June 15, Dawson City to Tok---180 miles

Had breakfast at Klondike Kate’s and headed out to find GOLD! We went up Bonanza Creek to the site where gold was first discovered that started the Alaskan gold rush. No gold. Spent some time at Dredge No. 4 that was built just below the first strike. There were piles of rocks everywhere! It didn’t look to us like they had left one stone unturned on the whole creek in their search. So, is gold a mineral that has to be extracted from other matter or is it just found all by itself? Or, sometimes both? Who’s the smarty-pants that can answer that? The miners were an extremely hardy bunch. The hardships that had to endure were phenomenal. Headed back over the road from Hell. Part of this road is called the Top of the World Highway and we understand why. The views are outstanding. We came back today instead of spending another day in Dawson City as I had a really exciting day planned for Saturday. I was going to get to hitch a ride with a bush pilot to deliver mail to a small village about an hour’s flight away. He makes 2 runs a week and takes up to 4 passengers with him. But, after we got back to camp, the opportunity didn’t materialize so I’m feeling sorry for myself. Maybe next time.

June 14, Tok to Dawson City---180 miles

We left the Happy Bus at the Sourdough RV Park and drove the Jeep over the Taylor Highway (all roads here are named) to Dawson City today with a stop in Chicken. The road had stretches of pavement but was mostly gravel washboards laced together with potholes and frost boils. We stopped in Chicken on the way and had a great home-cooked gourmet lunch (no, it wasn’t chicken). One story explaining the community’s name says it was coined at a town meeting in the late 1800’s. Ptarmigan was suggested for the town because there were many of these chicken-like birds in the vicinity. Since no one could spell ptarmigan, someone suggested calling the town Chicken. We had to take a ferry across the Yukon River to get into Dawson City and it was like the Twilight Zone and we went back 100 years when we got into town. The buildings are all old, but neat, the streets are dirt and the sidewalks are all boardwalks. It reminded me of Saratoga, Wyoming when I was a kid. We stayed at the Downtown Hotel, stopped at a couple of pubs and went to Diamond Tooth Gerties for the floor show. We really had a great time and enjoyed the town a lot. I could live there……in the summer, and get along just fine.

June 13, Cottonwood Park to Tok, Alaska -- 242 miles

242 very rough miles today. They haven't mastered frost boils yet so both sides of the border are always repairing the roads. Quite a bit of reconstruction and rough gravel road. We covered the grill and windshield of the Jeep and it's a good thing we did. The hood was covered with little rocks that the RV kicked up. Crossed into Alaska about noon and gained an hour as Alaska is 1 hour ahead of Pacific time. Parked at the Sourdough RV Park and washed the RV. Boy was it dirty! Two weeks on the road today and it seems much longer than that. We have covered a lot of territory and seen some wonderful sights. The park serves an evening meal with entertainment and also an all you can eat breakfast of sourdough pancakes. Will check it out and report back to you.

June 12, Whitehorse to Lake Kluane -- 147 miles

Pretty uneventful day. Left Whitehorse about 8:30 and drove to Haines Junction and on to Lake Kluane. Pulled into Cottonwood RV Park on the lake about noon. Our parking spot was right by the water (we seem to be attracted to water) but the view was blocked by the mountains. ;-). The road on to Tok is very rough and slow going so we decided to make a 2 day trip out of it. We drove through some road construction today that was the pitts so the RV and Jeep are filthy. Will have to wash when we get to Tok. Sandi took a nap in the afternoon while Frank carved. No wildlife today. Thinking about trying to catch the Ferry back down the inside passage to Prince Rupert but will have to see if we can get reservations when we make it to Tok. We might be too late.

June 11, Watson Lake to Whitehorse, Yukon, 277 miles

Well here we are 3,248 miles from Panora and still not to Alaska. Actually we are only about 600 miles away but are going to take a couple of days to get there. Drove by spectacular Teslin Lake today for several miles and stopped by a waterfall. Still overcast and rainy but the scenery is wonderful.. We spent an hour or so at the Tlinglet (pronounced Klink-it)Indian (now called First Nation) Heritage Center by Telsin Lake. Very interesting and fascinating artwork. Spending the night at Whitehorse in an RV Park overflow lot. No services but still had to pay $16.00. Over 14o spots and they are full and have turned away at least 2 dozen campers after us. There is a Wal Mart here in town but we couldn't find it so staying here. I'll bet Wally World is full too. My unscientific survey says that 70% of the vehicles on the road are campers of one kind or another. The other 30% are regular cars/trucks or semi's and a few bicycles. Not too many bikes but enough to make you wonder what the hell they were thinking. Traffic is not heavy however. Went to the Frantic Follies tonight, which was a very good performance about the history of the area.

June 10, MM329 to Watson Lake, 274 miles

Woke up early so got on the road at 7:45. Stopped at Tetsin Services & Campground for famous homemade cinnamon rolls. Owner said "I was lazy so they are still in the kitchen rising". We had another kind of roll and they were not very good. Maybe that's what they are famous for??? It was a neat stop though and the cabin looked like pioneers built it, just what you picture Alaska to be. Met a young couple there that has a commercial fishing operation in Kenai. He's 3rd generation to run the business. Drove through more beautiful mountains and pine forests all day. A lot of 6 to 10% grade. So what's is a 100% grade? Straight up or straight down? We saw lots of wildlife this morning; 2 bear, 3 elk, some caribou, 3 stone sheep and a couple of bison. Saw 2 more moose in the afternoon (or is it meese?) We stopped at the Laird Hot Springs -- the soak felt great! Spent the night in the parking lot behind the Signpost Forest at Watson Lake. There are over 60,000 signs in the "forest". Found several from Iowa but none from Panora but didn't look at them all ;-). After supper we went across the street and watched a neat show about the Northern Lights. A few miles west of Watson Lake there are messages spelled out with rocks on the bank by the road. The Fort Nelson swim team left the first message a few years ago. That message was "P-Break" now there are hundreds more.