Wednesday-July 5- Day 15- Of Bears and Gold: From Whitehorse to Dawson.

This morning did not start out too well, much to my embarrassment! Last evening I went online to see if there were any rules or guidelines about overnighting  at WalMart.  I found a site, but there was nothing there about regulations.  We got up our usual time, and when we were soon ready to leave for the day I decided to start the generator to make our coffee.  I thought I had heard someone elses  generator start earlier, and thought it would be OK. WELL!  About 15 minutes later a couple came to our little kitchen window (the only one with the blind up)and started chewing us out for making so much noise so early in the morning!  I immediately turned it off, and apologized, but that did not seem to be enough for them !  They were really upset!  So when they did not seem to want to accept my apology, I stepped back from the window. Several minutes later they pulled out for the day. So I learned a lesson the hard way. 😟 And now I know.  

We headed out of town (Whitehorse, Yukon) and turned north on the Klondike Highway.

For a while it was foggy, but before too many miles rolled under our wheels  the sun appeared on the scene and created a beautiful day!

Some of the terrain we covered today was flat plateau and some was mountainous.

There were a lot of frost heaves along the edge of the roadway, some of which were impossible to avoid. At those times it felt like we were riding a horse! There was little traffic on the Klondike Highway and most of whom we shared the road  with were other RV'ers.

We drove along the Yukon River for quite a ways.

We took a break at the Five Fingers Rapids.  There were 219 stairs going to the bottom, where a trail led to a closer look at the Rapids. Barb decided to take the challenge!

We avoided dozens of ground squirrels that crossed the road in front of us the whole six hours of driving today.  Marie had no sooner mentioned that we did not see any big wildlife today, than we saw these bear cubs playing on the side of the road. When they heard us coming they ran back in the bushes.  I was disappointed I was not fast enough with my camera.  But evidently Mama Bear told them it was safe to cross, and they did so, right in front of us! And I had my camera ready! We saw a fourth bear later in the day.

 Our destination for today was Dawson City, 

the heart of the Klondike. 

The town is still much the same as it was during the Gold Rush: wooden buildings, plank sidewalks, and dusty unpaved streets.

We walked the streets and visited some of the shops.

St. Mary's Church

A stop at the visitors center in town brought one free ticket for each of us, to a government attraction,as this is Canada's 150th birthday. ( The tickets saved us $80!!)
We decided to see Gold Dredge #4.
John and I had been here 20 years ago, and really enjoyed it.
 We drove out of town about 10 miles
on a very gravelly, dusty road to get there.
 It is so fascinating how they dredged the creeks for gold!

As we drove into town this afternoon, we passed several miles of these stone and rock piles which are called tailings. After the soil is dredged from the creek, and put through a type of water sifter to get the gold out, the stones and rocks came out the "tail" of the dredge....creating these zig zag rows of tailings as the dredge moved back and forth in the creek. Dredging was outlawed in the '60's, as it is one of the most environmentally damaging operations.

This is Bonanza Creek, where this dredge cleared the creek of gold over a period of 12 years.

This evening we went to a local restaurant for supper.
I got this appetizer as my meal. A TJ Stack. It was waffle fries layered with chopped tomato, onion and cheese, and served with salsa and sour cream!  Yum! Hit the spot!
And now as we settle in for the night at Gold Rush Campground, the sun is still shining on the horizon.
It is 11:25 PM.  Good night!