On Top of the World

"Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures" 

Riverboat on the Yukon River at Dawson City

These road cuts are a rock hunters paradise.

A word or two about Dawson City, YT. It is located at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers and was the center of the Gold Rush which began in 1898. The entire town is a National Historic Site and it is filled with  the original stores, hotels, saloons, banks, boarding houses and dwellings that were built over 100 years ago. The majority of these buildings are still in use and many more are being renovated. It is an authentic town where tourism is promoted and welcomed but gold is still the main interest. There are numerous commercial mines as well as lots of placer mining and individual claims spread all over the area. 

Canada Parade in Dawson City

 

 

 After our return from Univik we spent the rest of the week in DC. We were there for Canada Day (July 1) and it was a total hoot! We attended the parade and followed it through town and over to the community center for the raising of the flag and to sing “Oh Canada.”

The George W Back - Yukon Marine Ferry

 We loaded on the George Black (ferry) to cross the Yukon on Saturday. The unpaved road from the river to beyond the US/CA border is called the Top of The World Highway. In Gold Rush days it was called the Ridge Road and that is what it is. It winds along the mountain tops, above the tree line for miles giving 360 views of the Yukon River Valley, and layer upon layer of distant mountain ranges. It is narrow and has no guard rails.

Butch. Doing some Rock Hounding

 

A feeder stream to Walker Fork of the 40 Mile River

 

We wanted to take the side trip to Eagle, AK but were discouraged from towing the TT on an even narrower and less maintained road so we camped at a Bureau of Public Lands campground at Walker Fork. This is an area that has lots of private gold mining claims but also has public access for three miles up the creek. We got there early enough to go exploring and enjoyed “prospecting” on the generous gravel bars.

The next day we left the TT at Walker Fork and drove the 180 miles to Eagle and back. Another long, lonely gravel road with unbelievable views. Since we were traveling north we were seeing the backsides of the Tombstone, Ogilvie and Richardson mountains that we passed through on the Dempster Hwy. We could also see the Alaska Range to the east. We stopped several times to rockhound and got some beautiful specimens of serpentine.

Eagle is another neat little village. It was on its way to being a tourist destination until 2007 when a flood nearly wiped it out. Holland American had a river cruise from Dawson City to Eagle that was very popular but they pulled out after their docks were destroyed. The hamlet is on the National Historic Register and is in a lovely spot on the Yukon River. It is also the gateway to the Yukon-Charley National Monument. I believe that the growing push for more destinations to visit in Alaska could put it on the map again.

We really liked the BLM campground at Walker Fork, but three days is about all we can handle without services until we get our fresh water tank fixed. We stopped at Chicken for gas as we knew there was a Caravan of 21 huge RV’s behind us. Also, Chicken is  disgustingly “quaint” and we didn’t need any made in China souvenirs to add to our collection. On to Delta Junction and real pavement!  We spent the night in one of those “sardine” campgrounds (everybody lined up like in a parking lot) but we did have electricity and water.

So, now we are in Fairbanks. Our laundry is done, the groceries are bought, the bills are paid, and the kids are called. Time to move on.  We actually made reservations for tomorrow night at Cantwell, near Denali NP.  We are both excited about doing the bus trip to Kantishna again and hope that we may be able to get into one of the Park campgrounds if we wait around. All is well.