Pelly Crossing

We split with our group this morning. They are traveling to Tok, Alaska on the Alcan Highway but, we are more adventurous and taking the route to Dawson City and Chicken over the Top of the World Highway. The staff at the visitor center in Whitehorse said they got an email that the road is better this year than it has been in a long time. Good news!

We met our first of many frost heaves today. Many are marked with little red flags on the side of the road. A warning is nice because if you misjudge one you could easily be airborne! Overall the roads have been very good – better than some areas of Jackson!

We are very disappointed in the wildlife! There are signs all along the roads warning drivers of moose, elk and caribou but all we saw were two swans and some ducks floating on a pond, a beaver crossing the road and a fox! It’s false advertisement! I think it should be like the zoo – you see a sign “Bears” – and you walk a short distance and see the bears!

We stopped at Braeburn Lodge for another cinnamon bun – they must be hot sellers up here. This one was as big as a dinner plate - we’ll be nibbling on it for days! The grass runway across the street is dubbed “Cinnamon Bun Airstrip!”

Five Finger Rapids on the Klondike River were a real navigational hazard to the gold prospectors. We saw two tour groups - one from Germany and one from China - on their way to raft down the river.

We are camped for the night on the Pelly River, at Pelly Crossing, about half way to Dawson City – a Selkirk Indian community -  population 269. Roger cooked bacon and blueberry pancakes outside. As we were eating we got to thinking it wasn’t the smartest thing we’ve ever done – what to bears like? – meat and berries!

The car bra is actually black!

This beaver house is so big it looks like a condo!