After a sad goodbye to our hosts at Frances Lake we headed for Carmacks. Along the way we saw even more mountains, rivers & lakes - they sure know how to do 'em up here - but this time they added a gorge at Lapie River.
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| Lapie Gorge |
The mighty Yukon River runs through Carmacks & is truly impressive.
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| Yukon River |
After a brief walk around Carmacks the next morning we headed for Dawson City. With short stops at Five Finger Rapids on the Yukon (a mass of swirling water around rock pillars), Moose Creek (a quaint little lodge & cafe) & Gravel Lake where we saw tundra swans & their young.
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| Tundra Swans on Gravel Lake |
Dawson City itself is something else, on the way in the obvious signs of mining remind me a little of Coober Pedy but the town is full of buildings designed in the style of the late 1890's (some in excellent condition & some sinking into the ground - they experience temperatures consistently below -30 in winter so the ground freezes then thaws in summer so house foundations tend to move about, rise & sink - bizarre - when the temp is -60 cars struggle to start, your breath freezes & your eye lids freeze shut - & some say they love it here?).
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| Our hotel in Dawson City |
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| Dawson City |
It was great to just wander about & look at the buildings & the mighty Yukon River running right beside the town. Most streets are just dirt or mud with board walks for pedestrians.
In the evening we went on a guided tour of the town - the Aussie gold rushes were in hot & inhospitable places - here they froze to death trying to cross high passes or frozen rivers in freezing weather &, like Aussie prospectors, most made no money. Our guide also told us some amazing stories about some of the characters up here (eg the guy who built a raft from scraps, including an old couch on top & used a tarp for a sail to get to Dawson City. He arrived sitting on the couch & fishing for his dinner. Then pitched a tent on board & lived on the raft.). After the guided tour we enjoyed a night at "Diamond Tooth Gerties" gambling hall & music hall/cabaret - lots of fun.
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| Diamond Tooth Gerties |
A little tired the next morning but headed to the amazing Tombstone Territorial Park for a few walks in this stunning park. They had received their first snow for the season the previous night so all looked great (albeit a little cool at 6 degrees).
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| Tombstone Territorial Park |
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| Tombstone Territorial Park |
Back to town for ribs at the Downtown hotel accompanied by an incredibly talented & entertaining pianist - he plays for a few hours every night for drinks & tips - he was necking a long neck beer bottle between songs - quite a character.
Next morning we boarded the car ferry across the Yukon & headed off along the "Top of the World Highway" - not sure of the derivation of the name but we certainly felt on top of the world as the road tracked along the top of a ridge with views for miles on both sides of endless mountain ranges.
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| Top of the World Highway |
After crossing the border back into Alaska in rain & thick fog & 6 degree temperatures, we reached the town of Chicken (supposedly named after the Ptarmigan which is common in the area but locals couldn't say or spell Ptarmigan??).
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| Chicken |
The road was a mixture of smooth gravel, pot holed gravel & bitumen in varied condition but the great views remained when the fog cleared. We ended up in Tok, Alaska for the night with Mexican for dinner.
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| Tok to Haines Junction |
The weather warmed up to 22 degrees for the following day's drive to Haines Junction which was again spectacular though the road was a bit ordinary with lots of roadworks where we needed to follow the pilot car through the works at 20kmh. Most of the day we travelled along river flats (Tanana, White, Donjek Rivers) with mountain ranges on either side & Kluane National Park on our left nearly all the way. Snow capped peaks appeared around every corner & we followed the banks of Kluane Lake for around 70kms.
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| Kluane Lake |
Haines Junction is an unusual little town with a statue of a mountain with local animals on it - knicknamed The Muffin (cos that's what it looks like). After-dinner drinks at the local bakery with a live bluegrass band - great.
The journey from Haines Junction to Haines was another spectacular drive with much of the scenery too close & large to fit the camera - again following river valleys with high mountains (many snow capped with glaciers) &/or lakes on either side & the very wide braided Chilkat River valley over the last few klms.
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| Haines Junction to Haines Highway |
Travelled out to Chilkoot Lake & watched a mother bear & two cubs feeding on salmon. Halibut & chips overlooking Portage Cove rounded off a great day.
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