My Trails

Can you see Minnie below?

I found a hiking trail up the road a bit from my campsite. The trail cuts up steeply along the hill and comes out high above the river. From the top there are nice views in three directions. You can tell that the mountains are not as majestic in this area as they are along the coast but it’s still pretty in its own way.

I explored a back road behind Mayo that took me out to a gravel bar beside the Mayo River. I grabbed my gold pan and did a couple test pans but didn’t find anything big enough to keep.

Dredging the river.

Later in the afternoon I talked with one of the inspectors working on the river a few hundred feet from my camp. Every day they have an excavator digging out the river and loading it into dump trucks. The inspector said that the town has had some flooding because of ice building in the river and they think that dredging it deeper will help with the flow.

I told him that they should be running that river gravel through a sluice to get the gold out of it. He laughed and said they were joking about the same thing. He said that one of the machine operators had tried a pan and found a little bit. They have been piling the dirt up behind the campground so I may sneak down there later and try my luck.

A lot of sunshine!

One of three buildings

I road Honda to Keno City today. Keno is 35 miles northeast of Mayo, at the end of a gravel and dirt road. The loose gravel road made it seem longer than 35 miles and it took me almost an hour to get there. I was bundled up in three jackets because the temperature was in the 60’s, but I kept warm by keeping my speed down. Whenever I met another vehicle I would have to stop until the dust settled.

Keno City was founded when silver was discovered in 1919. The silver ore was one of the richest deposits in the world, and the town of Keno and the town of Elsa nearby, grew with the mine. There is still some mining in the area but the town of Elsa didn’t survive the closure of the original mine.

Photos and artifacts

There is a large and diverse museum in Keno, and that is what I went to see. It took me two hours to browse through all three buildings that house the museum. There were artifacts, photos, old mining equipment and everything else you can imagine.

Old dozer

Before silver was discovered in the area, gold prospectors took many ounces of gold in the rivers near Keno and Mayo, but the gold was small and not as rich as other areas so the miners moved on. I talked with the manager of the museum and asked if I would be able to pan for gold in the rivers. He said no one would care. He even told me of a guy that lives up the road that would let me pan in his stream and show me where some good places are. I didn’t have my gold pan so I thanked him anyway.

Good but expensive coffee

I left Whitehorse this morning and drove north on the Klondike Highway for about 200 miles. It drizzled most of the morning with heavy fog in the mountains. The road was not too bad but once in a while there were a few rough spots. I don’t mind the rough spots near as much as the dips and raised pavement; those places give Minnie a good rocking and rolling.

Yukon River

I stopped at a couple places to read signs. One interesting place was a view of Yukon River where it passed through some rapids. I think they called it the Five Fingers because of the rocks in the river creating the passages. Many rafts and boats were smashed while navigating through there in the gold rush. Later they used cables to pull riverboats upstream through this section of rapids.

Dale by the river

I’m now just outside the little town of Mayo in a town park called McIntyre Park. The park only has 5 sites, but Minnie and one other RV are all that are here. It sits right on the bank of the Mayo River. Tomorrow I will explore on Honda. The Milepost Guidebook devotes two pages to this town and Keno City, a few miles up the road, so I should have plenty to see for a couple days.

I saw three more bear today – a mother and two cubs. I had to come to a complete stop because the cubs were playing in the road. Here is something that puzzles me: the mother and one cub were black, the other cub was brown. Do black bears breed with brown bears?

They have vinegar here which I love on frys!

There was a strong wind this morning but it was out of the south and I was headed north. It’s not too often I have a tailwind, so Minnie climbed up over the pass with ease. I stopped at a few overlooks that I missed on the way down but didn’t linger very long in the cold, biting wind. Even people on tour busses jumped out to take pictures and scurried back aboard in a hurry.

There were two areas of construction. The first one I came to had signs up that the road was closed. That was rather discouraging until some of us talked to the girl with a walkie talkie and found out they were doing some blasting up ahead and the road would only be closed another 15 minutes. On another stretch of gravel road construction I met a SUV that threw a stone that hit my windshield with a smack. I thought I had escaped damage until I stopped and noticed the dime-size star of cracked glass. Bummer!

When I was 20 miles from Whitehorse, I stopped at a place called Robinson Siding. It was built back during the gold rush days to let two trains pass on their way to and from Skagway. I was walking back looking at the junk laying around and a big black bear came walking down the tracks. He/she stopped and looked at me for a moment then slowly walked into the woods. I didn’t see any cubs around but I lost all interest in walking any further back into the woods where some old buildings stood.

I found a laundromat not far from the Walmart in Whitehorse, ate at McDonald’s, filled Minnie’s propane, water, and gas tank, and stocked up on groceries at Walmart. This Walmart has a terrible selection of groceries. Everyone says to go down to the supermarket to buy food but I found enough here. And besides, they are nice enough to let us park for free so I did my part to buy in their store.

I noticed a home and hardware store a short block from Walmart on my way back from the laundromat, so after I parked I walked back to see if they had the parts I was looking for. I found the brackets, bolts, and glue I need to mount my solar panels on top of Minnie, so all I need now is a nice place to do it and some warm weather.

This picture has nothing to do with Alaska. My Daughter Karen and Grandson Noah on Graduation Day!

Wish I could have been there!

My plan is to head back into Canada tomorrow. I need to do laundry and fill my propane before heading north again. I will probably spend the night at Whitehorse Walmart after taking care of a few chores, and then get an early start Tuesday. I’m thinking I would like to head towards Dawson City before going straight up the Alaskan Highway. Following the Yukon River is the route the gold seekers traveled, and I can follow it along and see the history along the way.

The temperature here in Skagway has taken a down turn. From a balmy 85 degrees with high humidity two days ago, a strong wind moved in and dropped the temps into the 50s today. There are some nice walks near my camp and I get out and stroll around each day. The park service has been making walking paths through the remains of the Dyea ghost town and each day I go down to see what new signs they have put up.

This campground really filled up over the weekend. There were only two sites left when I looked around Saturday morning. One by one they all pulled out today, and besides me only one other RV is still here. It is funny to watch the Blackbirds swarming the vacated camps, looking for scraps and crumbs left by the campers.

I hope my next stop will be at a warmer time. I like to get out and explore on Honda but not when it’s 50 degrees.