Day 08: Dawson City, YT to Takhini Hot Springs

Trip Log for 2 Jun 2012

Miles Driven: 326
Sunrise: 04:09 PDT / Sunset: 23:23 PDT

Basically, I am just happy to be out of Dawson. Everything there is dirty and dusty because the roads are gravel. I'm afraid I'm not "sourdough" enought to cut it. Last night was pretty terrible as we got in late, about 23:00, and drove the 25 miles back to town to see if any service stations were open to fix the tire. They weren't so we stayed in the RV park across the street from one that said it opened at 08:00. Ugh, it was noisy, unattractive and just not a fun place to tent camp. We got to sleep about 00:45 after some guy who had been talking on his phone for over an hour finally went to bed. Wes went back to the gambling hall to play a little roulette and managed to win $40 which basically covered the cost to repair the tire this morning, so that was cool.

We were up by 06:30, got packed and paid our $13 for pitching a tent then went over to get the tire repaired but the repair part of the auto store didn't open until 09:00. We grabbed some breakfast and started the unhappy task of cleaning the car from all that dust and dirt, even rinsing the door hinges, wiping down the inside and spraying out the spare tire well. By a little after 11:00, the tire was fixed, the car was mostly clean and we were headed south and away from Dawson.

I should have mentioned this sooner, but we have basically been without cell coverage for three days, since leaving Tok. There doesn't seem to be compatible cell service in Dawson, and now that we are in Whitehorse we have some coverage but it's terribly expensive. Wes and I both got a text message saying international data rates are $15/megabyte so we won't be using that. We also don't have wi-fi at the moment, so this log and tomorrow's will also be delayed. I was able to upload yesterday's this morning by sponging off the wi-fi from the first place we stayed in Dawson.

The drive today was unremarkable really. We grabbed a couple of geocaches and decided to push through all the way to Takhini Hot Springs so we could stay for two nights and have a travel-free day tomorrow to explore Whitehorse. The hot springs are simply awesome! They felt so good and relaxing after yesterday's ordeals and bad night of sleep. It's quite peaceful and beautiful here in the campground among the birch and pine trees with a glimpse of the mountains in the distance. We have a small fire going and will soon retire to our tent with the sun still showing above the trees.

I'm pretty sure this is a cross fox (as in the breed, not that it's mad).

construction worker adjusting an electronic sign — This was so cool; it was a timed light to allow traffic through a one-lane bridge construction.

view of a highway from a ridge — A view of the Klondike Highway from the top of a giant hill we climbed to get a geocache. My calves hurt!

wooden cabin with a sign reading 'Moose Creek Lodge' and an open sign in the window — We ate lunch here at Moose Creek lodge and had a really good, reasonably priced meal.

Yukon River — Another shot of the Yukon river and surrounding forest

close up of a river — Five Finger Rapids—I don't see it.

couple standing with a river and forest behind them — Wes and Rachele pose at the Five Finger Rapids observation deck

gas bar with flags flying above it — There are so many "old time" pumps up here with manual switches and no credit card readers.

sun shining through a clear plastic fence — My artistic shot of the hot springs. I'll try to take one inside the pool area tomorrow.

man sitting on a picnic table in front of a fire at a campsite — Ah, camping in the forest with a good fire!