May 29 - in the City of Dawson, YT

 

Other than some serious hassles with trying to get Internet service at this park with supposedly free WIFI, it has been a handy place to stay.  They do make an effort to keep it looking nice, using old dredge buckets as space markers and planters.

This just made me laugh.  Seems a fitting sign for this trip.

We chatted with a fellow camper from England today.  He shipped his Triumph motorcycle to the US and is on a solo seven-month tour of the continent.  Not my cup of tea.

Except for problems with the Internet connection, this is a delightful town to visit.  We have more to do than time to do it.  They give us a code to use for 2 hrs service (with a 100mb limit).  But the system has been cutting us off after about 30 to 45 minutes.  This morning we only got about 15 minutes. 

The sun went down last night at 12:06 am, but it never got dark.  We can dark out the bedroom, but it doesn't seem to be a problem for either of us sleeping.  It is more that you forget to go to bed.  No visual cues.

We walked to the visitor center to take a guided walking tour.  Watched some video from the early days to get in the mood.  The tour was so much more than what I expected.  They had several restored buildings we gained access to that were not open to the general public.  They billed it as “Dawson Then & Now”.  Our guide Sue was the “now”.  She said she moved to Dawson when she was 18, 32 years ago.  We walked to the river and guide Mary or Marie, the “then” shows up in character.  She kept popping up in different locations in the dress & with the spirit of the location, from the undertaker to the bartender, a banker and a tart.  This was well worth twice what we paid.

 

Mary as Marie

Dawson doesn't currently have an undertaker.  It is something Sue says they desperately need.  If someone dies, family or friend need to take care of the body.  If there is no grave available (pre-dug before the ground freezes), the body is stored (in an unheated garage or wherever the family/friends have) until they can bury it.

This was in the restored bank.  One of the buildings we would not have been able to see inside of without the tour.

We enjoyed the presentation at the Danoja Zho Cultural Centre.  The guide was the grand daughter of one of the First Nation’s important chiefs.  We went by Jack London’s cabin, but didn’t have time to go in as we planned to join the Palace Grand Theatre Tour after lunch.  There none other than our outstanding guide from the morning, Sue, showed up in period dress to be our guide.  We went to the real Post Office and found it cost $1.16 to send a letter to the US.

Sue, in dress for the Theatre tour.  She forgot to collect the tickets for the morning tour, so she had her purse this afternoon to remind her.

We saw many buildings falling into disrepair like this church.  Build close to the ground, heat builds and melts the permafrost in places, causing those places to sink.  When Canada took on the restoration of the grand theater, they found they had to completely rebuild it.  Something that needs to happen to St. Andrews here, if it is to again be habitable.

This is the only paved street in town, the Klondike Highway.  It was only paved two years ago. 

After the theater tour, they had three bastions of the Klondike (represented) hold what amounted to be a debate, which was scored by audience appreciation.  The characters they represented were interesting, but the staff themselves, have interesting stories.  Sue has worked, as a placer miner,  on the big dredge,  and was a janitor in the theater.   She owns a house in town, which she rents out and we never figured out where she lives now.  She said she has not been staying the winter anymore, and like our campground owners…seems to enjoy traveling in the off-season.

 

Mary lives here all year, on the other side of the Yukon.  She and her partner raise and train sled dogs.  They live “off the grid”.  She said they hope to be able to get a solar system next year.  I can’t imagine living that life, especially with their 6 yr old son.  She has only been here about 8 years.  She is from Quebec and I don’t think English is her first language.  She has an incredible dramatic flare at all the roles we saw her in today.  She and other of the “characters” said they spend time researching their characters.

Copy of the souvenir photo.  {Mary is on the left}

There was a downpour of rain that only lasted 5 minutes or so.  We were undercover and waited it out.  Locals were saying it was just what their garden's needed.

They start rolling up the sidewalks about 4:30 pm, so we headed to the George Black Ferry to observe the clearances of vehicles loading and unloading.  We made two trips, getting to watch a motorhome get on and off.  It didn’t drag, but David is thinking we will.  They have several blocks on board that look like they could be used to smooth the exit (which is where we anticipate the problem), but we don’t know if they use them or not.  The big unknown is they seem to re-grade the landing points each day.  So who knows how big of a depression there will be for our exit?

The Klondike Hwy is the only paved road in town.  Between walking and bicycle riding, we have been on many of the streets.  There are a couple of museums I wouldn’t mind going to, but we are getting to the saturation point on museums/exhibits.  We need a day off.

Our motorcycle rack hangs down a few inches below our receiver.  Wish us luck with our crossing.

I truly would stay here another day if it wasn’t for the internet hassle.  It really makes it hard to sit and relax with my computer.  We did get out for a 22.5-mile bike ride today.  Most of it was on a rocky path or gravel road.    

This gold panning tourist town was closed when we got there.

It had the cute storefronts and lots of old vehicles around.

This was the goal of today's ride, aside from just riding around town.

One of the large dredges that had been used in the area to mine for gold has been designated a National Historic Site.  When I say large, I mean 400 feet long and 8 stories high large.  Dredge #4.  It was built in 1912 and used until 1959.  In the early 90’s it was recovered and moved to high ground so seasonal flooding wouldn’t damage it.  It was a climb to get there (on the tandem), but not much traffic, so we just enjoyed the ride.  

This is the end that deposited gravel in mounds after the dirt has been removed.

Due to the trees, it was hard to get the whole dredge in one shot.

This is the digging end.  Those large buckets would dredge up the gravel and dirt to be separated on board.

The road we were riding on with dredge trails along side.

We did have water close on the ride.  Where it was pooled, there was still ice on the surface in many spots.

A map of where we were.

Back at the entrance to Dawson.  Can you tell David was getting tired of having his picture taken?  BTW, the funny strap around my neck is attached to his camera.  I carried it to take pictures while we were riding & had it attached in case I dropped it.  My camera has more moving parts and I don't like to subject it to all the dust and possible sweat (sometimes it is tucked into the front of my clothing, with the ipod).