July 9

Today was a tour Dawson City day. We first took the ferry across the Yukon River to a government campground on the far side and then returned in Gene and Lynn’s Honda for the day. The ferry ride was a bit nerve racking, having never done such a thing before and with close quarters on deck. The “docks” are just gravel that is built up, I understood daily, on the river banks with earth moving equipment. We first visited Dredge #4 on Bonanza Creek which is the largest dredge ever built in North America. It was a super-sized version of the Yankee Fork Dredge with which we are familiar near Stanley. We missed the guided tours for the day so we drove on up the road another couple of miles to the “First Discovery Claim” where gold was first discovered on August 16, 1896 by Robert Henderson that started the Klondike Gold Rush. Just above that is a legal gold claim along the creek belonging to the local visitors association that is open to the public to pan for gold where we tried our luck but lack of time and rain left us with the experience of panning for gold but with no “color” was found in our short visit. After this we returned to town to pass by and take pictures of Jack London’s cabin (Call of the Wild, White Fang, etc.) and Robert Service’s cabin (The Cremation of Sam McGee, etc.). We then took in a mini driving tour of the town and visited a number of gift shops and other commercial establishments. The town is quaint in that many of the buildings are over a hundred years old, the streets are unpaved and the sidewalks are board walks. We saw another restored paddle-wheel steamer called the “Keno” but did no tour. At a visitor center we met a native (they are called First Nation people in Canada) who now makes CD’s and films about the Far North and explained much about their culture along the borders of the Beaufort Sea. He was also explaining that he was preparing with his three-year old son for a fishing expedition to hunt Beluga whales along with other family members. To finish the day we took a hike, first up the sandy shore of the Yukon River and back, and then around the campground. At the end of the river hike we found the remains of three very large stern-wheeler ships that had apparently been pulled up onto the shore for their final resting place. Tomorrow is the big one we have been waiting for, to travel the Top of the World Highway and then the Taylor Highway back to the Tetlin Junction with the Alaska Highway to Tok, Alaska.