To Dawson City for the Yukon River Quest finish: Part 2
Part 2 of the 3-part series about my trip to Dawson City following the Yukon River Quest, and back to Whitehorse, covers more exploration of Dawson, and more race arrivals.
My next destination after leaving the finish line at 8:40 pm on Friday (see Part 1) was the cemeteries high on the hillside overlooking Dawson. The area reserved for members of the Yukon Order of Pioneers is of particular interest to me.
Grave markers range from very simple to quirky to very nice modern types.
I always visit the police section, where most of the 21 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and its antecedents, the North West Mounted Police and Royal North West Mounted Police, who have been killed in the line of duty, are buried. See the Yukon Peace Officer Honour Roll for more information about them.
While an enormous amount of restoration work has been done throughout the cemetery complex (and a couple of others closer to town), many graves are dilapidated. This lovely example of a tinsmith’s art marks the grave of John Frank, who died on May 15, 1903.
The two graves below have no markings noting who was buried there…
I drove up the Midnight Dome to see the Midnight Sun, but got sidetracked just before reaching the summit, and went up the now-unmarked Fire Tower Road, which goes much higher than the Dome Road.
The view to the north from the top of the Fire Tower Road, at 9:58 pm.
Starting back down to the main road at 10:10 pm. Even after 25 years of seeing it, this scene still thrills me deeply.
The view to the southwest from the Midnight Dome, looking up the Yukon River with Dawson City right below.
I was expecting my guys to arrive anytime after 06:00 Saturday, so was in bed just after 11 pm and up at 05:00. It was a chilly morning with a bit of fog still hanging when I shot this at 05:48 on the walk over to the finish line.
Here’s a unique little houseboat moored in the river.
Working and playing on the Yukon River – the Amelia Lupine heads upriver with a load of mining equipment, and Alex Campbell and Scott Whitmore (team #48) arrive in 23rd place in the River Quest.
By 07:00 the collection of boats on the beach was looking good.
Team Sunshine, from Japan, arrives in 24th place (3rd in the 8-boat Voyageur class), at 07:04.
The reactions among Team Sunshine to reaching the finish line ranged from tears to jubilation.
Race volunteers help Al Ramey and Jolaine Percival, from Ladysmith, BC, following their 25th-place finish, 90 seconds behind Team Sunshine. Their time from Whitehorse was 57 hours, 7 minutes, 36 seconds.
While I went back to the hotel to bring my team’s truck down to the river, I missed the arrival of Voyageur Team Whoa and my friend Yvonne Kinsey, on the left, but it was great to see her and the team getting their stuff organized.
Team Whoa wasted no time in getting their canoe loaded onto a custom trailer and heading off for well-deserved sleep.
A better look at that funky little houseboat. I’d be willing to bet that the occupant speaks German 🙂
My adopted team – John McDonald from Vancouver and Brent Coyne from Kelowna – arrives in 29th position, and can still smile!
It takes some adjusting to land, and a while to get the adrenalin buzz off.
One of the first duties for many paddlers is to phone home.
By 09:00 the beach was getting to be quite full. That’s team #49, “A55”, arriving in 31st place. What a glorious morning to see Dawson for the first time!
Thanks to one of the many interpretive signs along the waterfront, we can see what the Yukon River Quest finish line looked like in 1898!
As they hadn’t planned on getting to Dawson so quickly, the guys had no hotel reservations for a couple of days, but while they rested in my room, I was able, in a very full town, to fid them a room at the Westmark. Once they were settled, I had another couple of hours to wander before catching the shuttle to the airport.
A prospector down on the riverbank with his faithful little husky helping guard his rockerbox. My little buddy Nanook hadn’t been travelling with me for a while, so I decided he should get out and see some more of the world on this trip 🙂
This incredibly detailed model of a gold dredge at the Visitor Reception Centre fascinates me.
Also at the Visitor Reception Centre, Nanook checked out some climbing opportunities.
On the way back to the Eldorado Hotel for an early lunch, I got some more shots of the Westminster Hotel, “Romance Capital of the Yukon”. In an overnight sorta way!
Dawson City really is a photographer’s gold mine. Cathy and I have decided that we want to spend a week here in the very near future, hopefully in our new motorhome.
To finish off, an HDR image of the most famous building in Dawson, Strait’s Auction House, often called the Ammunition Store.
About The Author
