Dawson City Yukon

Our side trip up to Dawson City, Yukon was great!! Definitely on the must-see list and the do-it-again lists.

 

Even the signs are unique…

 

The streets of Dawson are all dirt and gravel, no pavement. Makes it easier to maintain them after the frequent rain.

One of the famous riverboats that carried miners and supplies during the Klondike gold rush.

A side-wheeler that gives tours.

More views of the Keno, the riverboat.

A very modern looking hospital. Kinda makes sense when you think about what people did here for a living.

Robert Service was a poet whose work was greatly influenced by his time in Dawson City. One of his unique offerings: “There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The arctic tales have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The northern lights have seen queer sights. But the queerest they ever did see was the night on the marge of Lake Labarge I cremated Sam McGee.”  Yes – we visited Services old home and, yes, we camped at Lake Labarge.

Not all the buildings in Dawson were run down and old…

Another author with Dawson City roots was Jack London. He was part of the gold rush in 1898. Never found gold. Left sick and penniless. But turned to writing and got rich before he died in San Francisco at the age of 41.

Living in a cabin like this in the wilderness would be a trial. Not sure the inspiration is worth the price.

 

A warning. If the cold in winter doesn’t get you, the bugs in summer will.

Snowshoes are understandably a big item. Lots of types, styles and sizes to choose from.

Get your gold pans!

Reading libraries are everywhere. And we can’t pass one without looking through the books.

Yes – it was mid August when we were in Dawson!

Another view of our campground.

Dawson was the most genuine town we visited. The whole place had an authentic feel to it. It was fun walking around and looking at the various old buildings.

The roads take a toll on the cars. The rains don’t really wash the mud off. And it doesn’t do much good to wash it off – it just comes back in a couple days.

So many messages in just one small sign.

Most of the names of businesses are related to the gold rush days.

These buildings were left without restoration as an example of the challenges of building in Dawson. The smaller building on the right had a wood stove on the left side, near the taller building. The heat from the wood stove melted the permafrost and caused the building to settle. Since all the buildings are on either marsh or permafrost, there were some very unique challenges in building.

Another view of the settling caused by melting permafrost.

One of the interesting stories we learned from Pierre Burtons book was about a guy who went with the gold rushers, but didn’t actually search for gold. Instead he surveyed the ground at the steamboat landing and sold off lots to people who wanted to build either cabins or businesses. He made out much better than most of the miners!

Sod roofs provided insulation against the long, cold, bitter winters.

Fire was a serious danger to the town. Given that many of the buildings were saloons, made of wood and filled with people drinking, fire was an all too common occurrence.

This was our campsite for our visit to Dawson. Right in the middle of town within easy walking distance of everywhere.

After all the easy gold was mined, someone realized that the creek beds must still be loaded with gold dust and nuggets. The easiest way to get the gold from deep in the creek beds was to turn the creeks upside down. So huge dredges were built to do exactly that. The bottoms of the creeks were gradually dug up, the gold sifted out and the rubble piled up next to the dredge. So the area around Dawson City is a vast expanse of those rubble piles, called tailings. A very effective way to get the gold. Not very effective for maintaining the beauty of the area.

 

But if not…