Woke early to another minus 6, and got on the road, as it was a fair drive from here to Dawson City, the home of the Klondike Gold Rush, of which we had been following the stampeders trail, all in much more comfort J
Heading our of Twin Lakes we noticed that all the ponds, roadside streams and the edge of larger ponds were frozen. Then we came across a lovely view, so we told the kids to take the towel and wipe the condensation from the inside windows (a daily need) for them to see this view. We were met with a burst of laughter and excitement, as the inside of the RV windows were frozen. Linda then went to wind down her door window and ice cracked off, on the inside. I made an insightful comment, “It must be cold”. When we stopped, even though having been driving at 100 k/h there was ice all over the outside of the RV.
The drive up to Dawson is on good tarmac, as the French speaking tourist information lady had indicated. Not an exciting drive, noticed the mountains had reduced to large rolling hills.
Many native villages enroute, all trying to carve a niche in the tourist market, but also notices, like Australia, a battle with alcohol and drugs was an issue, but all felt very safe and friendly.
Hit Dawson in the late afternoon. Lovely Tourist information Centre, staff in period constume, the town was as promised, only the front road along the Yukon river was tarmac, the rest were as original, dirt roads, timber sidewalks, and they have maintained the original buildings in very good repair, so it was like driving into Dawson City in its hayday.
Discovered that Diamond Tooth Gerties was both a Showgirls show and Casino so the kids were not allowed in, bugger, was hoping to take Josh to a showgirls show, you know to expose him to a cultural experience. Had a shower and refreshed water at the RV park, which was not appealing to stay at, and headed up 15k’s along the original strike headwaters of the Klondike River/Stream. Looked at one of the original Gold Dredges that is kept in great state as a tourist attraction, however it was, as so many other tourist attraction, closed for the season. Then looked over the site of the first claim, the first ‘serious’ gold find here that started the stampede and the result of 10,000 people living in this area, GR N 63 55.656 W 139 19.520 . Proceeded along to a Claim that has been staked for visitors. This is not a place to start looking for Gold on someone else’s claim, I only had the BB Gun and justice seems to be dealt swiftly around here.
We panned for gold in very tropical waters, it took what, about 10 secs for frostbite to start on the fingers. Tried gloves and then bugger it, we needed to pay off the holiday, so forgot about the pain and got to work.
As they say up here, it’s not about skill or luck, it’s about volume, hence they invented the Dredge. An hours work by the Dredge was equal to 156 men panning with sluice boxes. One day of sluice box, was equal to a week or more worth of panning. So, we didn’t put the volume through our pans in our hour before dark, so, hence, no payment gained toward the holiday.
Decided we should protect our little digging spots in our ‘visitors claim’ and camped there for the night, armed with our BB Gun.
Weather: Wonderfully blue clear sky.
Low: Minus 6C High 5C
Wildlife: At Twin Lakes, a lovely long tailed colourful bird, yet to be ID.
O/N N63 55.231 W 135 18.975
Some of the better establishments
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