Dawson City, YT

We thoroughly enjoyed our four days in Dawson City, home of the Klondike Gold Rush at the end of the 19th century.  Unlike some theme parks, this town combines historic buildings protected by the Park Service and year round residents living on tourism and gold mining.

We arrived at the start of the Discovery Days Festival, a legal holiday in the Yukon Territory.  The town held a parade, pictures of which you can see here, along with others of the town.  Pics here.  The parade offered an unusally eclectic and inclusive view of their lives mingled with the past and present.

We also took tours of the historic buildings and saw the  floor show and cancan girls at Diamond Tooth Gerties (the only legal casino in the territory).  Visited the cabins of Robert Service, the "Bard of the Yukon," and Jack London, who wrote Call of the Wild and White Fang, among others.

We drove the famous Top of the World Highway to the Alaska border.  The Taylor Highway on the west side of this road was mostly closed, cutting traffic on the TOW Highway to a trickle.  We saw maybe 20 vehicles on our roundtrip from Dawson.

We attended the Danoja Zho Cultural Center, which presents the culture and traditions of the local First Nation people.  They lived in this area for millennia before the stampeders displaced them downriver. 

And so we turn south to Whitehorse and the gradual journey home.  We hope to take a different route, the Cassiar highway, if we can get past the fire which has blocked the road for almost one month now.

Bruce