Dawson City & The Dempster

Well, I survived the dancing girls last night, only through N's insistence that we sit as far away from the stage and front of the show area as possible. So we moved upstairs to the balcony which effectively put me 20 feet higher than the girls. In reality it was N who was scared of getting pulled up on stage.  However, I did manage to spend some time at the black jack table and actually walked away almost even for the night. I didn't play the slots because you could lose too much too quickly. I had a glass of white wine which I nursed  all evening. N fell in love with a drink called Gertie's Garter. We didn't think that the floor show was as good as the last time we were here. We left around 11:30 at night and drove up to the top of the midnight Dome to take pictures of the sunset. The sun had just slipped below the horizon but still plenty of light to take this picture of the Yukon River. Twilight probably lasts until 2 AM.

Bright sunny morning this morning (Friday). We packed up and started up the Dempster Highway to go as far as Tombstone Provincial Park. We just love it up in this part of the county. You move through the receding tree line and into arctic tundra. Beautiful mountains and a rough road. They have had a lot of rain up here and the dirt roads are showing it. The rough part we drove through in the morning was all graded and smooth by the time we drove back. Two road graders, 2 drivers, one water truck (to wet down the road before grading) and one driver graded about 30 km of road. I figure it would take at least two graders with relief drivers, five flagmen, six Dept. of Highways trucks, 7 supervisors ( to lean on the shovels) and three engineers in white hard hats to fill out all the required forms to the same job in N.S.  We also discovered that the Yukon Government is just in the process of completing a new interpretative center for the Tombstone area. They must have funded it all themselves because there was not a single Harper's save the economy (action plan) sign around. It is just a first class job. Well constructed, environmentally sustainable, photoelectric solar panels for power etc, southerly exposure and roof almost to the ground on the north side.

We only saw one moose in a lake about two km from the road down in a valley and we are about 2 weeks too early to see the tundra fall colours. We did get a close up look at the tundra and the colours are starting, just a few small leaves at a time mainly the reds and yellows. The Park staff say signs are pointing to an early fall here. Spring was early this year with beautiful weather in March and April. The fire weed is beginning to fade from reds to pinks.
We had an easy drive back to Dawson City. Had to suffer through another meal of salmon and then went downtown for our evening walk. It is like a ghost town here. Very few tourists. The Top of the World Highway opened up this morning but we have not seen a single unit come in yet. Still only five or six sites occupied here out of 98. We are here until Sunday morning when we head back down the road to Whitehorse for a few more days there. Just read on the news that the Cassiar Highway has been closed 30km south of the Yukon border due to a major forest fire. We must be the jinx for that piece of road. Three years ago when we dove the Cassiar, washouts and mudslides closed the road for a few days after we passed through. This is all for tonight. Noticed it is 2:38 AM in N.S and 10:38 in the Yukon and I'm in broad daylight.

Quote for the day:


My Grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle.
  - Henny Youngman

Cheers

P & N