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Published: July 27th 2010
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White Pass
Riding in the clouds pul·chri·tu·di·nous (pŭl'krĭ-tōōd'n-əs, -tyōōd'-)
adj. Characterized by or having great physical beauty and appeal.
So where did we leave off... Oh yeah we just spent the day in Skagway Alaska and now (July 16, 2010) are off to explore the Yukon. We left Skagway at about 9:30am and headed over the White Pass. The White Pass was built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. It climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and we got to see very LITTLE of it because of the rain and clouds. O.K!!!! enough clouds already!!!! We were seriously riding in the clouds over the White Pass and saw very little of anything. It was sooo cold. Got to Carcross and the weather improved drastically. Stopped in Whitehorse at Tim Hortons. Mmmmm. And back on the bike. The YUKON's territory motto is "Larger than Life". It is so true. The Yukon is so BIG. As we travelled along we could see for miles to the right and miles to the left. I'm sure there are vista's
Yukon
Larger than life in the Yukon where one can see into the horizon for 100 miles or more. First we looked into the valley that was miles wide, then gazed further and saw a mountain range, and then as far as our eyes could see yet another mountain range and often times even a third range was visible. Truly larger than life. Makes me wonder; has anyone seen all of the Yukon? Are all the valleys, moutains lakes and streams mapped out here? Since there are only 3 or 4 major roads in this Territory, I know for sure the average person has not seen even a fraction this great Territory.
July 17, 2010, we were on our way to Dawson City. Dawson City is second largest city in the Yukon and is at the end of the Klondike Trail. As we travelled along I leaned up and asked Rene if something had terrible had happened in the world and we were the only 2 people left. We were the only vehicle on the road for at least 2 hours. Nice, quiet scenic drive.
We got to Dawson City after 10 hours on the bike and -------- we found the population!!!
There was an annual music festival in Dawson City on this particular weekend and I do believe the entire population of the Yukon, 35,000 people were there. Everywhere we looked there were people. Young, old, fat, skinny, tall and short, red, yellow, black and white, they were all there. We found a camping spot in a R.V lot on the gravel. Ummm comfy!!!! Anyway we were soon swept up in the excitement of the weekend. We of course didn't have tickets, so we didn't go to the main events, but we took in some of the free concerts in the parks. O.K , We're all for individuality and all, but some of this alternative music was too much for us. (Check out the video if you can) As we walked the Klondike streets of Dawson City, we found an old beer parlour. Now we're talking our style. In this old, I mean OLD building, we saw and heard some older local fellas playing piano, violin, guitar and singing. This one fella who played piano had these giant hands and fingers and could he make that piano sing and dance. It was soo much fun, clapping and singing along. We stayed
Scenery
More breath-taking sights and were entertained by these gentlemen for about an hour or so, then off to see more sites and sounds. We also wanted to check out the "Top of the World Highway. This is a highway that leads from Dawson City up into the moutains through a couple of small communities and into Alaska. The road is 300 kms long and most say that even on a good day the road is iffy. Anyway we of course, wanted to try, because we were told that the sights from this road are even more amazing and we would not have to back track to Whitehorse to continue our journey North into Alaska. Saves hundreds of kilometres. Well we tried but were turned back because the road had just recently been washed out and it was closed. We attempted to go just a short way but the transportation crew were just laying new gravel as well, so we only went about 3 miles up the road and turned back. No sense taking unnecessary risks right? Rene was quite disappointed about the road being closed as it was something he really wanted to do on the bike. BUT---- the other thing Rene had
Five Fingers
vista and river in the Yukon read about is an event at the Downtown Hotel. If you are brave enough you can down a shot of whiskey with a petrified toe in it. There is a whole lengend about that here. Anyway, Rene wanted to try it so----- down the hatch went the whiskey and the toe. GROSS!!!!!
It stays light here way into the night, and we were going to stay up as late as we could, so played some crib and finally at 1:30 am we couldn't keep our eyes open any longer and went to sleep in the daylight.
July 18, 2010 we are up early-ish and decide we want to check out a church here. We had found a community church on our travels the previous day and noted that it started at 10:30. We decided we would go to church and then head back to Whitehorse as we had another full day of travel because of the road closure. Got to the church and not a soul in sight. Maybe it was at an alternated location because of the music festival or maybe just no more church there. Whatever, we were back on the road again. Drove to Whitehorse again and
Dawson City
From Dome Hill stayed in this great little campground call the Robert Service campground. Met an interesting man there named Bruce. Bruce is from Tenakee Springs Alaska and was riding his bicycle. Bruce is a master beader? (is that what you're called Bruce?) Anyway, Bruce makes these amazing bead works. He was working on one that he has stretched on like a cross stitch ring. Takes him months to make one and I felt very priviledged to have him share his artwork with me.
Tomorrow we are heading back to Alaska, to check out the interior and other parts. We have spent only a few days in the Yukon. It is an amazing Territory to visit and see, and because there are things we didn't get to experience and see we just may have to be back one day in this land that is "Larger then Life"
And so we remain......In the Grip of Grace
Rene and Crystal
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helen Rae
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Did you see my son??
Hi Crystal, Hey, guess what - my youngest son, Jonathan, was one of that multitude at that music festival at Dawson City!! He quit his job last month; is travelling music festival to music festival; then in October he's off to Thailand; and then to Australia - to work in nursing there. He's lining up his job from here in Edmonton. I haven't seen him for about a month - but i'm seeing him tomorrow at the Taste of Edmonton. Happy safe travels, Helen