June 18th 2012, A Day in the Goldfields of Dawson City

June 18^th 2012, A Day in the Goldfields of Dawson City

I stepped down into the water and regretted my decision. It was muddy and I hoped I wouldn’t get stuck. I dug my shovel into the sidewall of the hole and felt the clay and rock. I was able to gather some on the blade and scraped it into the bucket. I realized I now knew what the “muck” was referred to by the old time miners.

Arriving at Dawson we had decided that we wanted to spend a day in the goldfields of Bonanza Creek. There we would take the tour of the Dredge Number 4 and then drive further up the valley and do some panning at Claim Number Six,(Claim Six is owned by the Klondike Visitor Center and offers free panning for tourists).

Arriving just in time for the first tour we bought tickets and waited outside for the guide. She soon showed up and started off with a question, “How many miners did it take to run the dredge? “ Now it’s a huge dredge and so we all guessed too high a number so when she told us just four, it seemed to low.

There were others of course. A team would use steam to melt the permafrost and another team would drill test holes to plan the path the dredge would take. However it only took four people to actually operate the earth moving monstrosity.

The machine was really something akin to a monster that ate the earth and spilled out worm trails in its path. It actually worked its way up the valley and was finally abandoned where it now rests. It made millions of dollars for its investors, the Guggenheim's, and on a positive note it was one of the mining machines that kept Dawson City alive

After finishing the tour we talked with the park guide who said that going up to Claim Number Six was a good way to connect with the early miners. She told us that some of the mines had actually donated ore for the free panning area and suggested we work that material if we wanted to find some gold.

Of course we first heeded her suggestion and I found a small flake of gold in my second pan. We both panned the rest of the bucket, to no avail, and so I dug some new material from another hole.  No more gold and so I crossed the creek and dug in the large hole that had been worked by others.

It didn’t surprise me that I didn’t find any gold there, the tour had a picture of the pay zone and showed it below the permafrost. Still I had to try and so I returned to the original pile. Renita sat patiently in her spot working her pan and looking for nuggets. Unfortunately, nuggets were seldom found here as it was mostly fine gold. We certainly didn’t find any, but again that was no surprise.

Now the gold we found was barely visible but we were both happy we had found some. We really had no illusions but still we are the eternal optimists, and why not? Later we talked about our day and both of us agreed that we would find more gold, once we got to Chicken!  Clear skies

June 17th, 2012, On the Way To Dawson

June 17^th, 2012, On the Way To Dawson

We really didn’t decide which way to go until this morning. I checked out the weather forecasts and the road reports for the Top of the world highway. It looked like the weather would be nice next week and the delays and construction on the Top of The World Highway said that delays would be less then twenty minutes.

So we turned north, onto the Klondike Highway. Our plan wasn’t to make it to Dawson but to drive at least to Carmack or maybe even Selkirk Landing on the Pelly River. The Carmack area is reported to have agate trails and the Selkirk area has a Native Hude Arts and Craft center so they both seemed like a good bet.

Soon after driving up the road we saw two tundra swans, a mated pair, serenely gliding across a small lake. It’s really not a good road for wildlife viewing, the road has no shoulders and a steep drop off. It also has the dreaded frost heaves and I only hit one badly before I gave them the respect they deserve.

Before long we reached mile ninety three. There a sign talks about the plume agates and geodes found there an so we backed the rig, yup all fifty five feet of it, onto a cobble side road. Locking the dog into the fifth wheel we headed up the trail. Soon Renita and I were grabbing rocks and occasionally stopping to examine the wolf scat.

Renita suggested we talk loudly so as not to startle a grizzly bear and you knew she was right. I had forgotten all about bears as we hiked up the heavily forested trail. The trail ended in a small turnaround and you could see where others had camped and then looked for the beautiful plume agate.

Now the problem is that we really didn’t know what the local plume looks like on the outside or rind. We do know what Rio Grande plume looks like but perhaps it was different. It wasn’t until our hands and pockets were full that Renita let out a shriek and grabbed a probably true Yukon plume agate.

Returning to the truck we loaded the rocks into the back end and headed north to Carmack. After filling up with diesel we talked with a shop owner who told of the beautiful blue agate found by some and then showed us the one piece of geode she had. It looked like Iris agate, found in the Wind Rivers of Wyoming and so left for Selkirk Landing.

The frost heaves got worse but the scenery was fantastic as we drove across and along the Yukon River. We stopped for lunch at the Five Fingers rapids, where the paddle wheels had winched their way through the five up thrust fingers of rock.

Too soon the drive was over and we found a great free campground at Pelly Crossing. After setting up we walked to the arts and crafts center and admired the beautiful moose skin and beaded clothes. They also had a list of rules for the Hude, the First Nation People their and I admired the main theme, called Dooli. It’s a creed based on respect, respect for the animals, respect for each other, and a respect for nature. It gave examples of behaving badly and stressed the importance of honoring the elders.

June 16th. Whitehorse to Pelly Crossing

Note the internet service limits us to 40mb a day is so I may can't post images till we get to Alaska, so bear with us.

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).

June 15th, 2012, A Day in Whitehorse

Decisions, decisions, should we go to Dawson City and the Top of the World Highway, or should we go to Destruction Bay and then cross the border to Tok? The guidebook tells you to go to the Visitor Center at Whitehorse and get the current conditions, so off we went.
Now we did have some repairs to make, our water pump has quit working and a pin fell out of the slide mechanism and the slide jammed so we first stopped at a rv repair shop where I almost fell over at the one hundred and fifty dollar price for the pump. I mean its only sixty five bucks online so I decided we could dry camp for a bit till we got to Alaska,(we do have water jugs and showers are not that important).

As to the slide, I found a cotter pin that allowed us to open and close it and we didn't seem to damage anything so that too was taken care of for the present. The next place should have been the Visitor Center but there is a rock shop here, so we made it our next stop.
The Yukon Rock shop is located in the downstairs level of a house and is filled with beautiful mineral specimens, including many from the now closed area copper mines. We had a nice visit with the owner but he deals with mineral specimens and doesn't have much workable rough or slabs. We actually left without buying any and actually drove into town to the Visitor Center.

Now the first thing you see of Whitehorse is the Klondike River Steamer, which carried passengers and freight to Dawson City. It would then head back down river and pick up silver ore bags which were then shipped to Kellogg, Idaho for smelting.
The Klondike has a forty inch draft and is an amazing piece of steamship and paddle wheel technology. Because it has no keel it would have broke in half, loaded, so it was built with a reverse suspension bridge design and the weight was actually supported by the wires which ran on masts above the ship. As it was loaded with ore the crew would turn steel buckles to adjust the new weight of the ship.
We enjoyed the tour, took lots of pictures, and next headed to the Visitor Center. We did take a slight detour and stopped downtown to look at some of the local jewelry and ivory carving. I was disappointed in that much of the jade was carved overseas and no one could answer me when I asked the grade of the jade and whether or not it was treated.

So we finally arrived at the Visitor Center. After looking at the displays, we approached the desk and asked about the road conditions on the Top of the World Highway. The attendant simply said it was fine and I didn't get much information in that answer. I then asked as to the availability of fuel, driving to Dawson City and the attendant said, "There are people living along the Highway and they need fuel too", and did not go into any further detail.
Now there are nice displays at the Visitor and there is a ton of information but the information you get there is only as good as they information they have, plus I think I met the only Canadian, on our trip, that was having a bad day, hmmmm.
Luckily we have free Internet at the rv park and so I was able to access the 511alaska and 511Canada road conditions, where I basically learned that they would be some delays as road construction was going on in a few places on the roads. So the question still is which route should we take, and more important, is the weather forecast predicting rain? Clear skies


ps its not really dark here at this hour and so sleeping is difficult and as the sun rise is at 3:47 am.....

June 14th, 2012, A long Day but We made it to Whitehorse!

June 14^th, 2012, A long Day but We made it to Whitehorse!

The Highway was running parallel to the Cassier mountains and far in the distance one could see the Teton shaped pyramid of a mountain scuplted by the headwalls of three alpine glaciers. They were long gone but the cirques, bowl shaped depression’s were obvious, along with the u-shaped valleys. There the ice once had spilled out its snout with towering seracs, again long since melted. I imagined the deep blue glacial ice that had filled them, a color of ice only seen in the high places.

We left early this morning, hoping we could get past the road work and make it at least to Telsin or maybe even Whitehorse. Imagine our surprise when we had practically no delay and quickly passed the main break in the road.

It was pretty obvious that the road had had a flash flood and that logs had jammed the bridge, sending the river roaring over the highway until the bridge and road collapsed into the torrent. The Canadian road crews have done a magnificent repair and are to be commended for opening the road so fast!

It was important to go as far as we could as there is a threat for more rain and more flooding. Hopefully the Destruction Bay area, near Kluane Lake, will not have a repeat and the road there will remain open. Regardless, the drive turned into an uneventful drive on pretty good roads.

Renita spotted a great grey owl, one of the largest northern owls,  but that was pretty much it for the day. None the less it was a beautiful drive as we crossed the continental divide that where the  water falls and flows  to the Arctic Ocean or to the Pacific. We did get to see the start of the Yukon and it’s huge as it pours out of its source, Marsh Lake. Let me repeat the rivers here are large, wild, and beautiful.

Renita told me of a canoe race, down to Dawson City. It’s a distance of over four hundred miles and open to novice and expert paddlers. Having no death wish we decided to pass on entering such madness, at least not this year…..

Driving in the Tioga is itself a treat as the trees form a massive skyline of firs, birch, aspen, and lodgepole pine. There is a lot of beetle kill but also a lot of forest that seems to be in excellent health. We did pass a recent burn that is crowded with morel mushroom hunters, and an information person at the visitor center told us a good picker could make twenty thousand in a few weeks.

However that sounds too  like work, even though we both do love eating morels. They are the only wild mushroom we will pick as we feel confident in identifying them. Besides we would rather pick rocks and weigh down our fifth wheel.  Clear skies