June 5-9 & 13-14: Sean has always had a special affinity for Dawson City because it's a mining town that's still "alive". There is still active gold mining throughout the surrounding area and some of the old days activities to participate in- gambling, cancan shows, tour the SS Keno (steam paddlewheel boat), and tour the town with an 1800s period dressed guide. All the streets are still dirt throughout the town and buildings keep their outward appearance from the gold rush days. The ambiance is still flourishing! There is lots of hiking and biking opportunities, and if you find yourself wanting to strike it rich, a free gold panning claim. Dome Road offers a beautiful view of the local mountain ranges and Dawson City. Be prepared for A LOT of pictures!!!
Leaving Mayo on Silver Mine Trail a moose crossed the road in front of us on the way to Dawson City.
Also, 2 black bear made a appearance.
On Klondike Loop headed to Dawson City, a long stretch of construction requiring a pilot car. The truck and motorhome were disgusting by the time we rolled into Dawson City!
Telltale sign the you are close to Dawson, miles of tailings lining the roadside.
Dawson City is built on top of permafrost that frequently gives them problems.
Many mammoth fossils have been unearthed with mining the area. This was a recreation of the extinct beasts that used to roam.
Yukon & Klondike river convergence, view from the levee trail.
The Visitors Center has a key to this interesting art installation called "Camera Obscura". Video below of the inside.
Camera Obscura art instillation. My camera recording is NOT upside down.
Inside the Visitors Center, 2 moose antlers and their story on the plaque.
City guided tour with a period dressed guide.
We got rained on! Seeking shelter at the next stop.
Old BNA bank recreation.
Safe in the back wall was so heavy that it sunk into the floor and they were unable to open it at one point, lol.
Red Feather Saloon, reconstructed through old pictures and locals were involved to add artifacts, etc.
"The Kissing Buildings" leaning due to permafrost issues.
Dirt streets and boardwalk.
Diamond Tooth Gerties - Saloon, Casino, Shows & Food!
There are 3 shows running 8:30p/10:00p/12:00a and we did see all of them. They were fantastic!
Crowd participation for "Cancan" dance.
The dancer in yellow threw Sean a garter during the first show!
We give credit to the garter for Sean's lucky winnings, lol! Neither of us are very "lucky" usually.
Leaving Diamond Tooth Gertie's around midnight.
Dome Road overlook panoramic.
Overlook of Dawson City.
Yukon River and Moosehide community overlook. Some rain visible.
Ogilvie Mountain Range North of Dawson City from Dome Road overlook.
An overlook of the overlook, lol.
Our campsite at Bonanza Gold RV Park.
Things were going so well... until Sean discovered he couldn't open 2 of the driver side compartment doors. He had to crawl through the other side, and with the help of a flathead screw driver, we were able to jimmy the broke bolt back and open the door. Some things in those compartments are too big to come out the other side. Luckily, Sean was prepared for this issue and bought a kit before we set out on our adventure. In this picture, Sean unscrewed the handles apart and he is drilling out the rivets of the mechanism holding the bolt spring.
After we replaced the bolt in the spring mechanism we are required to hand punch small rivets in place. I was the vice, as you can see, lol. The rock that we used was the only "hard" substance we could find to get tight riveting.
Re-riveting the mechanism in place. I don't have a finished picture, but the new bolts work great!
Our workstation, lol.
After our handle fixing efforts were completed, we blew off some steam at the Bonanza River free mining claim and panned for gold. The river was FRIDGED!
A load of dirt from a local mine that you could pan from. There are many other areas to pan dirt in the area, but would require a shovel (which apparently we forgot, lol).
Sean wild gold that he found at the claim!
SS Keno Tour!
Boiler, which powered the engines.
Engine & pump room.
Pistons that pump the paddlewheel.
Onboard kitchen.
The Captain would sketch the river for a map. Zoom in to see what he wrote on the scroll.
9th Avenue Trail. Yes, it was raining. Yes we were all a mess by the end, lol.
Overlook off of Crocus Bluff Trail.
Dawson City Ferry
Biking day trip to West Dawson & Yukon River Campground.
Other side of the river watching the ferry leave back to Dawson City.
Trail to Paddlewheel Boneyard from the Yukon River Campground.
Trail along the river bank.
West Dawson hostel.
Banana Split from local place. Yum!
No comments:
Post a Comment