Dawson City - Paris of the North

The Klondike Gold Rush began here and downtown Dawson still has that old look about it. The buildings still have the appearance of the 1800's and all roads are still dirt roads. It had been raining here before we arrived so there is quite a bit of mud around. The sidewalks are all boardwalks, well maintained, but boardwalks just the same. I brought my western boots with me thinking that they might be better to wear on the dirt/shale roads of the Dempster Highway, but I've been wearing them here to keep mud off of my running shoes.

We took a walking tour of Dawson, learning a bit of the history, visited historical buildings and took many photos of the various builvvdings here.  Some of them have been restored to their original design including the interior.

VT zip code for the new jobWe also walked the path next to the Yukon River which borders Dawson.

After an early dinner, we headed for the sourdough saloon to take the risk of trying the famous sour toe cocktail. 

This consists of an ounce of at least 40 proof alcohol in which they provide a severed human toe in the glass. This is why the drink must be 40 proof!!!  We got a certificate for being so brave.

The rules are simple. You cannot bite, lick or swallow the toe. The fine is $2500 if you do,

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Then it was off to Diamond Tooth Gerties for a little bit of old time Klondike gambling, real drinks to clean out the taste of that toe and watch the dancing girls.  Yes Barb wants to go as well.

Tomorrow we begin the journey up the Dempster Highway.  We have heard so many different recommendations, how many extra spare tires we should bring, a jerry can for extra gasoline and tonight even overheard that we should over inflate our tires to avoid flats. 

The Jeep has a range of over 700 Km when the gas tank is full, $2.34 per litre (regular). Our tank is full. We have 4 brand new all-terrain tires on the Jeep and one more full sized as a spare.

Eagle Plains is only 405 Km away from here so I'm confident we will reach our destination.  Eagle Plains is the halfway point to Inuvik, we can top up with gas there and we have a room to be able to spend the night.

The big concern is the 2nd half of this drive.  From Eagle Plains to Inuvik, there are two river crossings, one over the Peel River and the second a little further up across the Mackenzie River.  We cross on a ferry, however the Peel River crossing has been closed due to high running waters. We will get an updated status tomorrow evening. 

There is no cell service on the Dempster, no internet so this may be our last post for a couple of days. If the Peel River ferry is running, our next post will be from Inuvik, North West Territories. The problem will be if we cannot cross, we have decided that on Tuesday we will leave Eagle Plains and go to the Peel River. This gets us over the Arctic Circle and into the Northwest Territories. At least we will be able to say we accomplished those goals.

We will then have to turn around, refuel at Eagle Plains and drive back to Dawson. We do not have any hotel rooms there as this is not our planned route, we have no way to make a call to reserve a room ahead, so this will be a very long drive with our fingers crossed that we won't have to sleep in the Jeep. We will then have to drive back to Whitehorse because our plan was to return our vehicle in Inuvik and fly back to Whitehorse, but if we cannot make it that far, we have to drive back to Whitehorse to return it.

So stay tuned, this "adventure" could become nothing like we planned, but we are ready for it, we think.

Next post in a couple of days from Inuvik, Dawson, or somewhere here in the Yukon.  Don't worry, we will get back online in a few days.