After watching the Salmon sorting on Sunday morning, we headed North on the Klondike Highway toward Dawson Creek. The weather started out cloudy and a little rainy and slowly improved as the day wore on. We made a couple of stops for hiking and photos en route, and stopped to camp near Moose Creek, about 100 miles shy of Dawson City.

The five finger rapids were negotiated by the big paddle steamers using a winch and a cable fixed to the rocks.

In just 20-odd km of unpaved road (due to road construction) that we’ve encountered thus far, our windshield is in need of replacing. One of the rocks actually left bits of glass on the dashboard. Fortunately the impact was near the bottom, and I’m hoping the duct tape I put of over the hole will keep most of the water out of the car should it rain.

Maybe this will be instead of flat tires?

The next day we arrived in Dawson City around mid-afternoon. The town really does feel like it’s at the end of the world. It seems to be populated mostly by hippie-miners. I didn’t know such a thing existed, but apparently it does. We spent some time in the visitor’s center inquiring about the Dempster Highway. It will probably take us 2-3 days to drive the 500 miles to Inuvik. The next two days are forecast to be cold and rainy / snowy. Apparently the unpaved road is dusty when dry and slippery when wet. Pick your poison.

The other thing about Dawson City is that it’s probably the closest thing to an old west town I’ve ever seen. The streets are unpaved, and there are boardwalks for sidewalks.

Downtown Dawson City

At our campsite we met three guys who had just returned from Inuvik. They towed a fairly large camper, which was completely covered with dirt from the road. They said they had three flat tires during their trip, including one that blew out, ruining the rim. To be fair they had 8 tires to start with (including the ones on their trailer) so I’m hoping we’ll fair better. We only have one spare, but we do have an air compressor and a tire repair kit. We’ll see if I remember anything from the tire repair demo I saw at the overland expo two years ago!

We’re planning to set out for Inuvik on August 20. We likely won’t have internet access until we arrive in 2-3 days, but the Sparks Tracker should stay up to date by virtue of our spot beacon!