The North Klondike Highway

North Klondike Highway

Time to head North to Dawson City! From Whitehorse, this is about a 6 hour drive but what a drive it was! From the very beginning of our journey to when we arrived in Dawson City (which ended up taking us 8 hours, by the way!) was a feast for our eyes! The fall colors and the tranquil lakes were amazing and the opportunities along the way to stop into some interesting little places was fun as well!

One of the first places we passed was Lake Laberge, made famous

Lake LaBerge

by the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee"! Many of us remember the lines from our High School English days; "The Northern Lights have seen queer sights. But the queerest they ever did see, was that night on the marge of Lake Laberge I cremated Sam McGee." Well, this is the actual lake that the poet Robert Service was talking about.

Our next stop was at Braeburn Lodge for, you guessed it, another cinnamon bun!! Not sure what the fascination is with cinnamon buns in the Yukon but that's okay we'll take it. At this particular stop, however, we will take just ONE of these cinnamon buns as one will feed about four people!! No kidding! In any event we really enjoyed stopping by and chatting with the owner, Steve.....from politics to motorcycles! A great guy with big buns!!!

Steve
Braeburn Lodge, YT

Our next stop was at the Montague Roadhouse Historic Site. This was a typical early day roadhouse, that offered lodging and meals to travelers on the stagecoach route

between Whitehorse and Dawson City. In 1901, there were 52 of these types of roadstops on this route. It really brought us back in time! Our travels took us on through Carmacks and Pelly 

Moose Creek Lodge

Crossing  to another interesting little place called the Moose Creek Lodge. Though the historic log building has a restaurant we only stopped to grab a drink and take in the really unique sights this place offered up.

















Before we knew it, we were finally in Dawson City!!! We can't wait to start exploring this exciting place!

Can't wait to begin exploring this place!

     

Autumn Glory
North Klondike Highway, YT

Whitehorse and The South Klondike Highway

Somewhere on the South Klondike Highway

After arriving in Whitehorse we decided to set up camp for 3 nights to explore the area. Our first day we spent on our bikes, riding from the Pioneer RV Park in to the city of Whitehorse. We were super

Where are we going??

surprised to see all of the amenities this city had...everything from Walmart and Canadian Tire right to Tim Hortons, Boston Pizza and a lovely trail for walking and riding that went around the entire perimeter of the city. There were many First Nations buildings as well as many historic sites throughout the town that

Miles Canyon, Whitehorse

we had a chance to visit. It was a very busy little spot, still bustling with tourism as well.

National Historic Site - old stern-wheeler
The Klondike, Whitehorse, YT

The second day we decided to explore the South Klondike Highway which extends from Whitehorse to Fraser, British Columbia and down to Skagway, Alaska, USA. We had signed up to do the White Pass Summit Scenic Railroad excursion but discovered that there had been two rock slides and our train couldn't run. Instead we first visited a little place called Carcross and then went on down and had a wonderful afternoon in Skagway.

Just strolling along the Klondike Highway

Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing because of the large numbers of Caribou that traversed the narrows between the lakes, was historically a stopping place for gold stampeders on their way to the Klondike goldfields. The town has retained much of its original character and also has many buildings representative of the First Nations people in the

Carcross

area.

I guess they mean business in the Yukon! Yikes!

A short stop at Customs, and then we were on to Skagway, Alaska, the oldest incorporated city in Alaska with just over 1000 permanent residents. Skagway owes its birth to the Klondike Gold Rush

when in July 1897 thousands of stampeders bombarded this little inlet to follow the White Pass and Chilkoot Trails to the Yukon

Skagway, Ak

goldfields. Today the original buildings, saloons, stores and gambling houses are still standing and now operating mostly as tourist destinations for the thousands of cruise ship visitors that stop in port.

Four cruise ships in the Skagway port today

Though we didn't get to travel the historical railway we really enjoyed taking in the sights and sounds of Whitehorse and the South Klondike Highway.  Tomorrow we travel on the North Klondike HIghway as we head to Dawson City! Until the next time.....

Klondike South Highway