By motorcoach through the Yukon & Alaska: Whitehorse to Fairbanks
I’ve just returned from my final trip as driver/guide, for a motorcoach tour that took us from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Seward, Alaska, where my group boarded the Celebrity Summit for a cruise back to Vancouver. This was about the 8th trip I’ve done for W. P. Maher Tours of Wellington, New Zealand, and I was looking forward to seeing Kevin Maher again (we’ve become good friends), to travelling with another group of Kiwis (always fun), and to doing my final trip after 17 years of it for 3 companies (Atlas Tours, Northwest Stage Lines and Norline Coaches).
The photojournal that follows will, I hope, be of interest to people looking for information about this route, people wondering how a tour like this actually runs, and those who wonder what being a tour driver is like. It includes many links to other sites for more information about communities and the specific hotels, tours and issues being discussed.
The photos were shot with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT.
July 12, 2006: Group arrives in Whitehorse, Yukon, on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver.
Went on a short city tour including a tour through the restored sternwheeler S.S. Klondike, then checked into the Westmark Klondike Inn.
July 13, 2006: Whitehorse to Dawson City – 335 miles.
Our animal count got off to a good start with a brief but fairly good look at a beautiful young cinnamon-coloured black bear as he crossed the highway in front of us just south of Carmacks. Unfortunately nobody was quick enough with a camera. Arriving at Dawson, we checked into the Downtown Hotel for 2 nights. We had requested rooms in the annex across the street, as it’s the best place for a group due to the tables and a hot tub in an enclosed courtyard – as is often the case at the Downtown, our request wasn’t honoured, and we were in the main building.
July 14, 2006: Dawson area tour morning, with the afternoon free to explore.
While returning to town on the Bonanza Creek Road, we had another good animal encounter, this one a skinny fox who trotted along the shoulder of the road beside the bus for a half-mile or so.
This picture of the river freighter Amelia Lupine was taken at 3:50 p.m. as she was being towed up onto the shore, I assume for hull repairs. I usually find that the Dawson waterfront has something interesting going on, and there are unique watercraft to be seen. Behind the Amelia Lupine is the ferry George Black, on which we cross the Yukon River tomorrow.
July 15, 2006: Dawson City to Tok, Alaska – 187 miles.
As I was having breakfast at the hotel, an ambulance arrived. The waitress checked with the desk and came back to tell me that it was one of my folks. My passenger was taken to the health centre with breathing problems but once on oxygen she recovered quickly.
I got the bus ready for the day, then wandered around town with my camera for an hour. This photo of the side of the Westminster Hotel (the oldest operating hotel in the Yukon) was shot at 8:15 a.m. I love Dawson, and it’s mostly because its still genuine, in stark contrast to Skagway, Alaska, which I generally describe as “Walt Disney’s version of the Klondike Gold Rush.”
At 9:00 a.m. we pulled away from the hotel and in a couple of minutes were at the loading area for the George Black ferry. There was no lineup, but I’d gone to the Departmment of Highways yard and picked up a priority boarding pass (specifically for motorcoaches) last night just in case. For many years there has been talk about building a bridge here (last year it looked very much like it was going to go ahead), but I really like the ferry – it’s rather unique in a world where travel experiences get more homogenous year after year. It only takes 4-5 minutes to cross the Yukon River, and then you’re driving steeply up the first of many hills on the Top of the World Highway.
At 10:50 a.m. we came upon the scene below – a young grizzly bear calmly grazing on grasses right beside the road. He appeared to be a 2-year-old, so had probably been on his own just a few days.
The car above pulled away just after we arrived, and we stayed with the bear for almost 10 minutes. This photo was shot at at 10:56, just after a motorhome and a truck camper had gone by at high speed – those are the sort of people who will get home and complain that they spent a month in Alaska and saw no wildlife at all.
After a typical quick, friendly crossing into Alaska, we stopped for lunch at the Chicken Gold Camp & Outpost. As always, everyone was very pleased with Mike and Lou’s operation – an excellent lunch in quaint, spotlessly clean surroundings. I gave myself a present in the Outpost gift shop – a beautiful 30×48-inch grizzly-design quilt created by Sarah Lord, a summer resident of Chicken. I looked at it carefully when I was through a month ago, and it was an easy decision when I saw it this time. I added the photo of it hanging in my dining room later.
We stayed at the Golden Bear Lodge in Tok – they have a wide range of room types, but the tours I guide always book the centre block, which has the newest/best rooms. A big bonus for groups is the grassy area out back where we get together for drinks. We had our dinner and breakfast the next morning at the restaurant attached to the lodge, called the Grumpy Griz Cafe. I had checked out the new operation back in January, and it was excellent. On this trip, the waitressses tried hard but with 2 tour buses in they were badly understaffed and the service was very slow. That’s forgivable, but the quality of the food was very poor, and the owner’s attitude just sucked. We got many complaints, and Maher groups will be going to Fast Eddie’s, a mile or so away, next year.
July 16, 2006: Tok to Fairbanks – 202 miles
This photo of me and Kevin was taken at the End of the Alaska Highway monument at Delta Junction at 12:05 p.m., just before our lunch stop at Rika’s Roadhouse, which is always popular.
Arriving in Fairbanks, we checked into the beautiful Bear Lodge, the newest section of the Wedgewood Resort (this photo of Room 302 was taken at 10:15 p.m.). Away from town beside the Creamer’s Field bird sanctuary, this is an excellent property, with one of the best restaurants in Alaska for both dinner and breakfast.
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