Day 17 - Top of the World

This post is a continuation of my Alaska trip but I must say this trip happened in 2012 for anyone reading my blog for the first time.
After spending a wonderful afternoon and evening in Dawson City it was time to cross the Yukon and continue north along the famous "Top of the World Highway".  Packed my tent, stopped at a gas station to refuel and while there had a cup of coffee and a wonderful coffee cake.  Next stop, the ferry to cross the Yukon.  It's a short ride as the Yukon is not very wide at this location.

After you disembark on the opposite side, you start a hill climb and soon I stopped just up the hill to say a final goodbye to Dawson City.

The "Top of the World Highway" is about 80 miles of gravel with a few areas already paved/sealed and is open only in the summer months.  The highway is so named because it follows along the crest of the hills giving beautiful views of the valleys down below.  It is also one of the most northerly highways in the world.

The road is easy to follow at a decent speed but you do have to watch for the gravel which can pile up around the turns and if you not paying attention, you can get you in trouble really fast.  If you encounter rain the road could get pretty slippery.

I stop multiple times for pictures having decided to ditch the other three guys and continue the rest of the trip alone.  I prefer to be alone, I can stop whenever I see something worth photographing and I can do it at my own pace.  The views from the top of the mountains is breathtaking, you have the feeling you are riding at the top of the world.  I encountered some pockets of snow but the temperature was reasonable, got cold in a few areas but was mostly a good day for riding.

The few paved areas allows you to ride at a faster pace but again you do have to be on the lookout for the occasional big pothole or broken road.

At my next stop I hear a rustling noise in the bushes and upon further investigation I see a little rabbit very close to me.  I manage to capture a photo before he takes off down the hill.

I stopped again in front of the famous sign but then I remembered I'm alone, who's going to take the picture. I prop the camera on the back of the bike and use the timer to get the shot.

A few miles down the road I finally enter Alaska.  I had been waiting for this for a long time, it had been 17 days since I had left home and now I'm in Alaska.  I had made a quick run to Skagway earlier on the trip but that was for a few hours only.  I'm now going to be in Alaska for a few weeks.

A little later I pass some cabins, they appear to have been built a long time ago, one of the cabins has grass growing on its roof.

I'm quickly approaching the town of Chicken where I plan on having breakfast, I'm dying for a good cup of coffee.  This is beautiful country, amazing scenery, I'm really enjoying my trip.

A day in Dawson City

A short video of the time I spent in Dawson City during my trip to Alaska

Day 16 - Dawson City

Dawson City is one of those almost mystical places I was dying to see.  Since the initial stages of my  planning for the trip to Alaska, Dawson City had been at the forefront of all the places I wanted to go through.  I had read so many ride reports on the Adventure Rider web site, so many riders make it a point of going there and now I was fast approaching it.

Not my picture, taken from the Wiki

About 25 miles before you reach Dawson City while travelling on the Klondike highway you pass the beginning of another highway I plan to ride on another trip.  I'm referring of course to the famous Dempster Highway.  I have heard the Dempster is even tougher than the Dalton.  It's supposed to be harder to ride and more unpredictable.  

From the Wiki: 

The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a Canadian highway that connects the Klondike Highway in the Yukon to Inuvik, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River delta.

I walked over to the bridge and spend some time staring into the gravel road on the other side of the bridge, my brain spinning in thoughts, I could see myself riding into the distance all the way to Inuvik, 458 miles north of this spot.  Reluctantly I turn around and walk back to my bike, it was time to continue, the others were already waiting for me.  I mount the bike, take one last look at the bridge and quickly leave but not before making a promise to myself that I will return to ride the Dempster.

We ride the next 25 miles alongside a river and then see the sign for Dawson City. I have ridden a little over 4000 miles from my house, I finally made it to Dawson.  We stop for the obligatory picture.

A few miles down the road we come upon one last bridge and then we enter Dawson, I let the other guys go in front, I want to take my time and enjoy the moment. One of the guys had already contacted a campsite before we left Whitehorse and he had the directions.

All the roads in Dawson City are unpaved except for the Klondike that ends at the river's edge.  We soon find the campsite, the Gold Rush Campground, how original.  We register, get our spot and quickly setup our tents.  It is only 3:15pm, plenty time for sightseeing.

I grab my camera and with the other guys still busy unpacking, I head out to see the city I had read so much about it. Right across from the campground is this magnificent church.

A little further down the road is the Triple JJJ Hotel and then probably the best hotel in town, the beautiful Westmark Inn.  Most of Dawson's buildings look old-fashioned and that's because all new construction must  follow a standard look, it's government policy.

The rooms of the Westmark Inn

A little further up the road is the Aurora Inn and then a few apartments.  I continue down the road making a circle through the back before heading to the main part of town facing the Yukon River.

The St. Andrews church is next up the road, it was built in 1901 and it has seen better days. The structure is not in great shape, the door was closed and the windows boarded up.  I walk around imagining people riding their horses to church to attend service at the beginning of the 20 century.

In 1904 Thomas O'Brien opens the O'Brien Brewing & Malting Company in Dawson City.  The company operates for 12 years and then shuts down.  I imagine this wagon going up and down the street distributing beer to the bars with the screaming patrons paying for the beer with the gold they had just found in the area.

The St. Paul's Church is next.  In 1902, Naylor collects $12000 from the miners on the creeks to build the church and in 1907 it becomes Pro-Cathedral for Diocese of Yukon.  This building is in better shape.

The founders of Dawson city and the Yukon territory.

Some of the older hotels in the city.  They are open for business but I'm not sure about the condition inside.

The riverfront stores are very colorful and you find them selling souvenirs, ice cream, pizza and at Jimmy's Place "All Kinds of Stuff".  A very picturesque main street.

I walk over to the Yukon river's edge, look at the time on the park's clock and for a moment think it's time for dinner but then I realize the clock is wrong, someone must have forgotten to replace the batteries.

  

Two panoramas, facing the main street stores and in the opposite direction the Yukon River.

The city has gone through 22 floods but the worst was in 1979.  Within weeks of the flood, hydrologists called for the construction of a dike.  The two meter high dike was completed in 1987.

It is still early afternoon, I'm not hungry, dinner can wait, time to do more sightseeing but that will come next....... 

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