The last of the Liard Highway wasn't too bad, about 25 or 30 miles after leaving Ft. Liard I came to the border with British Columbia and a nicely paved road the next 110 miles to the Alaskan Highway. I turned east for several miles to get to Ft. Nelson which of course I'll have to retrace when I head out in a few days. Having seen the town on google maps with Jacques in Ft. Simpson a few days ago I felt almost like I knew this town. I pulled into the visitor center to check it out and ask where a tire place was. The two gals were very friendly and we ended get chatting a little. The tire store is about a half mile further, down a side road (this isn't the biggest town you'll ever see, lol). Kal's Tires is doing a booming business with RV'ers and several trucking firms. The good news is they have some pretty good tires in stock. The bad news is I can't just leave the RV and it will be about two hours before they have a bay open for me to get into. No problem, with the RV trailing behind me I drove to the airport to return the tire Jacques had lent me. The hanger he directed me to was down a narrow dirt road that I wasn't sure had a way back out. No problem again, I drove to where he asked me to leave the tire and backed all the way back down the road. I can't believe how easy the 5th wheel has gotten to handle. I took a different road back to the tire store, checking out the town. Upon arriving I settled in to read a book while I waited. Lucky me, they already had an open bay and they took me almost immediately. I had thought to stay two nights at the Triple G cg, get some wash done and chill out a bit. The gal checking me in told me there were 49 rigs in three caravans scheduled to leave the same day I was thinking. She suggested maybe I wanted to leave a day before them to get ahead. It took me only a moment to ask for three nights and let the road jam get ahead of me.
After setting up and starting a wash load I went back to the visitor center to use their WiFi. While chatting with the gals at the desk, two couples asked the staff about the Liard Highway. The staff didn't know much about it so I chimed in. Next thing I knew I was sharing my experience with the Mackenzie and Liard highways with a small group of fellow RV'ers. When they finally left the staff jokingly asked if I wanted a job at the center, lol. The next morning I walked over to the Historic Society Museum which is just down the road from the campground. I didn't know what time they opened but saw lots of "stuff" outdoors so I got there about 8am. Turns out they don't open until 10am but I decided to wander around the grounds to see what there was to see. Lots of very cool old cars and trucks plus two interesting monuments; one noting the 300 mile marker of the AlCan and a second simply says "Least We Forget". As I was taking some pictures and admiring the exhibits I suddenly noticed a strange old guy coming up behind me. He's about 5"10', wearing coveralls and baseball cap from the museum, and he has a very long scraggly beard. With a smile he says "hi" and we introduce ourselves. Marl Brown is the owner of the museum and he came in early driving his 1961 Morris Minor. I share my amazement at his outdoor collection and that seemed to get him going. It's still almost two hours before the museum opens but he gives me a private, very detailed tour. We enter his auto barn and the sight almost literally blows my mind. There are about 20 antique vehicles, all in running condition. Plus, everywhere you look, even the ceiling of the barn, has tons of other interesting stuff. Marl took the full two hours to show me every vehicle and tell me lots of fantastic stories. When his staff finally arrived about 1 minute before 10am, he and I joked about today's generation, heaven forbid they would arrive to early but leaving before quitting time is okay, lol. He said he's be back in a bit but had to run an errand. I thanked him and said good by but he joked that I'd probably still be there when he got back. I went into the main building of the museum thinking it was just the office where I'd pay the admission now that his staff had arrived. Wow, was I wrong!! The building is packed with tons more antique artifacts. One of the kids set me up with my now third video of the AlCan construction. Marl has the video set up in a make shift airplane hanger. This was the best video by far. It had the oldest, most original film footage plus it also added the story of the civilian widening and straightening of the highway after the original military construction. The video lasted for a good 40 minutes but never got boring. Marl showed up a few minutes after the video ended. He and I went through his main museum which I found fascinating. He told me very few of the RV'ers staying in the cg visit his museum. Of those that do stroll over, most never see the video or rarely stay for the entire length. Most glance around the room, look at their watch and run back to their RV. As we're talking, the people who went into the next video showing after mine leave after only about 15 minutes. Marl says "hi" to another museum visitor who, as if choreographed, looks at his watch and says he has to leave to catch his caravan. Marl and I laugh at the foolishness of most people looking at a destination rather than the journey. I ended up at the museum and out buildings for about 4 hours. If you ever get to Ft. Nelson, you gotta stop in and see Marl Brown. If you do, be sure to ask him about the time he auctioned off his beard to raise money for the town Historical Society and his beard sold for over $10,000!! He is a certified character!
The Alaskan Highway heading west into the Yukon Territory has some pretty views, lots of black bear, bison, and some mountain sheep by the side of the road, and several steep grades! I took a break at Muncho Lake. While there I looked for either a lake cruise or a float plane sightseeing. Neither was available. I got lucky at the Liard Hot Springs and snagged the last site. There was nothing to do to set up, I didn't even unhook the rig, simply backed in and set the brake. About a 10 minute stroll through the woods over a boardwalk brought me to the hot springs and hanging gardens. The gardens consist of some wild flowers growing around a lovely little waterfall which flows to the hot springs. I've been to about a half dozen different hot springs but all the others flowed into a constructed pool or large hot tub. The Liard Hot Springs have been kept as natural as possible. The park constructed steps to help you walk in and a few benches under the clear hot pool. There is barely any order, just a mild sulfur smell. If you prefer to soak in water a bit hotter simple stroll closer to where the water enter the pool. If you prefer your soak a bit cooler simply stroll in the other direction. I thoroughly enjoyed about an hour in the pool, then a walk up the hill to see the hanging gardens, and then back for yet another hour in the spring. What a great place.
Archie, at the Downtown RV Park in Watson Lake seemed to enjoy that I immediately recognized his Scottish accent and have even traveled and knew something of Scotland. The RV park is across the street from the Northern Lights Center and one block away from the Signpost Forest. After setting up, I walked to the forest and hung the sign I had made back in Great Falls, MT. The approximately 18 by 12, white metal sign simply says "Our dad drove all the way to Alaska and all we got was our name on this sign"! At the bottom it has the names of my sons. My challenge to them is to someday find "their" sign!! The Northern Lights Center is actually a planetarium. They show a double feature; Black Holes, and Aurora. Both are very interesting films, the first obviously about the black holes of outer space, the second about the Aurora Borealis. I know the aurora is mostly seen in the winter months but I sure hope to at least get a glimpse. The visitor center was again very helpful. They were really interested in my route plans and provided lots of info on things to do and see along the way. Anyone heading this way should definitely stop in and collect booklets with discount coupons on fuel offering .03 to .05 cents off per liter (that's about .15 per gallon!!). The campground is across the street from a little lake that has a walk going all the, the approximate 1 1/2 miles around. Along the walk it has several interpretative signs and view areas. The lake and marsh area are home to lots of birds, butterflys, and colorful dragonflies. It was a pretty walk. I also drove about 12 miles up the Campbell Highway. This was the route I had intended to take when leaving here. The folks in two visitor centers, plus some other RV'ers have all advised not to. The road is apparently not only very rough gravel, but also very narrow with lots of logging trucks. In addition, the forest is said to come almost to the edge of the road and so there aren't any pretty views. The short stretch I drove with just the truck was paved but did have several logging trucks barreling toward me. Okay, I've been talked out of heading up the Campbell. Also, the visitor center showed me a way I can go on my return so as not to retrace the path all the way from Whitehorse to Watson Lake. While checking out the Campbell I stopped at the Watson Lake airfield. It's right by the lake and it's a big, beautiful lake at that.
It was only a couple of hours drive to Teslin. This is a nice stop. The campground is right on the lake, has great fuel prices, a nice restaurant, and even a little museum. A short walk across the Alaskan Highway is the George Johnston Museum. Laura gave me a private tour as I enjoyed listening to her lilting voice, an enjoyable mix of Canadian and Scottish. I learned of this little known man, a native Tlingit Indian who took he liked the name George Johnston and also liked taking pictures. He developed his own photos, not much choice back in the 1920's. One day he was visiting Whitehorse and decided he liked and wanted a brand new model T. His friends, and apparently even the car dealership, thought it a bit strange since there weren't any roads even near his village in Teslin. George bought the car anyway. He and some friends then cleared a few miles of forest so he could drive his car. He then charged folks $2 for a ride. He used the money he collected to pay the same folks to help clear more forest to lengthen his ever growing road. The road build by George is now the stretch of Alaskan Highway that runs through this area of the Yukon. The photos he took over a 20 year period document and really give one a feel for what life was like before there were roads. It's a great little museum. A couple of miles down the road is a Tlingit Heritage Center. They had just made a fresh batch of bannock and a pot of coffee. I'd been wanting to try this northern Canada dish for several weeks now since I first heard of it. It was very tasty, warm and golden brown. It looks like a puffed up muffin. It's basically fried dough, lol. The Tlingit Indians trace their heritage back about 3,500 years. It is believed when the first people migrated across the Bearing Sea from what is now Russia they split into two groups. One headed inland across the Yukon, Northwest Territory, and eventually further south into the Americas. The other group, the Tlingit, followed the shoreline of the Pacific Ocean and settled along what is today the Alaskan Panhandle. Sometime in only the last couple of hundred years they began expanding their traditional hunting grounds, exploring rivers further inland, and trading with the first "white" trappers and eventually the Hudson Bay Company. I find it fascinating to learn about human migration, other cultures, and changing patterns of society. I watched a movie in the heritage center about the season of "two winters". The Tlingit oral history tells of a year that had two winters and no spring. Geologists and archeologists have now shown that this corresponded to the volcanic eruption in the Philippines in 1816. The ash cloud was so huge it apparently blanketed the sky as far east and north as Alaska and the Yukon.
Since leaving Dawson Creek almost a month ago and the RV'ers I started with, I've not only been on my own but have not been making any reservations at any campgrounds. Upon getting into Whitehorse, the first campground I stopped at was full. Not a single open site. However, the second campground I tried did have a site and discount fuel for campers. Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon and a huge city of about 25,000. They even have traffic lights, lol. I happened to arrive on Aboriginal Day with the Heritage Center having lots of events and free food. The elk stew was delicious! As the capital, there is lots to do here. Several museums, an original paddlewheeler, the SS Klondike. a wildlife preserve, and the nearby Takhini Hot Springs. While in Whitehorse you must see the Frantic Follies. This show is an absolute hoot. They mimic an old vaudeville show from the 1890's; girls in fishnet stockings prancing around and high kicking their long legs, another gal in a beautiful 1890's gown singing some old songs, plus the gals and guys doing really corny skits. They picked a few people from the audience, dragged them on stage and embarrassed the heck out of them. Thank you, thank you for not picking me!! While in Whitehorse I also explored the SS Klondike, a paddlewheel of the type that used to carry passengers and freight up and down the Yukon River. The copper mine museum was also interesting, it played an oral history of the Yukon mining operations as I rode on a train going past various restorations. Do you know the word "Beringia"? I didn't until I went to the Beringia Museum. That is the name for the subcontinent that existed during the last ice age. The huge glaciers that covered much of North America caused the waters to recede. This is what created the land bridge between Siberia and Alaska, called Beringia. The museum was quite interesting, documenting the various mammals, fauna, and geography that existed both during the ice age and since. It was interesting to discover the relationship between miners and archaeologists. Lots of fossils were discovered during the mining operations. There is also a great transportation museum next door to the Beringia Museum. They have lots of neat planes, cars, and trucks from the early days of Yukon exploration. Many of the cars and trucks were found wrecked and abandoned and have now been restored. While in the area I "had" to go soak in the Takhini Hot Springs and tour the nearby Yukon Wildlife Preserve. The wildlife preserve is on 750 acres and includes most of the animals found in the Yukon (no bears). This was my first sight of a muskox herd and artic fox. The preserve takes in injured animals and try's to restore them to the wild. Many of the animals become so dependent on humans due to their injuries that they remain in the preserve.
The drive to Dawson City began on a great road, one of the best of far. That quickly changed into one with lots of "whoop dee doo's". I wanted to stay overnight in Pelly Crossing but the campground appeared deserted, run down and no one around. I toured the First Nation Heritage Center, filled the fuel, and kept heading toward Dawson City. The Gold Rush cg is right in town and did have a site. Wow, are these sites tight. As I pulled in my new neighbor gave me a compliment in that they usually enjoy laughing as they watch 5th wheels pull in these narrow sites. I didn't even give them a chuckle when I pulled right in first shot :=)! I guess three years on the road helped with something. The roads must have been even worse than I thought! The sliding draw under my sofa had broken the tracks. No way to fix it! Oh well, the draw still fits under the sofa but will no longer slide in and out, such is life. Dawson City has lots to do and see. More museums than can be toured in the few days I'm here. The showing of "A Klondike Home Companion" was nice. It had three different musical acts, intermixed with lots of funny skits preformed my two local radio DJ's that many in the audience knew. The playhouse was the Palace Grand Theater which is a fully restored historic building from the late 1890's. The Midnight Dome is actually a long, winding road that leads to the top of a hill overlooking the city. It is said that the sun doesn't set from this vantage at this time of year. I didn't stay all night to find out but enjoyed the vistas. Dredge #4 was about 12 miles down Bonanza Creek Road. This is where all the gold fever started in 1896. The dredge is the largest in the world and the tour is well worth the drive. The town has lots of interesting shops and is fun to just stroll around. Other than the one main street, none of the other streets have been paved. You walk on sidewalk board walks and cross the muddy corners carefully just as was done in the 1890's. There are still about 40 active gold mines in the area. One of the miners periodically donates a bucket of his "pay dirt" to the city museum for their mining demonstrations. At the one I went to they mined, melted and showed us nearly two ounces of gold!! At today's prices the museum got about $2,700 from just this one demonstration. That's a generous miner! Anyone coming up this way has got to stop in at Diamond Tooth Gerties for a show and a drink or two. The shows consist of a really great singer alternating between four can-can dancers. The singer and dancers come into the audience and interact. If you embarrass easy, better not sit up front, lol. I went to two of the three different shows they had and found my head inside one of the can-can dancers dresses at both shows (;=} Two guys found themselves on stages wearing dresses and dancing with the girls. You'll get exhausted just watching these very energetic girls dance. At one of the shows I sat with a couple, Jocelyn and Al, who just completed the Yukon Canoe Challenge. They paddled from Whitehorse to Dawson City in a mere 57 hours. Now that's incredible! Years ago I did the "General Clinton Canoe Race", 70 miles on the Susquehanna River from Otsego to Bainbridge, New York. I could barely stand after only a few hours of paddling. I can't imagine what these guys must be feeling after 57 hours, really remarkable! I spent a few hours with a local First Nation Indian, touring the Yukon and Klondike Rivers in his skiff. We went to the local village of Mooseslide, we toured his winter camp a few miles down river, and we toured his cabin on an Dog Island in the middle of the Yukon River. He showed me his "fishwheel" from which he can catch over 1,000 salmon in a season. He needs so much fish just to feed his sled dogs! My guide began pointed out a series of caves across the river from Dawson City when a guy emerged from one of the caves and waved to us. It was "Dawson Bill"! He's been living in the caves for about 18 years. He fishes, hunts, or grows almost 100% of his own food, trading the excess of what he gets for other things he may need. Now that's a simple life, strange, but simple! The day before I was heading out I walked over to check out the ferry crossing the Yukon to get to the "Top of the World Highway". The RV line up was over four hours long. The day I left I packed up and got to the line at 6am! There were a couple of cars there but I was the only RV and got right on. The drive to the Canada/US border crossing was 3 hours and I got there just as they opened the border. Still, I had almost and hour's wait with the vehicles already there. Once across, it was another two hours to get to Chicken, Alaska. It took about 5 hours of total drive time to go the 110 miles. I've heard almost every RV'er who has been brave enough to drive this road talk of busted windshield and blown tires. It was pouring rain for the last part of my drive on the winding, narrow, steep, dirt, and gravel road. I stopped several times to take pictures and marvel at the incredible views. Going slow and easy and didn't have any problems as I left the Yukon Territory.
