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Published: August 26th 2016
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I arrived in Dawson City in April 2016. The First thing I noticed was the ghost town feeling this place seemed to give off. The buildings reminded me something out of an old western movie, probably because most of them are from the early 1900's and are historical, eerie and/or deserted and yet as i walked through the empty streets taking in the silence of a town, I started to fall in love with the place for what it was... Gold Rush History and a New adventure.
Being as I got here in April with nothing more then 100 dollars and my giant backpack I wondered the place alone noticing not much was open, and it was literally a ghost town. The streets had barely any cars on the roads and there was this overwhelming stillness that I have never experienced anywhere else. The ice on the Yukon River was still being driven across and even though it was a unusually warm April there was still a chill in the air that kept the tourist away and gave me some time to know the place more intimately. I wondered around the town, and trails taking in as much as the
THE PIT
THE LOCAL BAR WITH A NIGHTLIFE ...KINDA history i could before the tours and tourist arrived but doing it by myself and without usually seeing another person added something that i cant seem to explain other then to say it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I felt more connected to this town because i got to feel as if i was discovering it for the first time and as the days got warmer and brighter and the locals slowly came out of hiding i had the chance to get to know them before the tourist rush. Giving me more one on one time with some of the more colourful locals. Some of my favorites being Cave man Bill who lives in a cave on the other side of the river and Cow Boy Larry who maybe in my opinion one of the last real Cow Boys left with his cowboy hat and story's of trapping beavers, driving cattle, hunting and dog sledding. Friendliness is something Canadians take pride in and when it comes to Dawson they seem to take it one step farther.
In my first few days in town i had multiple offers of places to stay, and a job
i got on the spot. I had meet a few gold miners and even got them to give me a tour of there active mines. The Locals are always so willing to tell you everything about the history, honestly my few few weeks in town I was told so much of the town history by the few locals i had become close to that I never felt the need to take a single tour. What was supposed to be a month or two trip to see the North turned into me being here as i write this in August with plans to stay as long as December maybe longer. Its Fall now here the leaves are starting to change colour and the days are getting shorter and I have had some amazing adventures here seeing the Sun never set On June 21 at the Dome Party and being lucky enough to be here during the moosehide gathering which only happens bi-annually. I am so glad that i ended up here without any plans of coming this far north has turned into me basically living here and living a little bit on the wild side.
There is so
much about Dawson you can learn on a tourist site so i left much of that out I hope you enjoyed my little blog and some things that are a must do in Dawson City...
RING THE BELL at the Bar.... just once and probably when the bar is pretty much empty.... it buys a round of drinks on you.
SOUR TOE SHOT... yes it is a real human toe and please do not swallow, human toes are not easy to come by and there is a fine.
PEGGY'S rent a room for the night its the old brothel and is worth checking out
DIAMOND TOOTH GERTIES the cancan dancers are amazing and you will probably see them working at some of the local bars during the day.
HIKE TO MOOSEHIDE its not an easy hike and you need to get permission to go there but its worth it you travel across the slide and the views are amazing.
VISIT A MINE GO GOLD PANNING. there are a ton of tour that will take you to do both of these
VISIT AND TAKE A TOUR OF THE DREDGE. honestly its one of the
few tours i actually took and one of my favorites.
TOMBSTONE MOUNTAIN ... even if your not big into hiking its worth the drive to see at the lookout.
DRIVE THE TOP OF THE WORLD HIGHWAY. yet again the view is amazing and you probably wont see another human being or car.
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taracloud
Tara Cloud
Traveling will do that!
So many times, I thought I'd stay a week, but it stretched into months or a year. These little towns are the best--great to meet characters, hike secret trails and know a place through its seasons. Make sure you don't follow Lottie Logan--stay warm!