Day 13 July 14, 2025 Somewhere on the Dempster Highway Yukon to Eagle Plains Yukon 69 miles
We found a note in the woodie this morning. It said we were crazy but great. The person stopped at 1:00 am and took a picture.
The new sound we heard yesterday coming up the hill is still with us. It seems to only happen when the car is in first or second gear and working hard.
We ran out of gas about 20 miles from Eagle Plains where there is a gas station. That is further than we expected to get. We were planning on running out of gas. The slower speed makes for better gas mileage. When we filled we got 20.5 miles to the gallon. Gas was $6.59 US a gallon.
The dust today is really bad. When the trucks go by we have to come to a stop because its like dense fog. Surprisingly the bushes along the side of the road are not covered in dust. Not much wind at the moment either so the dust just hangs there. Sometimes you can see it hanging in the air quite a distance from the road.
We arrived in Eagle Plains about noon. So that makes 3 hours to come 69 miles. Even the few good parts of the road don’t allow you to go very fast. Everyone has told us to go slowly. They were correct.
Rob checked and we can get a room for the night. Check in is at 3:00 so you can’t go to the room before that. We decided to eat lunch in the restaurant. We both ordered fish and chips. When the meal arrived there were three large pieces of cod and a big pile of fries.
A man and his grandson eventually came in and sat at the table next to us. We had a wonderful conversation with them. A big rain storm came through while we were eating. The water coming out of the rain gutter was more than our kitchen faucet on full force. It rained like that for about 10 minutes. It stopped for another 10 and then we saw the flash of lightning and an extremely loud clap of thunder. This routing continued for about 45 minutes. At one of the breaks the man and his grandson left to continue on their way. He said to at least look in the bar.
Well the bar is something else. The main light in the middle of the room is made with moose antlers. Local animal heads are hung around the room. An eagle is flying near the bar. A caribou and small bear are in one corner. Various antiques are also hung on the walls.
One of the ceiling tiles in the restaurant is bulging from all the rain water. We were sure it was going to break but it never did. We avoided walking under it when we left the room.
We got our key at 3:00 pm. Went to the room to take showers and a nap. After our nap Rob got our stuff from the car and we did laundry. Sure glad for that one. We actually used the hotel’s machines. The commercial washer is not easy to figure out. We had to have help. The only available person was the bar tender. He did get it to work but said that was not something he usually did. Turns out he is very busy. He works the bar, the hotel reception, waits tables and helps Americans who can’t run a washing machine. We tipped him appropriately.
Spoffords Travel 