A night on the Top of the World Highway, and back to Dawson
It’s taken me a while to get back to finish off this post – I had an antiques-and-collectibles yard sale to get ready for, and that took all the energy I had. Spitty rain caused me to leave the sale after only an hour, but it was a productive hour. The way I felt after that hour, it’s not likely I could have lasted 4 hours anyway.
Anyway, back to Dawson!
We left the Yukon River Campground at about 2:00 pm on Wednesday (August 19th). A sign as soon as we turned on to the Top of the World Highway reminded us that the highway is closed until further notice at the Canada/USA border just past the summit.
The weather was erratic on the way up. A sign and blockage of half the road just past the Sixtymile Road prompted Cathy to say “if the road is closed, we’re not going.” Yeah we are. 🙂
By 3:30 we were set up at the large parking lot right at the summit of the highway, 104 km from the campground at Dawson.
Freedom! for the pups up top. With no people within miles and unlimited visibility, this is about as safe and as much fun as a dog can have.
A little climb up to the summit cairn resulted in this view of the Customs posts to the west. The Canadian post was given the community name Little Gold Creek, and the American post is called Poker Creek.
Fall is very close, and colours have just started to change, but the particularly hardy Mountain hare bell (Campanula lasiocarpa) still looked great. A very strong wind across the open ridge made flower photography a challenge.
Berries are abundant. We saw a family picking blueberries in what looked like a commercial way about halfway up the highway.
The weather was threatening all around us but our sky remained clear. Just after 7:00 pm I shot this particularly impressive storm to the south. The forecast for clear skies and very warm certainly isn’t what we got.
At about 8 pm, the light was gorgeous and I took the kids for a final walk. Went about a km, was about done when I got back. Bella took off after ptarmigan, which were already white. She was great about coming when I called after spotting her far below me. Back in the rig, every time I looked out, I half expected to see a herd of caribou. Right behind Customs are trails that look like they’ve been well travelled for hundreds of years.
I was up a couple of times during the night checking for a forecast aurora display, but had no luck. At 02:20 we had clear skies, and strong winds. At 05:30, it was mostly cloudy. At 08:00 when I shot the next photo, we had heavy fog, rain, a strong wind, and 6°C. I let Bella and Tucker out for their morning pee by themselves, and they didn’t dawdle 🙂
We had a lazy morning, napping and reading and waiting for better weather. At 09:30 it cleared quite suddenly but the measured wind speed was 35 mph, gusting to 52, and it was still only 8°C. Not at all pleasant for getting out.
Just before noon, we packed up and started back down the highway towards Dawson, with no real plan for the day.
Back at the Yukon River Campground at 1:00, we got site #46 this time, right on the river.
Thursday was a very quiet day. All we did was go into Dawson for a fabulous meal at The Drunken Goat Taverna. We bought waaay too much food so there would be plenty of leftovers.
Back from The Goat, I started a campfire, but our snuggle didn’t last very long – the bugs were too bad. Some little things that don’t bite but are very annoying. “Smoke bugs,” some say.
Friday noonish – Bella and Cathy have an understanding that picnic tables are perfect for grooming. Bella loves being fussed over and is a wonderful “client.” 🙂
With Bella all cleaned up, we went for a drive with the dogs – back across the ferry and up the Midnight Dome. The next photo looks over the industrial area from halfway up.
The view down the Yukon River from the summit of the Dome.
Back at the campground, I threw a big steak on the barbecue to add to our leftovers from The Goat.
How’s that for a “roughing it” camping meal? Yuuuum!
We had decided to leave Dawson at around noon on Saturday to allow 2 days to get home. Before leaving I got a few photos of some changes at the campground, notably this very expensive-looking new playground equipment.
The photo wander went further than I’d planned, over to the ferry landing. This heritage sign about West Dawson s one of the remaining ones from a series installed in the 1960s and early ’70s. “West Dawson was settled c.1899 by people wanting to avoid overcrowding and typhoid outbreaks in Dawson. Farms also became established and later as mining in the Sixtymile area increased, a link with Dawson became necessary. In 1902 a ferry guided by a cable began operating. This cable was supported by a 37 metre tower which provided clearance for the riverboats.”
As the river level goes up and down, the ferry landing has to be modified, using this Cat on the west side.
Waiting for the ferry just after noon. Cathy drove the Tracker so we could do a bit of running around in Dawson, including picking up some gear to take back to Whitehorse for a friend there.
I shot 5 videos of the ferry George Black on August 21 and 22, and have posted a compilation at Youtube. The first half is hand-held as we were in the ferry lineup and loading/unloading, the second half is tripod mounted at the West Dawson side.
We went to the Farmers’ Market and picked up some eggs and jams.
On the way down from The Dome the previous day, I spotted this modified crosswalk sign at the cemeteries but hadn’t gotten a photo. I drove back up to rectify that.
On the road by about 1:30, I only drove as far as Moose Creek. Our first stop was at the historic Moose Creek Lodge to pick up some of Maja’s wonderful pastries for the rest of the road trip.
Moose Creek Campground was pretty much empty (as usual), and I got my favourite site, #20, at the furthest end of the campground from the highway.
On Sunday morning, the high bush cranberry jelly we bought at the Farmers’ Market was excellent on my home-made bread.
I went for a bit of a wander into the forest above our campsite, looking for Fall colours or mushrooms or whatever, and found this lovely little grove of poplar.
I had thought that another overnight stop might be needed, but I pushed through, though the last hour sucked. We were home by about 5:00 pm.
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