been particularly nostalgic for us. In 2009, we (and some family and friends) took our jetboat and another jetboat from Lake Laberge (near Whitehorse) down 500 kms of the Yukon River to Dawson City, camping on the shores of the river along the way. It was also on this trip that I met and became fast friends with my dear friend (and talented writer) Alicia Priest who was a guest on the second jetboat that was on the  adventure with us. Alicia has since passed away from ALS but before she did, one of her last accomplishments was to publish her book, "A Rock Fell On The Moon" - the true story of her father who was convicted of one of the biggest mining heists in Canadian history. I would highly recommend this book - a riveting account of the heist itself but also of some of the history of this area in general. Alicia and her family lived in Elsa, Yukon, and on our trip in 2009, we retraced the historic route the paddle wheelers made from Whitehorse to Dawson. We then drove the Dempster Highway to Inuvik, flew to Tuktoyaktuk and dipped our toes in the Beaufort Sea before heading back south for visits to Mayo, Keno and Elsa. Coming back again this year and retracing some of our steps from that first trip has brought back many fond memories of Alicia and the still fresh sadness of her passing only a few months ago. I know she would be so thrilled to know we have come back to her beloved Yukon again... :)