Drove through Chicken to go panning at Downtown Chicken...
We put off gold panning the entire trip waiting to do it in Chicken. It probably would have gone much better if someone would have been willing to teach us what to do. Then again, maybe not???
Since we didn't exactly strike it rich, we hiked out to Mosquito Dredge in Lost Chicken...
Once the Taylor Highway crosses the border of Canada, it becomes the Top of the World Highway. And I have to say that it lived up to its name. It was truly like driving on a ridge at the top of the world...
The only wildlife we saw was a porcupine lumbering across the road. It was the only one we'd seen alive...
The border crossing was a little worrisome when they made the old couple in front of us get out of their truck and go into the office while they searched everything in the vehicle and the trailer. We'd been warned that having a new truck purchased while in Alaska could raise red flags with customs. But we had all of our paperwork out and ready to go. When they asked about the truck we told them we'd been hit by a moose that totaled our van. That was apparently the magic words. We got waved right on through... :)
It rained some but we didn't realize how muddy it was until we saw oncoming cars. Then when we got to the George Black Ferry across the Yukon River, we realized how muddy it was...
The truck looks pretty good as a two-tone... ;)
While waiting in line, we met a gentleman from Arizona traveling alone. He flew into Anchorage, bought a car and was driving through Alaska and then home to sell the car. His wife didn't want to camp and wouldn't come along. He also had a horror story about being hassled and searched at the border. After he was asked how long he planned to stay in Canada, he answered, "Until I'm good and ready to leave." Wrong answer!
Unlike ferries in the lower 48, this one doesn't have a permanent landing. The yearly ice break up pretty much rules that, or a bridge, out. But that doesn't slow them down one little bit...
Before finding a place to camp, we stopped at the visitors' center in Dawson City. It was a hoppin' place during the Klondike Gold Rush and was Yukon's capital from 1898 to 1953, when it moved to Whitehorse. Dawson City still has that gold rush era feel.
Robert Service is a really big deal in Yukon. I'm not sure why a vagabond poet who wrote such verses as "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" or "The Cremation of Sam McGee" is practically a hero, but whatever floats your boat...
We camped at Dawson City RV Park. The owner had quite a little "scam" going with his coin-op car wash and showers. Apparently they only worked with old loonies but not the new ones. So he would trade our new loonies for old ones from his till that we could use in them. With the mud on the Top of the World, there was quite a line for the car wash. Chris ate his dinner in the truck while waiting in line...
For some authentic gold rush evening entertainment, we went to the can-can show at Diamond Tooth Gertie's. It is the thing to do while in Dawson. We could see why. It was a really well-done performance!
The second most popular thing to do in Dawson City is the Sourtoe Cocktail. The story goes back to two rum-runner brothers in the 1920's and frostbite and amputation. But the current tradition of drinking a shot of hard liquor (preferably Yukon Jack) with a mummified toe in it started in 1973. Since then, 10 donated toes have touched the lips of over 100,000 courageous (or stupid drunk) people from all over the world.
We didn't do that...
But we did drive up to Midnight Dome for a view of the city...
Then we went back to camp for a shower and bed...
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