We veered off the Alaska Highway for a popular detour called the Klondike Highway that later connects to the scenic Top of the World Highway. The drive from Whitehorse to famed Dawson City was 330 miles, which we have come to learn in Canada is a full, long day of driving on roads that have a max speed limit of 100 km/hr (62mph) and slow down going through towns or frost heaves. We were a bit nervous to arrive late in Dawson City on a Sat evening because July 1 is Canada Day (similar to our July 4th) so we were basically hoping for a campsite in the middle of their biggest summer holiday and 3 day weekend. One unique feature to the highway is that there is no bridge across the Yukon River. Instead, you take the free George Black Ferry across. Typically only one RV fits along with 6 or so cars, depending on length. The ferry only takes 4 minutes to get across the river, but then time to unload and reload. It operates 24/7 from mid May (once the ice breaks up) through mid October. (In the winter, they can drive over the ice.) We had to wait our turn and crossed over about 7pm. The Yukon River government campground was 0.2 mi from the ferry so we were right there. The campground had 100 sites, and we didn’t know what to expect. All the sites along the river were amazing. And occupied. We wrapped around the back side and found a few open sites that were quite uneven, which is tricky with a camper that sits on stilts plus a trailer. We were hoping not to unhook completely since we could just walk to town, plus we didn’t want to have to mess with the truck going back and forth on the ferry. We finally found a spot we thought we could make work.
Usually you either back in or pull through a campsite. In this case, we wanted to have access to get the ATV out of the trailer so we pulled forward into the campsite. We got ourselves situated, raised the camper from the truck to take the weight off and get us level. WHOA! Did the camper just move? One of the legs was sinking into the mushy ground and caused the whole camper to slide a little bit. Lucky the truck was under the camper still, but this could potentially be a very tricky situation. We got out the wooden and rubber feet we sometimes use under the jacks to distribute the weight a bit more and seemed to find a stable position. After chatting with our new neighbors, involving an Alaska map and a plate of fresh baked cookies, we popped up our Clam (screen tent) and read our books until bedtime. It had been 87F and wasn’t cooling off at all in the evening (the sun doesn’t set until after midnight). We lay atop the covers, sweating, when Mark remembered he brought along a fan that was our saving grace.
After an indulgent morning of sleeping in, we ferried the UTV across the river and rode to the gold panning sites in town. We rented pans and a shovel at Claim 33 (they didn’t tell us until after we paid for the gear that they wouldn’t show us how to use them unless we also paid for a tour that included the pan rentals for the rest of the day.) It can’t be that hard! I mean, it’s a pie plate, a pile of dirt and rocks, and water. Not that we were actually expecting to find gold, but you can’t help but ask yourself, what if? It isn’t entirely impossible. We headed upriver to an unoccupied spot in Claim 6 (a public section). Wearing water shoes, we waded into the river (that wasn’t as cold as you’d expect) and shoveled and sifted and rinsed, sifted and rinsed, sifted and rinsed. It didn’t take long to realize we had absolutely no idea what we were doing. Which made the slim chance of striking our fortune even less remote. As we were wading out of the river, the woman from Claim 33 asked if she could help us. Yes! Sure enough, we were doing it wrong. Not only are you shaking the pan to get the gold to sink to the bottom and swirling the water over to rinse out the dirt, you dig the big rocks out by hand. Here’s the secret though… you ready? This is the money maker. You use the very edge of the pan (where the bottom creases as it meets the side) to actually catch the gold. Gravity carries the gold to the bottom of the pan when it’s shifted around so the art is to angle the pan so the dirt and rocks get emptied, a little each scoop, until all you have left is gold. Simple! Except that the gold they were keeping were the tiniest of slivers about the same size as a grain of sand. An ounce of gold is worth about $1800 currently, but an ounce of gold is about the size of 2 squares of a Hershey bar. Needless to say, we didn’t keep at it long. Though I did buy my own hot pink gold pan so I can try it again next time we find a good river.
Before heading to town to check out Dawson, we drove up to an overlook called the Dome. Theoretically you could see the river and the town. Unfortunately all we could see was a great view of the smoke from fires obscuring our view. We did a quick drive by of Jack London’s cabin and museum. None of the roads are paved in Dawson. Cars drive on the dirt and people walk on wooden boardwalks that line the streets along the shops. We’ve been looking forward to hanging out in these little, historic towns. There were several buildings downtown that were abandoned and just waiting to collapse. Others had been painted to look like an old town shop but were actually hotels or restaurants. We were actually disappointed in the lack of shops for souvenirs and trinkets. We really only found one that was a mix of animal traps, antiques, plus current day camping supplies (axes, knives, mukluk boots) that was what we were expecting. We ate in Klondike Kate’s where we both tried new dishes. I had pulled pork poutine (French fries covered in gravy) and Mark ordered the pork schnitzel (breaded pork cutlet) with sweet and sour sauce over French fries. Both dishes were common in Canada, but we just hadn’t tried them yet. The poutine was hearty and satisfying. I think the pork schnitzel would have been better with a different sauce. Neither of us much cared for it. We headed back across the ferry to shower and let Molly out after being in the camper all day.
After freshening up, we walked onto the ferry to head back to town for the evening events. Dawson City is known for the can can show every night at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s. Set in a turn of the century playhouse, there was a casino, bar, singing, and dancing girls. The shows were at 8:30, 10, and midnight. One $15 admission got you into them all. The 8:30pm was packed, but we got there an hour early and shared a table of front row seats. Boy that Gertie could sing! There were frilly dresses, fishnet stockings, hoots and whoops, garters, and lots of leg. It was a great time! I even sang a stanza of You Are My Sunshine when Gertie put the microphone in my face. The show lasted about 35 minutes. We went out to grab some ice cream we had seen on the boardwalk earlier and enjoyed that before heading back to the 10pm show. For a different vantage point, we went up to the balcony. This show added a gentleman singer, Gertie, and the 4 dancing girls. Again, a fun time. Late though it was, we couldn’t go home just yet.
There was one famous Dawson task we had yet to check off the list. The Sour Toe Challenge. Inside the Downtown Hotel, the Sourdough Saloon offers a Sour Toe Challenge that has quite the pomp and circumstance of a ceremony. You select your choice of a 40 proof shot, and get in line and wait a really long time (maybe 45 minutes). We passed the time quite enjoyably as we chatted with a gal who had finished the Yukon River Quest a few days prior that we got to see leave from Whitehorse so it was fun to hear her stories of getting 2nd place in a 6 person canoe. Finally it was our turn. For $10, they take a human toe and put it in your shot. You have to swallow the shot, and the toe has to touch your lips. “Drink it fast, drink it slow, but your lips have to touch this gnarly toe.” Gnarly was right. This thing was long and black and desiccated and nasty. If the toe goes inside your mouth, or you chew it or swallow it, you are charged a $2500 fine. But if you meet the challenge successfully, your name goes in the ledger and you get a numbered official certificate. Would you like to guess which one of us did it? For the record, yes, the toe is legit. Over 87,000 people have done this and they line up every night for bragging rights of this nasty accomplishment. The marketing is genius, as the only people in this bar were paying for a drink and then paying for the privilege of going back home with a piece of paper and a story. There have been a number of toes used over the years, usually left by someone who has died. They store it in salt and it gets rolled up in a napkin between each shot. They won’t let you use a lime or lemon in your shot because the acid is too strong and will hasten the demise of the decaying digit. Anyway, the deed was done. (Video proof on fb.) We took the midnight ferry back to camp, still in daylight.
