Top of the World Highway and Farewell to the Territories

If you ever get the opportunity to drive the Top of the World Highway I would highly recommend it!!

The Top of the World Highway is a 'highway' that runs between Dawson City and Jack Wade, Alaska.  It's 127 kilometres in total, with 104 kilometres of that distance in Canada.  The highway has been in existence since 1955 and is only open during the summer months.  Except for small sections the majority of the highway is unpaved.
The highway is so named because, along much of its length, it skirts the crest of the hills, giving views down on the valleys.  It is also one of the most northerly highways in the world at these latitudes.  While most roads travelling through mountains wander through lower elevations, this highway winds along the top of the mountain range for a truly breathtaking drive. 
The border is the highest Canada/U.S. road border, known as Little Gold Creek in Canada and Boundary (or Poker Creek) in the U.S., features one of the few jointly-built single building customs ports of entry along the Canada/U.S. border, with the border is only open in the summer from 9:00am to 9:00pm.  I didn't cross the border as this trip was about our Territories, but the 104 kms that I did drive were spectacular!  Absolute amazing views!!!

This is the border crossing building

Coming back into Dawson City again - this is a great view of where the Klondike River (the smaller one at the top) and the Yukon River (coming in from the right) meet and the different water colours

Back to Dawson City again

Unfortunately though, it is time for this wonderful adventure to end.  On my last day I woke up to some wonderful low lying clouds 

and then it was a straight-through drive back to Whitehorse for a flight home to Toronto.  Something interesting at the Whitehorse airport is what is possibly the world's largest weather vane - a retired Douglas DC-3 atop a swivelling support which is used by pilots to determine wind direction.

I hope you've enjoyed this trip with me - I know that I've had a fabulous time in an amazing part of our wonderful country.

Around Dawson City and on the Yukon River

I'm not sure if I mentioned it or not, but Dawson City is built at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon Rivers.

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America.  The source of the river is located in British Columbia and the next portion lies in, and gives its name to, Yukon.  The lower half of the river lies in Alaska.  The river is 3,190 kilometres long and empties into the Bering Sea.  The longest river in Alaska and Yukon, it was one of the principal means of transportation during the 1896–1903 Klondike Goldrush.
The Klondike River, is 160 kilometres and is a tributary of the Yukon River.  The Klondike River has its source in the Ogilvie Mountains and flows into the Yukon River at Dawson City.

Both are beautiful rivers, and it is really interesting here in Dawson City to clearly see where the water of the two rivers join.

You can see here where the two river waters are flowing together.  The clearer water in the foreground is from where the Klondike River is flowing into the Yukon River.  The Yukon River is glacial fed and this far down river there is still lots of silt from the glaciers, whereas the river is much clearer looking down in Whitehorse.

This is the ferry that runs 24/7 during the summer between west and east Dawson City.  People live on both sides of the river - during the summer they can take the ferry across, during the winter they just walk, or drive, or snowmobile, or dogsled across.  And for about a month both when the river is freezing and again when it's thawing there is no transportation across at all - so everyone has to stay on their respective side of the river.  Seeing as how 'downtown' Dawson City is on the east side, people who live on the west side really have to be prepared for these times.

This is a recreation of a paddlewheel that now does dinner and short river cruises

Apparently it is not uncommon for Dawson City to find itself the 'home' of a raft or two that is travelling the Yukon River during the summer time and anchors in Dawson City for a period of time.  This year was no exception, and tonight two or three of these rafts banded together to put on a concert to which several boaters, as well as swimmers, attended...while many others (me included) took in the concert from the shore.

No trip to Dawson City would be complete without going to the top of the Midnight Dome; a wonderful vantage point to take in a panoramic view of the region.

 This is one of the local mine sites, south of Dawson City, still operating today

Looking north along the Yukon River

Although I drove to the top you can also hike up, or instead of going all the way to the top you can also hike along the side of the mountain which takes you over to the area known as Moosehide Slide. One story of Moosehide slide is:
"Many years ago, before the white man came into this country, people of the Han tribe lived at the mouth of the Klondike, where Dawson City is currently situated.  Sometimes a member of the tribe would go missing, and it was said another tribe, from the south, was stealing them.  One day, members of the Han tribe were at the very top of the hillside at the north end of Dawson City and the other tribe was at the foot of the hill.  They were fighting and someone at the top cut down a tree and this started a slide.  The rock slide buried and killed all the members of the tribe from the south."
The land slide site is now called the Moosehide Slide in English and Edda dadhecha, literally “weathered Moosehide hanging”, in the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in traditional language.

The beginning of this trail passes by the Yukon Order of Pioneers cemetery.  This memorial site pays tribute to members of this fraternal organization, which dates back to 1894 and is still running today.  Lodge # 1 - in Dawson City - still meets monthly.  For many years the focus of the organization was to look after the welfare of the 'old timers', but with the 'old timers' gone the focus of the Lodge today is to help those in need within the community.   

Another experience I had here in Dawson City was to take a tour with a local First Nations gentleman, Tommy.  I went out in his boat which was definitely a shade smaller than the sternwheelers that would have been operating during the heyday (or the recreation paddlewheel that also does river tours).

Tommy was born and grew up on the Yukon River.  He is one of 16 siblings and his parents both lived until they were over 100 years old.  Tommy's father was a fisherman, and it's from his father that Tommy learned how to make his fish wheels.

Once the fish are caught Tommy takes them to dry.

There aren't any fish drying right now, but this is the spot Tommy uses

Nowadays Tommy lives in Dawson City during the summer and in his house about 10 kms upriver during the winter.  There is also a guest cabin on this property, complete with outhouse, cache and fish wheel.  Tommy, as well as any guests, live completely off the grid on this property.

We were in and out of rain during the time I was with Tommy, but regardless it was still wonderful cruising along the river.

This is the wreck of an old sternwheel

Dawson City - History and Buildings

I LOVE DAWSON CITY!!!

There is absolutely so much to say about Dawson City I'm not exactly sure how to organize it all.  For those of you who are checking into my blog more frequently I think I'll do this post (or two) which will have more to do with the town itself and some of the buildings - and then a second post (or two) that has more to do with "around" Dawson City.

Dawson City lives and breathes the rich history of its past.  When gold was discovered in Rabbit Creek (later renamed Bonanza Creek) in 1896, a townsite was staked at the mouth of the Klondike River and Dawson City was born.  Dawson City boomed almost overnight, with 6 000 people arriving before winter that first year and thousands more following after the first ships with Klondike gold arrived in American ports.  Thousands of recession stricken adventurers were lured north, starting the gold rush of 1898.

Not surprisingly, most who set out for the Klondike did not complete their journey.  Many perished along the way or turned back mid-journey, defeated by the elements and wild landscape.  Still, for a brief, romantic, and notoriously wild period at the end of the nineteenth century, Dawson City had a population of over 30, 000 and was the largest Canadian settlement west of Winnipeg.  Compare that to Dawson City's current population of approximately 1800 people.  Dawson City was incorporated in 1902 and was the territorial capitol from 1898 to 1953 when the administration moved to Whitehorse.

The earliest Klondike stampeders built log cabins and set up canvas tents over wooden frames.  The log buildings were simple in design, economical to construct and could be quickly built to provide ample protection from the sub-arctic temperatures.  Efficient and attractive, they retained their appeal and many historic and contemporary log buildings can be found in Dawson City today.

Disastrous fires in the winter of 1898-99 burned many of the original downtown commercial buildings.  Many of these structures were re-built as frame buildings with locally milled siding.  False fronts gave simple wooden buildings the illusion of affluence and importance.

From 1901 through 1902 Canadian sovereignty was represented by the construction of a number of impressive public buildings.

Although many modern buildings have been added and some buildings have been lost to fire and flood or time and neglect, Dawson City continues to have a handsome collection of history built from the turn of the 20th century.

The Territorial Administration Building, built in 1901, has always been important to the community of Dawson City.  The building originally housed government offices as well as the territorial legislative assembly.  At various times it has also been home to the local post office, a radio station, and the public school.  The Dawson City Museum has used the building since 1962 and still does currently.

The Court House was designed by the same architect (Thomas W. Fuller) as the Territorial Administration Building and was constructed in 1901.  In 1914 the NWMP headquarters burned and the "Mounties" took over the Court House until the hospital in Dawson City burned in 1954 and it was then transformed into a 35 bed hospital.

The Commissioner's Residence was also designed by Thomas W Fuller.  It was also built in 1901, to present an image of elegance and confidence in order to attract potential investors to the Yukon.

Thomas W. Fuller was also the architect for this building, the Dawson City Telegraph Office built in 1899.

In 1897 Rev. R.J. Bowen arrived in Dawson City to hold services for the gold miners.  He held his first services in a log cabin ... and eventually St. Paul's Anglican Church was built in 1902.  Services continue to be held here nowadays.

The first Presbyterian missionary to reach Dawson City arrived in 1897 and this substantial church was a reflection of the prosperity and commitment of the congregation it served.  Built in 1901 it boasted a pipe organ and carved oak pews that could accommodate up to 600.

The Yukon Hotel is one of the oldest building in Dawson City.  The two storey log building was constructed in 1898 and operated as a hotel until 1957.

Not only is Dawson City notable for it's role in the Goldrush but it is also well known because of the many well known authors that have lived here.

Jack London was born in California and climbed over the Chilkoot Pass into the Yukon River drainage in 1897.  He stopped to guide other stampeders' boats through the treacherous Miles Canyon and White Horse Rapids and then set out for the Klondike to prospect for gold.  Disillusioned with gold mining and afflicted with scurvy, he returned to California in 1898.  London wrote two very successful novels about the north, White Fang and Call of the Wild.  This is the little cabin that Jack London lived in during his time in Dawson City.

The Berton House is named for Pierre Berton.  The house was built in 1901 and became home to the Berton family in 1920, the same year Pierre Berton was born.  The family lived here until 1932.
The Berton House is now the residence for a Writer's in Residence program which has been operating since 1996.

Robert Service's cabin was built with local spruce logs and a sod roof.  Robert Service lived here from 1909 to 1912, during which time he wrote "The Spell of the Yukon" and "The Cremation of Sam McGee".  When Service left Dawson City he wrote "Good-Bye Little Cabin" as an ode to his Dawson City home.

I went on a couple of walking tours in Dawson City which took us inside several of the historic buildings.  The tours are led by interpreters working with Parks Canada - and the stories they tell about life during the Goldrush days are wonderful.

The Bank of British North America was the first bank to arrive in Dawson City, followed shortly afterwards by the Imperial Bank of Canada.  (Given that CIBC is the only bank in town today you can tell which one had the better business sense at the time anyway.)

The Red Feather Saloon - one of 27 licenced establishments during the heyday... and who knows how many that weren't.

The Westminster Hotel - established in 1898 and still going strong today.

The first Post Office, built in 1901 was very much appreciated by the residents of Dawson City.  Previous to the building of the post office, sorting the mail was one of the many responsibilities of the Northwest Mounted Police - and the most common way for them to do it was by simply dumping the contents of the mail bag onto the floor of any large building and the men would then line up for hours to get into the building and sift through the letters, hoping to find one addressed to them.

The Masonic Temple, or Freemason's Lodge, was built in 1903.

"Ruby's Place" opened as a boarding house and laundry in 1903 and the building was taken over by Mathilde "Ruby" Scott in 1935.  For 27 years, this former Paris Madame operated a brothel here, finding a ready clientele in the seasonal workers from the gold dredge camps.  She operated with the tacit approval of local officials until 1961.  With both gold mining and her business in decline, Ruby was charged with keeping a bawdy house.  For the next 8 years Ruby's was simply a boarding house once more.

The Palace Grand Theatre was built in 1899 by Arizona Charlie Meadows - and I bet he didn't envision that the theatre he built to provide entertainment to the Klondike stampeders would still be an operating theatre in 2014.

 The lobby of the Palace Grand Theatre

 Standing on the stage, looking out

In Arizona Charlie's private box

The Dawson Daily News was a viable newspaper from 1899 to 1954 and this building, where the newspaper was produced from, was built in 1901.

Lowe's Mortuary was built in 1898 and is associated with the earliest days of the Klondike Goldrush. The front section of the building is one of the earliest surviving buildings in Dawson City, and you can see by the additions to the building how the worth, and use, of the building continued and increased over the years.

In Dawson City's history, permafrost ranks second only to fire as the bane of buildings.  These structures, nicknamed the "Kissing Buildings", dating from 1901 illustrate what happens when heated buildings are placed on frozen ground: the frost melts, mixing water with the soil to form a very fluid muck into which the different footings settle at different rates.

For those of you who have actually read your way to this point, and not just skipped through the pictures - I'll dispense with the text and just share a few more photos of other interesting buildings you can see in Dawson City, some with historical relevance, and all adding to the charm of Dawson City.

The little green sign which you may not be able to read says:  "Don't laugh at me - I am over 100 years old.  I'm rusty and crude looking, but during the time of the Goldrush builders didn't have a lot of choices for materials.  So they used old, flattened barrels for siding --- and here I am!"

A street in 'downtown' Dawson City

Built in 1898 as a hospital for both the NWMP and the public, it was transformed into a jail in 1910 and used for about seven years for prisoners serving short term sentences and as interim housing for individuals accused of more serious crimes.

A house peeking out from the trees