Before traveling to our overnight stop, we head back to Barkerville. 1861 marked the discovery of gold in the area with Billy Barker striking gold in 1862. Prospectors flood into the area and the city is built only to totally burn down in 186, taking less than 1 1/2 hours. One week later 20 buildings […]

We spent the morning walking the streets of the gold rush town Dawson. Dirt roads, wooden boardwalks, false store fronts, old log buildings, newer construction buildings with all metal cladding and roofs. One can almost imagine gold seekers strolling and shopping the streets. The fire museum has many old fire engines, including a very impressive […]

Spent the day on the gravel moguls heading from Tok to Chicken, then on to Dawson City YK Lots of gravel, potholes and washboard spots so slow going. The scenery, however, was great worth the small bit of inconvenience. There was very little traffic, so it was like traveling all by ourselves – a small […]

Other than the inconsiderate RVer running his genny all night, we spent a pleasant night at the Fred Meyers making use of the free sani dump and fresh water before heading to Kenai. We stop at the wildlife viewing center, but once again there is not much to see. The tourist info center is filled […]

Another busy night at Cabela’s, up early then off to the ulu knife factory. Ulu knives were originally designed for Eskimo women to scrape hides, as well as cut meat and vegetables, but now they are very popular for cutting all kinds of things. After finishing our tour of the ulu knife factory we walk […]

We had a great visit at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Guides show us native games and sports, as well as songs and dances. Lots of drumming and use of hand fans or gloves, but very little movement. Regalia is very low key compared to BC indigenous regalia and dance. Lots of handicraft, art and […]

Today we drive up Hatcher Pass in the mist to Independence Mines Historical Site, one of Alaska’s largest gold mining sites. While the gold mining buildings are in ruin (collapsed due to snow load), the bunkhouse, cookhouse, and mechanical/woodwork buildings have been restored. We can see into the cold mine shaft and the ore cars […]

Picked a poor spot to stay last night, the sounds of the seals were cool, but, who knew so many people would go down our 2 mile stretch of road to work at the pipe line between 4-6am. So a very poor sleep, but we did get an early start to our day. We can […]