Skagway to Inuvik

As I mentioned earlier, we were ahead of schedule to meet Amy in Fairbanks, and we had reports that the Dempster Hwy was a mess from continual rains, so we decided to head south from the Campbell Hwy to Atlin and Skagway to give the Dempster some time to dry out. We stopped in Whitehorse for a couple of hours at the Yukon Transportation Museum and the Beringia Museum (about the land bridge over the Bering Sea) and continued to Atlin, BC. We would be stopping again in Whitehorse on the way back to the Dempster Hwy and Inuvik. Pix of Atlin and Skagway were in prior post. Both were very scenic, but Skagway came across as a sort of goldrush disneyland owned by the cruiselines (sorry Skagway, my opinion). While in Skagway, Al and I took the ferry to Juneau for the day, a very worthwhile trip. We saw lots of eagles, whales, seals, waterfalls and glaciers.

Al and I on the Juneau Express Ferry, good sightseeing trip.

 A shot of me at the AK/CN border on our way back to Whitehorse.

Picture in the same area. As I said before the last 20 miles or so to Skagway are pretty spectacular. 

Here is Al headed for the tour of the SS Klondike II in Whitehorse. We both enjoyed this tour very much. The ship is all loaded with cargo, and the passenger and crew areas are filled with items that make the spaces appear to be occupied. A must see in Whitehorse.  After Whitehorse, we continued up the Klondike Hwy to the Dempster Hwy with a stop at the old goldrush town of Keno. There are many active, large goldmining operations going on today, so I guess you could say the new goldrush town of Keno too!

Here is Al at the famous Keno signpost about seven miles above the town. Great views in every direction and the signpost has distances to very far away places, many in Germany. It was on this steep and rough road that I became aware that my left rear airbag was not holding air. This would be a problem down the road with the bump stop being hit repeatedly. No replacement airbag for this Carli setup would be available until I got home. Have to take it easy from here on out.

This picture of the truck at the Arctic Circle on the Dempster shows you that the rain had not let up and the road was not particularly dry.

There are two ferry crossings on the Dempster, this is the one across the Mackenzie River, Inuvik another 130 km.

The "Igloo Church" as it is locally known in Inuvik. Inuvik was about 3,500 population, mostly Inuit peoples. This would be the farthest north that we would get on our trip. It is the farthestnorth you can drive in Canada.

Al and I camping at a rock quarry on the Dempster Hwy. From here we would make our wy to Dawson City and then over into Alaska to the town of Eagle, home of Ft Egbert (1899).