North to Alaska … Day 21 – Sunday 5/23/10 @ Dawson City, YT
Not long after gold was discovered in the central Yukon, dredges were introduced to the region. One of two dozen dredges that worked this area, Dredge No.4 rests on Claim 17 Below Discovery on Bonanza Creek near the spot where it ceased operations in 1959. Dredge No.4 is the largest wooden hull, bucket line dredge in North America and is a significant example of corporate industrial mining in Canada.
This two-room log cabin, set amidst the willows and the alders on the lower slopes at the eastern end of the town, has long been a tourist attraction. Here, Robert W. Service, bard of the Klondike, lived from November 1909 to June 1912. During this time he wrote his melodramatic novel, The Trail of Ninety-Eight, and composed his third and final volume of Yukon verse, Songs of a Rolling Stone.
In Dawson City, you can see the one-time homes of writers Jack London, Pierre Berton and Robert Service all on the same street. The Jack London Interpretive Museum houses both a replica of the author’s cabin and his original, restored food cache. The center contains photos, documents, newspaper articles and other London memorabilia.
The only way to cross the Yukon River is to take the ferry across in order to continue on The Top Of The World Highway and get into Chicken, Alaska.
North to Alaska … Day 20 – Saturday 5/22/10 @ Dawson City, YT
Dawson City Yukon Territory walking tour gave us a great perspective of Dawson City. We were fortunate to be part of the first tour of the year. A visit in May before all the normal tourist traffic does have it’s advantages. One of the disadvantages is that not everything is open yet.
Midnight Dome offers a tremendous vantage point overlooking Dawson City, the Yukon Valley and the Klondike Valley. It gets its name from the fact that the sun barely sets in the summer time.
Paragliding is a recreational and competitive flying sport. A paraglider is a free-flying, foot-launched aircraft. The pilot sits in a harness suspended below a fabric wing, whose shape is formed by its suspension lines and the pressure of air entering vents in the front of the wing.
The Diamond Tooth Gerties Show is replete with cancan dancers and a singing master of ceremonies named Gertie, Canada’s oldest gambling hall gives you a chance to re-live the heady days of Dawson’s Gold Rush era. With three nightly shows by Gertie and her Gertie Girls, Diamond Tooth Gertie’s is today a fixture of fun-filled entertainment where patrons can enjoy a beverage while playing blackjack, roulette, Texas Hold’em poker and an array of glittering slot machines.
- Pete on stage doing the Cancan
- Video 1 – Pete learning the Cancan
- Video 2 – Pete doing the Cancan
- Video 3 – Pete removing garter belt from Cancan dancer
North to Alaska … Day 19 – Friday 5/21/10 to Dawson City, YT
The drive from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory to Dawson City, YT was calm and leisurely considering what we had to drive through from Junction 37 to Whitehorse. This road had very little frost heaves and no gravel sections. We found us one of those world famous cinnamon rolls and grazed on it for a couple of days. It looked great when we bought it but gets old quick.
North to Alaska … Day 18 – Thursday 5/20/10 to Whitehorse, YT
The Haines Highway is considered by many to be the most scenic drive in Alaska. The Haines Highway was designated a National Scenic Byway on October 16, 2009. The journey on the Haines Highway through the Valley of the Eagles and the community of Haines was an incredible stretch of road. Karen and I concur that this is probably the best drive we have taken to date. The best part of the drive is between the Canadian border and Haines Junction.
Canadian Border Crossing. Customs into British Columbia
Haines Highway to Haines Junction
The Frantic Follies is a turn of the century vaudeville revue which depicts the entertainment seen by the pioneers of the Great Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. 
The company has been in operation for 41 years and is known as the most popular and successful show in the Yukon and Alaska.
As we sat in the front row the Master of Ceremonies asked Karen where we were from and she said California. His response was that he was sorry. Then asked what town and from that point on, Ripon become the brunt and/or punch line of every joke for the rest of the night. It was all in fun and we had a great time.
Frantic Follies Vaudeville Review in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory
Bald Eagles in Haines, AK and Whitehorse, YT
- Video of Bald Eagle eating a fish in Whitehorse, YT
North to Alaska … Day 17 – Wednesday 5/19/10 to Haines, AK
Shopping, sights, and sounds of Skagway, AK
All events depicted in this original play, Days of 98 Show, are taken from the Skagway historical record and center on Soapy Smith’s reign over the town during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897 and 1898. Jefferson Randolph Smith was born in Georgia in 1861 and ventured west as a young man. He learned his trade as a con man during the silver and gold rushes of Colorado and eventually made it to Skagway in the fall of 1897. While his men did most of the dirty work, Soapy tried to establish himself as a solid citizen of Skagway.
Motor Vessel (MV) LeCONTE of the Alaska Marine Highway System
- Boarding the LeCONTE
- Boarding Video. There is no way I could have done this with the 5th wheel.
The Ferry ride from Skagway to Haines, AK is an about an hour long even though the two towns are only separated by 15 miles. This gave us a wonder sightseeing cruise.
Ferry ride from Skagway to Haines, AK
Haines was named in honor of Francina Haines of the Presbyterian Home Missions Board. Accompanied by his friend, John Muir, S. Hall Young, was the first missionary to the area in 1879. The purpose of their trip was to scout a location for a mission and a school.
The first known meeting between white men and Tlingit took place in 1741 when a Russian ship anchored near Haines and started the fur trade in the area. In 1892, Jack Dalton established a toll road on the Tlingit trade route in to the interior to cash in on gold-seekers and others heading north into Canada. Parts of the Dalton Trail are now the Haines Highway.
In 1902, ongoing border disputes between the U.S. and Canada provided the justification for the first permanent army post in Alaska. The white buildings of Fort William H. Seward still stand and are a distinctive landmark of Haines. Decommissioned in 1947, the fort was bought by a group of war veterans with hopes of creating an arts and commerce community. The buildings are now privately owned homes, accommodations, restaurants, galleries, and shops.