Monday we packed up everything and checked out of our hotel room in Fairbanks. We drove down the road to find gas. It ended up being $2.92 per gallon. We headed north on highway 2, passing many gold mining attractions until we reached El Dorado Mine. Our tour began at 9:45 on a small “kids” train. The guide pulled out his fiddle and played a number of tunes for us. He told everyone that his father had played that same fiddle in the Grand Ole Opre. As the small green and white train chugged along, they had on display an old cabin just as it would have looked back in the late 1800s. Next, a gold panning operation as they did it back then. We then entered into a permafrost tunnel to learn about what miners look for under the ground to identify gold deposits. They even dig up bones that are thousands of years old. He, the presenter, held up a mammoth tusk to display one of their findings. Alaska is so rich in ancient bone discoveries by miners that the universities and such have indicated they cannot accommodate for all the bone discoveries being made. He also explained that because the ground is so hard from always being frozen, they had to blast the underground with steam to melt the permafrost. Then they could dig.

Back above the ground, he showed us what the operations look like above the ground. During the winter, they dug and brought up the dirt in buckets where they then had the bucket attached to a cable that ran above the pile of dirt above the ground. The bucket emptied the earthly contents into a pile where it was sifted and panned during the summer.

We were then led to an area where they showed us what they do today when they placer mine for gold. Basically water to separate the gold. Since gold is so much heavier than all the rock and sediment in the water, the gold falls to the bottom and the water runs the rocks and sediment away, revealing the gold that fell to the bottom. We have video that shows the process and it is very interesting. Lastly, they gave us a handful of dirt from a dirt pile and let us pan for gold. And yes, we did get some gold from those handfuls so ya’ll can see it when we get home!

After that fun, we headed back into Fairbanks and exchanged American money for Canadian. We then headed east for Dawson City, the final destination of the Klondike Gold Rush! We ended up driving highway 5 which climbed up and down over mountains. We even passed a forest fire on the next mountain over from the road. There where hardly any cars on the road. We stopped and camped at a campsite (cannot remember the name) that overlooked Johna’s Lake. There were bear warning signs everywhere. There was not running water and no garbage bins. Probably a campground that is not used much since it’s out in the middle of nowhere on a road not many people use.

Tuesday morning we walked around the campgrounds a bit and then took off for Dawson City. Not too long after hitting the road, it turned to dirt and gravel. Our first place of interest was the booming metropolis of Chicken. There we saw the Pedro Dredge that they were in the process of setting up for tours. There was a camp ground, RV park, café, and a gift shop. That was the town of Chicken! Oh, and they had a post office. We wanted to mail something from Chicken so badly, but we had nothing to mail and no stamps. Sad days in Alaska…

As we kept driving, we noticed that there were piles of rocks and dirt everywhere. We concluded it must have been the result of the dredge dredging the area. We eventually passed another dredge in a sad state of disrepair. It had been abandoned and was deteriorating. We could easily see the path it had taken and the new waterways it had created.

We eventually came to the Canadian border. The lady was nice and asked all kinds of questions but let us through with a smile and a “have fun you guys!” Within an hour we were at the ferry crossing to Dawson City (a free ferry, I might add). The ferry was very small, much like the Lummi Island ferry but much smaller. They could fit about 4 RVs on this ferry, and it doesn’t dock, it runs up on the beach. It runs against the current of the Yukon River. We read somewhere that there are future plans to have a bridge built across the river instead. When we came off the ferry, there was a huge line of RVs waiting to cross on the ferry. Best guess is some would be waiting an hour or more.

There was a river side park that we stopped at and ate a lunch of chicken left over from a few nights ago. We then walked along the main drag of the town. We stopped at an ice cream shop and each bought a scoop of ice cream. We walked down a few other streets before heading back to the car to find out where the museum was. I have to note here the appearance of the buildings. They restored them to look much like they would have in the early 1900s before the gold rush died.

Once at the museum, we looked at train locomotives that were restored. We then went and viewed displays explaining why the land looks the way it does (glacier influenced) and some information on area natives. We watched a short film created by a man who grew up in Dawson City. It was about what it was like growing up in a ghost town and a bit about the history of the short lived gold rush that made that town “boom”. The film is called Gold City and is very much worth watching. After the film, we looked at the rest of the gold rush displays and then headed back on the road. Before we left this quaint town, we stopped for gas and paid the highest price yet: $1.32 per liter. Ouch! We only filled about a 1/3 a tank and it cost us $50. I feel bad for the locals!

The drive to our camp site, Moose Creek, was uneventful and even dull. But we stopped about 270 miles from Whitehorse so we would have less of a drive on Wednesday. At our campsite, we made friends with a local squirrel who kept coming back for more bread crumbs. We also want to mention the temperature in Fairbanks was around 80 during our stay, and in Dawson City around 70.

Wednesday we walked down a trail that was to take us to Moose Creek. We walked along a ridge, singing and making chatter as to be very visible to any obnoxious bears that might be in the area. We passed a man walking two dogs: one was a german shepherd and the other a small kick-mutt (an Amy-ism for a small dog that has a high-pitched yap). The kick-mutt had a rather large bell on its collar that jingled upon every step. That’s one way to keep track of your dog! When we reached a junction in the trail, we turned around and walked back to the car. We headed down the highway for Whitehorse. The drive was very boring. There wasn’t much to look at but trees everywhere. To keep ourselves occupied while driving, we listened to the Bible on CD. We drove a total of 4-5 hours before reaching Whitehorse. Our only agenda in Whitehorse this time was half a tank of gas and some ice for the cooler. We found gas prices just as we had left them a week prior: $1.19. We spent a total of $40 for half a tank. We were also able to buy a bag of ice at the gas station. We then headed back to the highway and drove 2 miles before reaching our campground. It was raining quite a lot when we reached our campsite. We grabbed our waterproof jackets, unpacked everything into the tent, and pumped up the air mattress in the car. We then stacked two of our tubs of supplies next to the car and grilled our hamburgers from the back of the car. It wasn’t easy trying to stay dry!

While Ernest was in the outhouse, Amy decided to empty the water from the cooler. After doing so on the outskirt of the campsite, Ernest suggested it may have been a better idea to do so farther away from the campsite as to not attract curious bears. Tears burst forth from Amy’s eyes as she realized that what she thought was being helpful could be more of a problem (Ernest: What did I do now?!). After she explained that it wasn’t Ernest’s words that opened the floodgates but it was one of 12 emotional outbursts that happen a year, we started grilling our burgers. After dinner we hung out in the car until bedtime. Securing the campsite, we tried to get some rest.

The next morning, during yet more rain, we packed up the campsite and headed to Skagway. We stopped about 45 minutes south of our campsite at a small restaurant in Carcross. The restaurant was called “Montana Restaurant”. Our goal was to spend a bit of the Canadian money left since we were leaving Canada that day. As soon as the waiter brought the omelets, Amy’s stomach started getting queasy, so she only had two pieces of toast and three bites of the omelet. Ernest finished his plus most of Amy’s breakfast. Now on to White Pass.

The topography of White Pass consists of large snow-capped peaks, large rock outcroppings, and deep valleys. The lakes are the most pastel shade of blue turquoise and green. This is the spectacle that would our eyes would have beheld. Unfortunately it was completely obscured by fog and rain.

The road wound around alternately climbing and descending with three sections with dire warnings about stopping in avalanche zones. The summit was fairly obvious as the road started to plunge down the West slope of White Pass. At the US border the signs change from Metric to miles, markers line the highway so it can be located in deep snow, and due to the intensely curvy road and stiff grade the speed limit drops to 40mph.

There were two groups of bicyclists that some tour company must have driven to the top of the pass and released onto the highway. They looked wet. The border crossing was very interesting in that the officer was a grandpop-type character who had a jolly-good time at his job (although one would question if perhaps he was actually retired). He asked one meaningful question. The rest of the time he was asking us about our lives and even commented that Amy had a good passport photo. If you have seen it one would question the old fellow’s eyesight. He then stamped our passports with a Skagway, Alaska stamp and let us pass.

Soon the vehicle followed the highway down from the clouds and onto State Street in Skagway. We found the main street (Broadway), found our hotel and parked. We then walked up and back down the street, buying a few things in the tourist gift shops, and walked back to the car. We deposited our findings there and walked to the train station. We bought our tickets for the White Pass train ride at 4:30pm and went to check into our hotel. Needing some rest, we hung out at the hotel until 4:00 and walked down to the train station. The train ride was an exciting one, full of picturesque views and history. Check out our photo album for pictures of the ride! After the train ride, we walked to the harbor and ate dinner at a small restaurant called “Stowaway”. Their main theme was mermaid. It was a semi fancy meal in a casual setting. Amy had Mediterranean pasta and Ernest had a halibut dish. We walked back to the hotel in the coolness of the evening and both took showers (we didn’t realize how much one could stink after three days with no shower!). Friday we plan to find history and adventure in Skagway and Dyea. Until then…