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From Tok I took the Taylor
highway north to the Top of the World highway to the Yukon border. Then the
Klondike highway took me to Whitehorse, across the Alaska Highway, and all the
way to Skagway. From there I retraced my route to the Alaska Highway and on
south to Fort Nelson, BC.
Day 28 - Thursday,
June 28 - Tok
to Dawson City
| This morning I
took the Taylor Highway northeast toward Chicken, and then on to
Whitehorse. Chicken, a little place established during the gold rush, is
reputed to be a wacky place, but I guess I wasn't able to appreciate it.
Residents supposedly wanted to name it Ptarmigan, after a common fowl in
the area, but decided to name it Chicken since they couldn't spell
Ptarmigan. Good story... |
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The road from
Chicken to the Yukon border is known at the Top of the World Highway. It
is mostly gravel and winds its way along the tops of ridges across the
tundra, ranging between 3500 and 4000 feet altitude. The views were
expansive. |
| It was at this
pullout that I saw a young couple on bicycles having lunch and enjoying
the view. I've seen a few bicyclists each day. I'm sure they experience
even more of the surroundings than I do on my motorcycle, but I stick
with my motorcycle. A guy at a stop yesterday told me of a British
couple, middle-aged, who were riding their bike all the way up to
Prudhoe Bay, and then down to Tierra del Fuego, the tip of South
America! |
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I stopped here to
gas up, just to be on the safe side, but I
couldn't find anyone around. Luckily, I had plenty of gas to get to
Whitehorse. One of the advantages of a motorcycle designed for touring
is the large gas tank. |
| More of the
beautiful, winding, Top of the World Highway to the Canadian border.
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I got to Dawson
City around 6 p.m. Dawson City was the center of the 1897 Klondike gold
rush, and some of the original buildings are still here today. The
sidewalks are mostly boardwalks. It gives one a bit of a feel for how
"rustic" things were in those days. |
| Here is the
theatre district. |
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This is where I
stayed for the night. The rooms on the second floor were very small and
had no baths - the common bath was above my room on the first floor
where I heard the comings and goings all night long. I opted for a room
with my own bathroom. |
Day 29 - Friday,
June 29 -
Dawson City to Whitehorse
| Before leaving the
Dawson area this morning I wanted to see where the Klondike Gold Rush
got its start. This is the site of the original discovery made in 1896
along a small tributary of the Klondike River. News of the discovery
reached the lower 48 in 1897, and by 1898 the population in the
area had grown to around 40,000. |
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The plaque
describes the chain of events that led to the Klondike Gold Rush.
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| The original
placer mining methods were extremely rudimentary, and eventually gave
way to more mechanized methods such as dredges like this one. The river
beds in the area still show the effects of the dredging - slurry from
the dredging is piled up along the riverbeds for miles. |
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Day 30 - Saturday,
June 30 -
Whitehorse
Today I slept in, then
spent the day catching up on my website, doing laundry, washing my bike (again),
and doing a little work organizing a session for our social work education
meetings this fall.
At the car wash I met
Rollie and Ernest, a father-son duo from Labrador and Newfoundland. They pulled
in behind me to wash their bikes and we immediately struck up a conversation.
Rollie recently retired after 40 years with the Iron Ore Company of Canada, in
Labrador City. One of his dreams has been to ride to the Yukon and Alaska with
his son, Ernest. After his wife of 32 years died last year he decided life was
too short, and 2007 would be the year for the trip. He and Ernest bought new,
fully equipped BMW GS Adventure bikes. They started off from their home in
Newfoundland, rode south along the east coast to the Florida Keys, across the
south to the Pacific coast, then up the coast through British Columbia, Alaska,
and now the Yukon. Thanks to their web site I am able to include photos of
them...
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This is Rollie. |
This is
Ernest (on the left). |
My brief conversation with
Rollie was inspiring and uplifting. He and Ernest were obviously having a great
trip, and it validated my decision to take my own solo adventure.
Rollie and Ernest also have
a web site that records their travels. Check it out:
www.rolliesdream2.homestead.com. Be sure to read their
journal in addition to viewing their photos. What started out to be a ho-hum day
for me turned out to be marvelous day! The many interesting people I have met on
the trip have really added to my enjoyment of my adventure.
Day 31 - Sunday, July
1-
Whitehorse to Skagway
| I set out for
Skagway this morning. It was Sunday, the weather was overcast and in the
60s, the traffic was light, the scenery was spectacular, and the bike
was running beautifully - all was right with the world. |
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I took the cutoff
for Carcross, and on the way into the village I saw this little frame
church. Services were going on and a sweet smelling smoke, incense
perhaps, was coming out of the chimney. The church had been established
by Russians about the time of the stampede. |
| As I approached
White Pass, one of the routes to Dawson City and the gold rush it became
cooler - down into the low 50s. I put on my heated vest for the first
time on the trip, and if felt very toasty. |
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Before getting to
Skagway I took the turnoff to Dyea, the abandoned site of the beginning
of the Chilkoot Trail. There is nothing left of the town now except a
few remains of buildings and other artifacts as you can see here. Dyea
exploded from to over 20,000 residents in 1897, but within 3-4
years it had been abandoned. The new railroad from Skagway to Whitehorse
rendered the Chilkoot Trail unnecessary, and Skagway had a much better
harbor. The abandoned Dyea site is now graced by many varieties of wild
flowers... |
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Wild Iris |
Chocolate Lilly |
Wintergreen |
Lupin |
| The ranger warned
us to be on the lookout for bears - both brown and black. We found some
fresh scat on the trail, evidence that some had been here within the
last few hours. We didn't see any on our hike, however.
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Skagway is nestled
in a fjord that provides a very deep port. The little town has become a
popular stop for the cruise ships that go up and down the inner passage.
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Day 32 - Monday, July
2-
Skagway to Fort Nelson
| Last night when I
walked out on Broadway to find something to eat it was almost deserted.
This morning, with 4 cruise ships docked at the end of the street behind
me Broadway is a beehive of shopping activity. |
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I had to ride back
up over the White Pass this morning to get to the Alaska Highway and on
toward home. I've seen these elbow shaped markers at quite a few
places on the roads, and I've finally concluded that they are there to
mark the edge of the roadway for the snowplows. The markers going down
to Valdez were even higher than these! |
| As I neared the
pass the clouds were almost low enough to cover the road, but not quite.
I had good visibility the entire day. It was cool over the pass,
however. It dropped to 48 degrees, the coolest day on my trip. |
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The road from
Skagway all the way to Fort Nelson, Yukon, was at fairly high elevation,
ranging between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. It was clouds and off and on light
rain all day, with the temps in the mid-50's. I didn't mind, since I was
dressed for warmth and my gear is rain-proof. I saw quite a few bikers
today, most of them going north, but a few going south like me. |
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