Day 25 July 26, 2024 Dawson City Yukon to Pelly Crossing Yukon 156 miles
We got a later than normal start today. We didn’t leave Dawson City until nearly 10:00 am after a Visitor Center stop and a fuel stop. We wanted to ask about the road to Deadhorse since we heard yesterday that it might be closed. No reported closures which is good. The ladies at the Visitor Center came out to have their pictures taken near the car.
Dawson City is an old mining town that has now become a tourist attraction. Many of the buildings have been restored or built to look like the original. We saw a tour group in town in addition to the First Nation folks. On the way out of town we noticed that one of the campgrounds was full of Airstream trailers. They must have been the other tour group. With as many lodging options as there are tour groups and festivals must be common. We learned later that the weekend before was a music festival. They told us in Tok that many tour groups fly into Dawson, look around and then fly into Fairbanks to continue a tour.
Out of town are all the dredge piles. They go for at least a couple of miles long and quarter mile wide. The river must be deeper and wider than originally. One subdivision was built on the dredge piles and was called Dredge Subdivision. Didn’t sound very appealing.
We saw three bicyclists again today. These didn’t have chase cars and were fully loaded to spend the night on the road.
The area we are driving through is called the Tintina Fault. It extends over 600 miles through British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Alaska. It is the longest fault in North America and runs parallel to the Yukon River. Lots of migrating birds follow this path. Gravel Lake is part of the route. Rare birds can be seen here in the spring and fall. There was one vintage Robin here today.
The trees are finally including types other than black spruce. The large right-of-ways are full of brush on average three feet tall. If there are milepost signs they are well hidden.this makes following The Milepost book more difficult.
We encountered a few miles of gravel road. The rest of the highway has been fair to good asphalt. One section was newly redone because it didn’t have potholes yet. Plus The Milepost said to prepare for rough road.
Well we came to the construction. It went for 7-8 miles. This will be a major rerouting of the existing highway. In one place they are making a huge cut in the mountain. It’s going to be wider and shorter than before. They are running pilot cars in both directions. Must have something to do with the length of the construction because there don’t seem to be that many vehicles.
We filed with gas at Stewart Crossing and then had lunch. An electronic sign is warning of wildfire all the way to Pelly Crossing. Another vehicle stopped to look at the car. They had just come through the area and said not a problem. He said that the town of Jasper north of Banff and Lake Louise lost over 300 structures. That is so sad because it is a beautiful place.
We could see a few smoking spots across the river and eventually small spots right bye the road. The fire has been much worse because both sides of the road had burned recently. We don’t know the size of the fire but it looks like lots of acres.
We arrived in Pelly Crossing about 3:30. Filled with gas again and went into the grocery store we a salad and some ice tea. A sign near the beverages said they refuse to sell energy drinks to anyone under the age of sixteen without parental permission and the parent must be present.
Across the highway is a free campground so we went over and found a spot. It is right near the river with a view of the bridge. Only badge thing are the little bees. No stings yet but there is still time.
We lost a nut on one of the tailgate hinges on the car. Not a show stopper. Just need to put it on the list for when we get home. Bailing wire is so nice to temporarily fix things.
Spoffords Travel 