Klondike Hwy North to Dawson City

06/21/09
We left Whitehorse on a beautiful sunny day. We’ve had exceptional weather and just hope it holds as we go over the Top of the World Hwy in a few days. We left the Alaskan hwy to drive the Klondike loop north, passing by Lake Laberge, made famous by Robert Service’s poem The Cremation of Sam McGee, which Ellen’s dad recites so eloquently.
Along the way we have seen so many motorcycles most of which are from Europe. Now I think we don’t have it to bad

There was an explosion of color with bright-colored fireweed, wild roses and many other wild flowers.

We stopped by the remains of Montague House, a typical early-day road house which offered lodging and meals on the stagecoach route between Whitehorse and Dawson City. The information signs again revealed the hardiness of the winter travelers in this area.

This was our welcoming dog who came to see us at Carmacks. It is a small village located on the banks of the Yukon and the only highway crossing of the Yukon River between Whitehorse and Dawson City. It is rich in native and early white settler history. The village is named after George Carmack who established a trading post here in the 1890s and pulled more than a ton of gold from a creek he named aptly named Bonanza Creek, setting off the Klondike gold rush.

On we went past Five Finger Rapids named for the 5 channels, or fingers, formed by rock pillars. These represented a navigational hazard on the Yukon. Many Paddle wheel steamers got a few scrapes here. Again there were to be lots of moose and grizzly in the area, but they must have been napping when we went through.