This morning we got up and had breakfast at the hotel and headed out on a rafting trip on the Klondike River. We started just outside of Dawson and floated back into where the Klondike joins the Yukon in Dawson. We were the only ones signed up for the trip so it was just one raft with us and our tour guide Sarah. She knew the river well and was very nice. Like most of the kids who work for HAL at the Westmark locations, she was here for the summer.
We had a great time on the trip. We saw several immature Bald Eagles in the early part of the trip. They don't have their white heads for about 4 years.
The views on the river were amazing.
We stopped along the bank and had a snack of fruit and a sausage roll. Mom found a nice spot to sit on a log with berrels which are big bulbs that develop in the branch. People use them as decorative accents on the walls or as porch posts.
Here is another view of the river.
We came upon a mature Bald Eagle sitting by the river.
Also a Red Breasted Merganser and her babies. We get these kinds of ducks at the Jersey Shore but never see the babies.
We passed a village that was built by the local tribesmen. The houses are “cradle to grave” houses where the walls are removable if you want to create a larger living are before you have kids, or put in walls to create bedrooms. The halls are also all wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair when that time comes.
We noticed ladders on the roofs of all the houses and they are actually required if you have a house with a chimney because Dawson once burned down. If your chimney causes a fire you are supposed to climb up and put it out yourself.
In the afternoon we took an included paddle wheel cruise. not much of interest there, a few pictures from along the Yukon river.
There was a person who built a house along the river and he has lived there for 17 years. He has quite an interesting raft that he uses. His name is caveman Joe.
We headed back to Dawson and had some dinner and took a final walk into town and had some ice cream on Front street, which is the Main Street in town. It is a dirt road like all of the other roads in town. About every 3 weeks they dump more gravel on the roads and then scrape them flat. This keeps them flat and passable. Here is a picture of Front street.
We leave early tomorrow for Whitehorse, our last stop before we head to Fraser, where we catch the train down into Skagway where we meet out cruise ship. One last long day on the bus and one last night in a hotel. Then we will be relaxing in our verandah room on the cruise ship for the remainder of our journey.