2006 May 29 to June 04
2006-05-29 Monday - Memorial Day in
USA
Dawson City Gold Rush CG
The light woke me at 08:00, but, as I
only had gone to bed at 02:00 I turned around and slept on till 11:30.
Made breakfast/lunch, a "Pfanne" as we used to call it in earlier
times in the Riess family.
A long chat with my neighbors, an
Alaskan couple from Anchorage, who are here a few days for the
gambling at Gerties. Then I went on a one hour bike ride through the
nooks and crannies of Dawson. Then for half an hour sitting in the
sun, watching the ferry play across the river, then to the General
Store for victuals.
Quelle surprise - no real chocolate,
only candy bars. Major bummer, will try the other food emporium
tomorrow. At least got a nice bunch of bananas.
Rode by the NWT visitor's office and
the nice Lady remembered me from last Friday and told me that her
supervisor had told her that the ferries would be running by Friday or
Saturday - provided the rivers behave like expected.
Took a long nap in preparation for another
Gerties visit.
10:00 went to Gerties and watched the
show. They have basically two troupes and the " "other Gertie" was on
tonight. I liked the first one better.
Have new neighbors, big DP from Alaska
pulling trailer with two Arctic Cat Prowler ATVs, the likes of it I had not
seen before.
Still light at 23:00
2006-05-30 Tuesday
Dawson City
The Dempster Highway ferries forecast is
still for opening on Friday. I renewed my lease in the Goldrush CG
for two more nights.
Had the tires on the Van rotated. This
was done the Yukon Way with the pure strength of a wiry guy who looked
like he could be my grandfather, but was probably only mid-forty. No
hydraulic lifts, only two bottle jacks, no impact wrench, just a big
lug nut crossbar. Took more than an hour, even so I helped with the
smaller, less muscle taxing chores.
At 13:00 I went on the Fish wheel tour.
Tommy Taylor is the owner/operator who took us in his skiff downriver
for 10 km to show us his winter quarters and later dog island where he
keeps his 29 sled dogs during the summer. Tommy is First Nation and
very knowledgeable about Yukon lore and according to his spiel still
lives the traditional way, with the exception of taking tourists on
tours.
Paddle Wheeler Graveyard
An interesting part of his life is how
he fishes the thousands of salmon he needs to feed his dogs over the
winter. The fish wheel, invented by a Swede about 1900, is like a
water wheel on a raft anchored in the Yukon. It is turned by the
river's current and scoops up the fish and deposits them into a
holding tank floating next to the raft. Tommy filets the fish and
dries it his drying shack.
Fish Wheel as used by First Nation
people on the Yukon
Winter Camp with Salmon drying shack
at right
Sled dog condo. In COLD winters they
put a blanket over the opening
A caché (pronounced "cash") a place
to store provisions out of reach of animals. Notice the tin around the
legs, so bears will not be able to shinny up to the good smelling
stuff.
Tommy's café on Dog Island where we
had Tea and Bannock, which is sort of a fry-bread. The young man is
Luis, who also deals blackjack at Gertie's Casino
On the way back we came across this
motorized barge that was bringing a CAT D10N upriver to a newly opened
gold mining operation. Notice that the loaded barge has only a few
inches of freeboard.
After the tour I ferried across the
river once more and drove the first 27 km of the top of the world
highway to take pictures. Road is very soft in spots and once on
gravel it is dusty like h$%%. There is a constant stream of double-tow
water tankers coming down the hill empty, sucking themselves full with
Yukon water and then hauling ass up the hill to a road construction
about 50 km from the river. Those guys are obviously paid by the run,
even uphill they have plenty of speed and straight and downhill you
better get out of the way if you see them in your mirrors.
On the way back there were a couple
turnouts with good views over the river and the city below
Close-up (300 mm) with Gold Rush CG
at top right. My rig is hidden behind MH in middle row.
2006-05-31 Wednesday
Dawson
Preparation for tomorrow's tow to Eagle
Plains on the Dempster. Ferries are scheduled to open on Friday. Had
to re-torque the wheel lugs on the Van. The help who did the tire
rotation ran out of steam and torque on a couple of nuts. Glad I
checked, would have been bad, if I had one of my tires pass me on the
Dempster. Laundry day and the CG WiFi is on the fritz again. Hope I
can upload this.
Went to Gertie's, had a nice talk with
Justin, who is the male lead in the show. He is from Kitchener, Ontario
and just graduated from a Toronto College. This is his first paying
job as an actor. Told him I would be back next week.
2006-06-01 Thursday -
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Photo Gallery
Dawson to Eagle Plains Hotel & CG,
Yukon Territory 369 km 7.5 hours.
Woke up nearly and got up at 06:00,
breakfast and stowing of the left over stuff for travel. Left CG at
07:55. At Klondike Lodge at km zero of the Dempster Highway I dieseled up and
checked road report. Peel river ferry may be operational on Friday or
Saturday.
This is one of the loneliest roads I
have traveled so far. On the 370 km to my day's goal I only saw three
cars going the other way, I overtook one tour Van in the Tombstone
Mountain TP and one car passed me going north, while I had a picnic on
a Peel River riverfront turnout.
Spectacular scenery again all the way,
regardless if it is along an ice cold and crystal clear fast running
river or high on a ridge overlooking the valleys and their boreal
forests.
It did rain somewhat while I was
driving and it must have rained hard on parts of the road before I hit
it. The result was that at times there was a two centimeter layer of
slickness, similar to liquid soap on the roadbed, which at times made
driving interesting. Especially those kilometers of the road where
black shale was the top layer, were pretty slippery. Appropriate slow
speed, minimal steering input and good tires made it an interesting,
albeit never dangerous, experience. I took many brief photo stops and
two longer rest stops.
My plan had been to overnight at the
Engineer Creek CG at km 194, but when I arrived and drove the loop
road into the CG it was so slick, that stopping and backing into a
spur would certainly have led me to become stuck in the muck. So I
worked my way out of the CG and proceeded north.
Arrived at Eagle Plains Hotel shortly
after 15:00. Was pretty bushed and went for an early dinner to the Millen Lounge.
The chef told me that he had worked for a couple of years in a small
town near Ingolstadt (Audi factory) Bavaria. The serving crew is four
young people from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan here for the summer.
Bartending Lady's name is Amelia, she
is from Ottawa and here for the summer job.
Also met the friendly local dog named Buca and played
ball with her.
2006-06-02 Friday -
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Photo Gallery
Eagle Plains Hotel and CG at km 370 of
Dempster Highway
Woke up at 01:30, went right to sleep
again. Got up at 08:00 to brilliant sunshine and had breakfast in
hotel.
The 08:00 report from Yukon
Transportation again specified the possibility of the Peel River ferry
to operate this weekend. So I booked another night in the CG.
After breakfast I walked the grounds
and met a young
Lady playing with Buca the dog
in the parking lot.
She told me that she is with a mineral
exploration company that has a camp about 40 km distance east of Eagle
Plains in the bush and that she just came from there in the little
Hughes 500 (Loach) helicopter. I was fortunate that, when I asked her
what she was doing in the exploration camp, I did not stipulate cook,
as was on my mind, taking into consideration her young age and the
summer job situation at the hotel.
So, by keeping my assumptions to
myself, I did only make an ass out of myself in my head, but not in
the eyes of the young lady, who's name turned out to be Crystal and a
very appropriate name it is, because she is a trained Geologist with a
degree from the University Of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The exploration company is looking at a
Uranium/copper deposit. They will start drilling cores in a couple of
weeks and if the deposit proofs to be economically viable they will
sell the rights to a mining company. If it works out, it may be
another 10 to 14 years before the first minerals will be recovered.
Walked for two hours around the Eagle
Plains installation site and took many pictures.
In the afternoon a Bell Jet Ranger heli
came in and unloaded two ladies and their extensive luggage. I offered
a friendly greeting and they volunteered, that they were here courtesy
of Ducks Unlimited, Canada to count ducks in several ponds across the
ridgeline by helicopter.
Quite an interesting assemblage of
female job opportunities in Eagle Plains.
Later on a rental RV with, what else, a
German couple from Hamburg, fresh off the Tuesday Condor flight into
Whitehorse, parked next to me. Had a nice talk and being an old salt
in these parts now I could give them a few tips.
Good news - 15:15, the newest
transportation bulletin declares the Peel River ferry operational. The
first crossing tomorrow from this side will be @ 09:15 Mountain
Daylight savings time. I may time my
departure to catch this boat.
Went to Millen's Lounge for a hamburger
and some beers and met a Canadian Couple from P.E.I. (Prince Edwards
Island of Anne of Green Gables fame) and had a nice chat. They will be
going up to Inuvik, too and we will meet there as well.
Back at CG there is another rental rig
parked next to me, probably Germans, too.
22:15 and the sun is still up high and
shining brightly. I put a blanket over my head to block out the light.
2006-06-03 Saturday
-
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Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory to
Inuvik, North West Territories - 367 km 9:30 hours
Woke up @ 05:15 and sang "Happy Birthday dear
Rudi" to myself. @ 06:00 woke up three German couples around me in CG,
by starting up the Diesel and pulling out.
Brilliant sunshine and road is fairly
smooth. After 40 km there is the Arctic Circle Crossing. First time I
take a pee that far north.
At km 447 on a whim I pull into the
Rock River CG to see if it is a likely spot for an overnighter on the
way back. In one of the spurs, there is a Ford Explorer SUV jacked up
and a man underneath with a woman watching. I stop and ask if I can be
of assistance.
Ken and Edith have been driving from
Montreal and are on their way up to Inuvik when their right rear tire
got a flat. The spare tire is underneath the back of the car like in
my Van. Problem is that the winching mechanism seems stuck and does
not lower the spare.
So after mulling the possibilities -
after all we are in Bear Country and it is not feasible for Ken to
stand in the road, far away (1/2 km) from the safety of the car to
await somebody going south - we decide that I take both of them, plus
the flat tire, up north with me to Ft McPherson 104 km away where they
hope to have the tire fixed and then get a lift back south to the CG.
This is the other side of the far
North, it may take a 200 km round trip to solve a flat tire problem.
At kilometer 464, just short of the
Yukon/NWT border while going uphill at about 65 km/h I see two dark
parallel lines running diagonally across the road. When I realize,
that these are washout lines, it is too late to stop, so I steer the
Van at an angle to the lines and stomp on the gas. The front end drops
like a stone, but with a whack, climbs up the opposite slope, followed
by the rear tires and the trailer axles, which make an easier crossing
due to the close dual axle setup. I stop immediately after the
washout, hoping for no damage to Van or trailer. Luckily this is the
case.
Going back over the scene, I can
reconstruct what had happened. There is a big sloping hill on the
right (north facing) side, still with a several meter thick snow bank.
The last two days the temperatures were in the low 20s Celsius and the
snow was melting heavily and the melt water rivulets were running
across the road, cutting into the roadbed.
When I hit the spot, the two parallel
channels were about 40 cm wide and 50 cm deep. filled with gushing ice
water. There is no culvert underneath at that spot and there were none
of the usual warning flags. The washout must have happened within the
last 24 hours and since the ferry had only opened this morning, no
vehicle had driven over that spot before to report it. Ken and I
placed a cairn in the middle of the road to warn other vehicles.
After a couple of Km after the
Yukon/NWT border, we flagged down a private construction vehicle going
south and explained the situation. They said they would notify the
Yukon road crew. There was a maintenance depot a couple km further
north.
(I later heard from a German RVer
coming into Inuvik that the highway department had closed the road
there until they can fix it)
Next stop was the Peel River Cable
ferry. A front loader was still grading the approach ramp and we
waited for about 20 minutes till they waved us aboard. The last 20
meters to the ramp were very soft and the ferry's ramp was at an angle
to the ground but with enough inertia we made it safely on board. On the
other side there were tracks in the soft ground and the crew member
directed me to follow these tracks.
Now, the trailer has a larger track
width than the Van and was by necessity plowing into the soft soil,
the tires not staying on top. About 20 meters before terra firma, I
got stuck solid. The road crew first tried to pull me out with a 4wd
pick up and a strap, the strap snapped in an instant.
Then they used a small chain attached
to the blade of the BIG Caterpillar D8A. That chain broke quickly. A
really sturdy chain finally did the job and the Cat slowly pulled the
rig out of the mud.
The whole affair was handled very
professionally by the ferry/road crew and neither Van, trailer nor
driver were any worse for the experience.
A couple of km further north we headed
"downtown" Ft McPherson and finally were pointed to the tire shop. It
took awhile till somebody showed up and when it seemed that Ken and
Edith would be helped, I said my farewells and headed north again.
The Mackenzie/Artic Red River crossing
was uneventful, except that the Captain invited me up to the bridge
and we had a nice chat and I had some photo opportunities.
After that crossing it is still 125 km
mostly flat and straight road to Inuvik. Arrived @ 16:00 (NWT is on
Mountain Time). Visitor Center and downtown CG were closed, so I went
back five km south to Jak Park CG. Just 15 Amp electric, no water, no sewer.
2006-06-04 Sunday -
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Photo Gallery
Inuvik NWT
First, a big thank you, to all of you,
who sent their lovely wishes for my birthday.
To those who did not,
make a note, so you remember next year.
Just kiddin', but each year I get older
I seem to need more good wishes.
Second, I cheated yesterday, I left my
poor trailer in the Jak Park by itself and bedded my head for the
night in the Finto Inn, that offered in order of importance:
- wired high speed internet in room
- receiving birthday greetings from friends and loved ones via email
- an endless hot shower
- a delicious muskox burger, accompanied by several bottles of Arctic
Red
- the attention of a nice barmaid
- a nightcap of a double helping of Black Bush
This morning I did some exploration of
the town and its environs. The most unusual feature is how the
buildings are all above ground, sitting on stilts (timber or steel)
driven into the solid part of the permafrost. There is an open (crawl)space
under each building, to have cold air circulate under the building,
otherwise the heat from the building would thaw the permafrost and the
building would tilt, or even topple.
All utilities are lead through 20"
diameter tubes of the "utilidor system" above ground through the
town. Many houses are brightly coloured (please note the NWT/brit
spelling)
Cold today, only +4 Celsius and the JaK
Park is on an exposed hilltop. Two more RVs filled with Germans
arrived at CG, tomorrow we will all move to the downtown CG that is
supposed to open in the morning. Made an appropriate food choice and
prepared a pot of stew.
No use going to town today, almost
everything is closed. The local ordinance says, that a bar can only be
open six Sundays per Year, so most bars save those days for big
holidays and high tourist season.
Watched a couple of Ruffled Grouse do
their mating dance.
I am cozy in my shell and will make it
an in-house movie night.
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