6/27

After Carcross I rode a short 50 miles to Whitehorse. Terry from Calgary has a son who lives in Whitehorse and she was gracious enough to set me up to stay with her son. Another Bunk-a-Biker connection comes thru! 

After a restful night in Whitehorse, I made a quick trip to see the S.S. Klondike, one of Canada’s few remaining steam-powered paddlewheelers from the late 1800s.

And not too far away was Miles Canyon.  Gold Rush prospectors used Miles Canyon as the main thoroughfare when travelling North during the Gold Rush. During that time waterway traffic was so heavy that the Northwest Mounted Police (the first iteration of the RCMP) established an upriver outpost at Canyon City to check boats and ensure their safety travelling through.

After these two quick stops, I hit the road for a long ride to Dawson City.  Since Ken and I parted ways back in Regine, we've kept in touch via text. We would check in with each other every few days to see how things are going and where each other were. I haven’t heard from Ken in a few days since he was up on the Dempster making his way up to Tuktoyaktuk, a small indigenous village at the very north of the Northwest Territory right on the Arctic Ocean. The day I’m riding to Dawson City, I got a message from Ken that after a successful trip up to Tuk, he got stranded in Inuvik for a couple days on his return leg because of a rear tire problem but he’s back on the road and should be in Dawson City the next day. 

I messaged back that I’ll stay another full day in Dawson City so we can meet up again. It’s been two weeks since we separated and I was psyched to see him again and hear about his adventure up on the Dempster, his triumph to Tuk and his breakdown. Also, I found out that he has two new friends he made on the road on his way to Tuk and they will arrive in Dawson City the next day as well. 

Little did I know that Dawson City will be a highlight of my trip.