Cinnamon Buns, Five Fingers & Dead Toes? - Dawson City, Yukon

Carmacks, Yukon

Tatchun River Government Campground

Before arriving in colorful Dawson City, we had a few stops to make along the way. The first was the Robert Lowe Suspension Bridge built across Miles Canyon in 1922.

You can walk over the bridge and hike around both sides of the river. 

Columnar Jointing is the name for the lava in the canyon walls that looks like bundles of posts.  As the lava cools, it contracts causing a regular pattern forming 5 and 6 sided columns.

The bottom of these posts looked like feet and toes to me.

Miles Canyon and White Horse Rapids were once the most dangerous obstacles along the length of the Yukon River.  During the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush, many poorly made boats by minors caused quite a few accidents and deaths.  A dam that was built in 1959 calmed the rapids and eliminated this.

About 60 miles later, we came to Braeburn Lodge.  The reason is to sample the cinnamon buns.

We all agreed these HUGE cinnamon buns were the best!!  They heated them up for us and we grabbed some fresh coffee.  The dough was perfect and the cinnamon mixture and icing were spread throughout and on top.  Not soggy at all or too sweet.  It's going to be hard to beat these!

Another stop along the way at the Montague Roadhouse Historic Site.  There are many roadhouses along these main roads which served miners, trappers and travelers after long days.  They usually had simple rooms, a place to get a hot meal and a stall to freshen the horses along the way.  Some are older log-style buildings and some are newer.  Most are closed and have long been abandoned.  This one operated until 1940.  Every now and then there are still some that are up and running.

In the Yukon, their Government Campgrounds are similar to BC's Provincial Parks or the State Campgrounds in the US.  We stayed at Tatchun River for $20 on the river.  We love the free wood they drop off.

  

Sometimes it's split, and sometimes not.  Rick is getting our fire ready for tonight.

This tree is about 12 inches across.  It must've been a very busy beaver but I don't think he thought ahead on how he'd move it after it fell!  Beavers don't eat fish or meat as they are strictly herbivorous. They mostly eat the soft, inner bark of deciduous trees, twigs, leaves, shrubs and ferns.  Hardwoods are used for construction.

These campgrounds usually have a patio/picnic area with tables and a potbelly stove.  A nice touch.  Perfect when it's raining out or real windy and you want a fire.

Next we stopped at the 5 Fingered Rapids Rec Site.  This is the view from the platform at the top.  If you like you can hike down and there is another platform just above the river.

There are 219 steps down.  It is advised to carry bear spray which we had.  It's still a bit unnerving hiking in these thick woods.  

The name comes from 4 islands that split the river into 5 channels.  It was very dangerous for gold seekers and boats.  In the 1900s explosives were used to widen this channel.

At the bottom is the other platform with information signs.

It was very muddy in spots but a nice hike.

And time to climb back up.

Driving through the Elsa area, there was a lot of road construction going on to fix a big hill wash out.  Road work is an ongoing part of these areas.  I'm sure there is more to come in Alaska too.

After this stretch there was an uphill part that was quite slippery.

Mayo, Yukon

Moose Creek GC

Another great government campground.  Almost no one here.  $20.

More of that great free wood!

We took a nice hike behind the campground down to the river.

We still aren't sure how these piles of tree droppings are getting here.  They look they like may be eaten and regurgitated back up.  They don't look like they were pooped out.  But the piles are big and they are all over.  Anyone know what they are and how they get here?  And what animal makes them?  If we find a ranger we'll ask as we are very curious.

More stairs?

It was a nice hike.  The ground cover is brightly covered and very boggy, soft and wet.  It has a very sweet smell.  It reminds me of Maine.

Every now and then we find some interesting fungus and mushrooms.  Rick and Angie have a friend that is very knowledgeable in them so they know what many are.  Surprisingly, as wet as it is here, we don't see many or much variety.

Another great fire to warm us up!

Dawson City, Yukon

Gold Rush RV Park

We chose a private park for our stay for 2 reasons.  One it is smack in the middle of town and two, we really needed to do laundry.  It's been 4 weeks and the first time we've done wash.

The park is typical for a around these parts.  That means usually a basic gravel lot with full hookups.  Side by side and quite close.  But hey, it works!  I just hate paying the higher prices though.  $73, #27.

I've heard from many others that it looks like by my pictures they must've won the paint lottery as things looked really cleaned up and fresh.  It does look like the whole town was just painted recently.

We headed to the Visitor Center to get the scoop.  This is an eagle carved into a moose antler.  It was big and really detailed.

The Masonic Lodge was my favorite of the buildings.  Most have been rebuilt since horrible fires in 1958 and 1969.

I really wanted a shirt form here but they didn't have any!  They are missing out on some merchandise income!

The town is laid out in a grid and is easily walkable.  We spent two days walking up and down all the dirt streets.  It gave us a chance to break in our mud boots.

There aren't too many original buildings left.  Fire took out many of them but this is what happens when you build on permafrost.  The ground gives and buildings sink.

Almost touching!

I loved this sign.  Clever recycling!

The highlight of our stay here is taking part in drinking a Sourtoe Cocktail!  What you ask?  Why?  Here's some info about it.  Would you do it?

You sit down and are offered a choice of toes.  They don't look like toes, right?! Then it's dropped into a shot of Yukon Jack.  You can't bite it, put it in your mouth or swallow it.  It's a BIG fine if you do!  I don't think that'll be a problem.  The toe just has to touch your lips.

 

Bottoms Up!

It's official.  I'm in the Sourtoe Cocktail Club!

Steve's turn!

Then Angie.

Rick doesn't drink alcohol, so he was the picture taker guy.  We had a nice dinner afterward to erase our memory some.  It was gross, but super fun and we're glad we did it!

SS Keno Paddlewheel.  Built in 1922, docked in 1960 to become a tourist attraction.

We had some gold panning planned on our last day.  We wanted to drive up to Midnight Dome above the city with great views below, but it was still very muddy and we didn't want to try the drive with the campers.  Claim 33 was closed we we drove on.

We stopped at the Canadian Klondike Mining Company Dredge No. 4 for a tour.

I love to look up info on all these companies when I get back to my computer to find out when and where these parts/machines were made.  This one was established in 1864!

The young guy giving our tour was so informative.  I can't believe how they can remember all these details!  So many dates, calculations, numbers etc.  We were surprised to find out that as big as this dredge is and a few levels, only 4 people usually operated it at a time.  It was so noisy that they only lasted a couple of years and usually went deaf.  No OSHA back then!

A crows nest on part of the dredge.

After that tour we kept on down the road to Claim #6.  It has a very specific area that anyone can mine by hand.  We dug up some soil in the mountain side and panned for a while.  No luck.  We were pretty disappointed.  We figured we'd get a small nugget or two.  We settled for lunch and headed back out.

We drove back through Dawson City and took the ferry across the Yukon.  There is no bridge, but the ferry is free.  It looked pretty small but bigger vehicles use it.

Rick and Angie go first.

It so weird drifting down and then pulling up at the right spot.  They are amazing!

And getting off.  Yikes!

We were a little concerned that our jack legs might bottom out as it was a good sized drop off.  The guys were great at spotting us and had planks they would put down if needed.  It was close, but we did fine.

Whitehorse, Yukon

Yukon River GC

This campground was only about 1 mile from the last one in Dawson City, but we had a mission to find the Paddlewheel Graveyard.  We could've walked onto the ferry and hiked to it, but it would've been quite a hike.  So we stayed a night here.  It was a pretty campground. $20, # 19, right on the river.

It wasn't too long of a walk along the shore when it was obvious we found it.  The remains of 4, I think, are here.

They were drug over and left to die.  I'm sure they took all the good stuff out they could.  Not much left.

It was amazing to see the old paddle wheels and smokestacks.

And we're off again.  Next stop will be taking the Top of the World Highway and crossing into Alaska!