Dawson City
Yukon Territory 
Airstreaming  2006

Arrive:   July 12
Depart:  July 16
Road Conditions:  Good
Weather:  Partly Sunny
Miles:  330

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Just North of Whitehorse we entered the Klondike Highway, not quite as wide and no large aprons but we were able to cruise at 50 to 55 mile per hour, the foliage on both sides cut well back from the road lessoning any surprise of animal crossing. There was a stretch of construction meaning gravel, dust, and slower travel but we have found the roads so far no worse than secondary roads in New England.

Dawson City - set in the Yukon Territory, picturesque and beautiful - yes and no. We soon learned about "Tailings" which are the droppings of placer gold mining.  That means dust and piles and piles of rock which is exactly what the campground and surrounding businesses, other than the downtown area, are built on so the initial impression can be a little ugly. That's only the cover, inside Dawson City looks and feels historic. Dirt streets, wooden sidewalks, and building codes that maintain the flavor of  early 1900 make Dawson a living breathing museum. The walking tour was excellent and very well done, highly recommended. Our tour guide, dressed for the period, was quite entertaining.

We toured Gold Dredge #4 - the largest still on display, visited the "Keno"- a stern wheeler used for cargo from Whitehorse, climbed the "Midnight Dome" - a sizable hill overlooking the town, enjoyed the museum, and just walked about town on the boards. Some of us visited the "Danoja Zho Cultural Center" where a interpretive dance was performed somewhat different than expected. We spent four nights at the Bonanza Gold RV Park, on gravel of course. We were joined by Per, Izzy, Erik, and Karl Hamnqvist who are on their own Alaska adventure. Mom, Lille, will join them in Fairbanks and accompany them for about ten days.

You can't go to Dawson City and not visit Diamond Tooth Gerties. "Well I'll be, gambling, liquor, and dancing girls right here in river city." Gerties enjoys a special permit to sell alcohol without providing at least ten hotel rooms as is required in the Yukon. Gerties is fun and the show  was great. Mike and Joe were brought up on stage to compete with two others in a tongue twister contest, Joe almost won but Mike didn't come close. There were some pretty ambitious gamblers there spreading their chips and making Gertie very happy, none of us dared. We left after the 10:30 pm show and walked outside into the daylight, a continually strange but not unpleasant feeling.

Next - Chicken Alaska - back to the USA. There is a 5 min free ferry, right in town, to cross the Yukon River. The schedule at the information center indicated a twenty two unit caravan leaving that same Sunday morning, however after checking with the campground we found it was canceled. The ferry can only take a few rigs across each trip and locals go to the front of the line so we feared spending hours waiting behind huge motorhomes. Mike and I decided to leave at 6:30 am, Ted and Joe at 8:30 am. Dawson City was good fun and not to be missed on any Alaska adventure.