We spent the night at Pelly Crossing Campground. It’s a
former Yukon government campground that has been pretty much abandoned but is
still open and so it’s a popular spot for boondockers. The sites are large,
covered with good gravel drives, and free.
The next morning we left for Dawson City. We were in no
hurry and we hoped to see some wildlife so we drove slowly. The frost heaves
were few and far between and the main challenge was to keep the rig from
hooking the sharp drop off of the roads edge. There’s not really any shoulder
and if you hook the edge you are well don’t hook the edge.
We stopped at the scenic turnoffs and even did some birding
at Gravel Lake. While we didn’t see any black scoter or new birds we did have
close encounters with some mosquitoes that were almost as large as
hummingbirds.
Crossing at Stewart’s Landing the road connected with the
Silver Trail. IT takes you to Mayo where the silver mines out shone the gold.
That wasn’t our route however and so we turned left to Dawson and continued
along the Stewart, its channel filled with all the rain. Later we met a native
who told us the Yukon was the highest she has ever seen it and so the rains we
have encountered must be unusual.
The road became noticeably bad from all the frost heaves and
I had to slow down. Other rv and motor homes passed me but I think they must
have a deadline to go so fast. They probably have not had their suspension fail
as we have and so are blithely unaware of the damage the bumps and roller
coaster frost heaves can do.
We passed a moose feeding in a shallow pond, and not too
much later the worm trails of the dredges showed the trail of past mining. I
thought about the town of Dawson, with much of it built on old tailings and the
danger of liquefaction from an earthquake. (The ground turns into quicksand and
buildings literally sink into the mud, hopefully while we are not here).
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