In the footsteps of the gold-seekers

When gold was discovered in the Klondike (the name given to the whole area in Alaska AND the Yukon Territory of Canada where gold was unearthed in great quantities starting in 1896), thousands of people from around the world anxiously made their way to port cities like Skagway and Dyea (in Alaska) to start their climb northwards. That is, they had to carry 2,000 pounds (about 750 kilos) of equipment and supplies (mandated by the Canadian Mounted Police, who had put themselves in place to manage the mad-house and prevent death) over the mountains and then build a boat that would take them the rest of the way to Dawson City, the city that served as the supply base and stopping off point for prospectors.

These days, you can drive or take the scenic White Pass Railroad (which was completed 2 years after the big gold rush started) up to Dawson with your supplies and equipment. It’s a long drive, which we did in about 12 hours, but when you compare it to what those hearty souls did in 1898; we were in the lap of luxury.

Dawson is a fantastic place – dirt roads, restored gold-rush era buildings (lots of saloons!) and lovely setting along the mighty Yukon River and, on the day we were there, warm sun and blue skies. In fact, the sky was so clear, that Michiel got to experience his first true midnight sun. Driving into town at 8:00 pm, the sun was still so high in the sky that it felt more like 3:00 pm in the afternoon and at 11:30 pm, there was still plenty of ambient light. Of course, we haven’t even had the longest day of the year, yet.

We spent the evening enjoying excellent hospitality, good food and drink (Yukon Jack, a whiskey-based liqueur) and chatting with the new “Captain” in charge of the Sour Toe Cocktail. (This is a tale that Sheri has told before, so rather than repeat it here, we’ll refer you to the following website: http://www.donreddick.com/tr_27.html )

Free Museum Day in Whitehorse

Whitehorse is the capital of the Yukon Territory, population 24,000. It sits on the Yukon River and developed, as much of the Yukon towns did, during the gold rush of 1898 as a supply base to the gold fields to the north.

On the way into town, we finally got some decent radio reception and we learned that because of the national holiday, Victoria Day, all museums would be free on the day of our arrival. With that enticement, we spent some time enjoying the Beringia Museum, which highlights the ancient history of the region when it was connected (with Alaska) to Russia. The museum has skeletons of all sorts of now-extinct beasts like mammoths, giant beavers and mega-sloths. More interesting; however, was the transportation museum, which gave excellent description, photos, and re-creations of all of the means of transport up to the gold fields.

At Whitehorse, one has the choice of heading west along the Alaska Highway into the interior of Alaska, south to Skagway, Alaska (at the head of the famous Inside Passage, where the cruise ships sail) or north to the Klondike, the infamous gold mining area. After seeing the xcellent exhibits in the museum about the gold-seekers making their way north from Skagway, we decided to head south for a side trip.

The Alaska Highway

Our first stop was Watson Lake, home of the Signpost Forest. This roadside attraction is a collection of 54,000 license plates, stolen town signs, home-made wooden signs, and bumper stickers from travelers from all over the world. The idea was created by a homesick, young army soldier who was working on the Alaska Highway in 1942. He put up a sign showing the distance from Watson Lake to his home town in Illinois. Over the years, people traveling the highway have added their own signs. It is a pretty amazing sight and we were pretty bummed out that we hadn’t brought anything from Amsterdam.

Dease Lake

Dease Lake is a little town on the Cassiar. Nothing much to do there. After getting some gas and groceries we swiftly continued because we wanted to get to Whitehorse before the night. Some 20 miles out of Dease Lake the car started acting funny; the cd player went off and on and all the meters (speedometer and tachometer) fell to zero while braking. Very scary. After checking all fuses we decided that we would continue onwards. We didn’t get very far because the car decided to give up. Being virtually in the middle of the road we were very happy that 2 friendly Alaskans were willing to help us get back to Dease Lake. They figured that our alternator stopped working and our battery was depleted. They jump-started us 4 times in total - each time was good for 9 or 10 miles. Later that evening we bought them dessert as they were having dinner in the same restaurant as us.

We found a mechanic who asserted that indeed the alternator was dead and had to be replaced. Since his personal collection of junked cars, trucks,tractors and piles of spare parts didn’t include anything that was foreign-made, we would have to wait three days before a new one could be brought on the delivery truck from Terrace. At the Northway Motor Inn where we had checked in, we told them that, unfortunately, we needed to stay for 2 more nights, which would be a lot of money on top of the car repair costs. Sheri came up with the unexpected proposal of cleaning rooms and doing chores around the motel to lower our room rate. They found the proposal a bit strange but agreed to give us a kitchenette room (with stove, fridge, and microwave) for $20 per night less than the regular rate and free use of the laundry room in exchange for 14 hours of manual labor.

With nothing much to do in town and a choice of 3 television stations, we figured that it was a pretty good arrangement. To add to our excitement, on Thursday morning, we discovered that one of the tires was flat. The timing was actually very good, because we were able to drive the car to a shop (well, junk-yard/waterdelivery/wrecking service/auto repair“facility”) where they put a patch on the tire so that we would be ready to hit the road when our new alternator finally arrived. When it did, we said goodbye to Dease Lake and finally completed the last153 miles/246 kilometers of theCassiar (sadly, without seeing any more bears).

Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska

Along the Cassiar, we saw 7 black bears (including a mom and cub…see photos) and lots of incredible scenery featuring snow-covered peaks, emerald-green lakes and a few small communities. We decided to take a short side road to the mining town of Stewart. Stewart is reached by a 60 km road passing very closely to Bear Glacier and the gorgeous coastal mountain range that separates Canada and Alaska. (Note: Canadians use the metric system and use their own currency (complete with pictures of the Queen of England) which makes comparing prices to American products and services quite tricky.)

Stewart is the northernmost ice-free port in Canada and there is lots of interest in the proposals to create a rail line to connect to a large container port. At this point, however, the town is quiet and charming. People here were talkative and seemed to be in no hurry to get on with whatever is was that they had to do. We spent quite a while talking to a guy who prided himself on knowing the names of all the famous Dutch skaters. Aside from his statement about Canadian athletes, (“They are less competitive than American athletes; theyjust want to make a personal best in World competitions rather than win.”) he had plenty to say about local politics and the elections that took place on the17th of May.

From Stewart, it’s a 3 km drive to Hyder, Alaska, a run-down town of about 100 people that explodes with tourists in July and August as the grizzlies return to the local Fish Creek to feast on spawning salmon. We went to the bearviewing area even though we knew it was too early in the year to see bears and, lo and behold! Sitting along a sidecreek, was a black bear seemingly just woken up from his hibernation and just taking its time to look around. Including the next black bear that we saw crossing the gravel road on the way to view another glacier, we saw 9 black bears in three days! A new record!

British Columbia (BC)

Jeez, this province is huge! We crossed over into BC after we left Jasper National Park on the Yellowhead Highway. This two-lane highway just seems to go on forever. Coupled with the fact that we just bought a power converter to connect the laptop to the cigarette lighter of the car we have ample opportunity to write for our weblog. We passed lake after lake as well as rivers (notably, the Fraser), streams and creeks, fields full of dandelions in bloom, and freshly leafed-out (beautiful fresh green) aspens and birch interspersed with spruce trees. Along the road, we spotted several moose, a black bear, and a large cat-like critter, not to mention the enormous ravens that are common in these parts. The llamas and ostriches we saw along the way were probably not indigenous.

From the Yellowhead Highway (16), we turned north onto the Cassiar Highway (37), a 450-mile (724 km) mostly paved road that was originally built for logging and mining. These days, with the Liberals in office in BC Government, mining and logging are back in full swing and the road is in excellent shape for the big “rigs”carrying logs or ore.

Banff and Jasper National Parks

Sheri had always wanted to see Banff, but now that we were there it was a little bit disappointing. (We realize that we both have already seen so many beautiful places on earth that we run the risk ofbecoming blasé. We try not to be.) Part of our disappointment came from the fact that we were early in the season and the trails to alpine areas were still snow-covered and thus closed. The park was also rather crowded considering the fact that the summer season hadn’t really started yet.

Jasper National Park has wider valleys than Banff, with nicer views and it also felt much less crowded. Jasper is famous for its very large icefields and its glaciers. Together the parks form a thin strip of land that divides the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. Right through the heart of it runs a (scenic)highway with lots of viewpoints, campgrounds and hiking trails. During our stay we saw Bighorn sheep (many posing very nicely for us close to the car), moose, elk and mule deer. We did lots of day hikes that brought us to canyons and waterfalls and through forests.

Oh, Canada!

With the Check engine light off (for the time-being), we continued north on Interstate 15 to the border crossing at Sweet Grass. These days, US/Canadian border crossings are a bit more involved than in the good ole days, but after showing passports, answering questions about booze, firearms and bear spray (yes, some, no, no ), we were waved on into the flat (my God…so flat) farmlands of Alberta, Canada – an area, by the way, that is home to many Dutch émigrés.

We’re happy to be in Canada. The people are helpful, down-to-earth and friendly (though not overly so), the exchange rate is good and there’s loads of open space. It’s also good to brush up on our rusty French (all governmental signage is in English and French). Additionally, Sheri likes to hear them talk (especially when they say words like “about” which is pronounced like “aboot”.)

The weather was pretty ugly (gray, cool and rainy) until we left Calgary (we passed the ski jumps from the 1988 Olympics…very high!) and the flat plains turned into rolling hills and then into the impressive, snow-covered, jagged peaks of the Canadian Rockies. First stop: Banff National Park.