June 11, 2026 Dawson City, Yukon Day #1

Our alarm awakened us at 4:30 a.m., so we could put our luggage in the hall by 4:45 a.m. for the luggage transfer to Fairbanks airport. At 5 a.m. Fairbanks’ temperature was 8°C, there were a few small clouds in an otherwise sunny sky and very little wind.

Our group of 37, including Zelzen, arrived at Fairbanks airport just after 7 a.m. for our Air North charter flight to Dawson City, Yukon, Canada.

We delayed breakfast until the airport coffee shop to work on yesterday’s events as it was late when we returned to the hotel last night and we had the early start this morning. We managed more than an hour before meeting to go to the airport. An hour after we departed from the hotel lobby, the group had been transferred to Fairbanks International Airport, collected our luggage, that was waiting by the airport doors, were led to the checkin counter by Zelzen to check the luggage to go to the plane, received our boarding passes, found our way to security and uneventfully pass through the area, arrive into the gates area, which had a total of six gates and we were drinking our coffees and pastry at the Gate 6 waiting area. We made use of the next hour of waiting to work on yesterday’s events for the blog and continued on the plane for about an hour, but still had not finished.

Even though the boarding pass assigned a seat to us. We were told by Zelzen and the Air North staff and upon boarding the plane that we could choose to sit wherever we wanted. The whole Air North Boeing 737 had been chartered for our group. Less than one third of the seats were occupied. To board the plane, by the doors to the jetway, two American Customs officers checked our passports and boarding passes.

Our plane departed Fairbanks ten minutes early at 10:05 a.m. for the one hour flight to Dawson City, Yukon. After landing the plane stopped near some one storey buildings, a staircase was rolled into place. We descended the steps and again followed Zelzen who led us about 200 meters to a large administration trailer that contained two Canadian Customs and Immigration officials. They explained that since we were Canadian they would not be stamping our passports. We exited the trailer and walked 100 meters toward the waiting Holland America motor coach, driven by Mavis from Texas. Everyone was processed and on the bus within 20 minutes. We did not need to collect our luggage. The luggage was in our room when we arrived at the Holland America Dawson City Inn around noon, after Mavis’ 15 minute drive to the downtown and a short tour of the main street and secondary streets of Dawson City. We passed the Sourdough bar where their (in)famous Yukon Jack cocktail is served included a petrified human “sour” toe. It is a tradition similar to Newfoundland’s tradition for a visitor to be “Screeched in” where you kiss the cod.

Only the main business street, Front Street, is paved. It has well maintained weathered boardwalks for walking. Most of the town’s streets are about 33 meter wide dirt tracks with boardwalks on one side. The boardwalks are not easy to navigate for anyone with mobility issues. At intersections, the boardwalk disappears sometimes with an earthen slope to get to the road but sometimes a 10 to 12 centimetre drop. During winter, even though the streets are ploughed, with each ploughing the width of the streets narrow.

The temperature in Dawson City was a comfortable 17°C with very little wind and a few clouds in the sky. We spent almost two more hours on the blog and pictures before completing yesterday’s entry and marching across the street to the main lobby where the Wi-Fi signal is much stronger to post the blog. We then navigated Front street to buy Chapman’s ice cream (a Canadian company) at Klondike Ice Cream and Candy. On the front porch of the store we met eight others from our group enjoying ice cream cones. We walked up to the Information Center just four blocks away to get a map of Dawson City before returning to the yellow main Inn building for the 3:45 p.m. Klondike Stories Driving Tour. While we waited we heard other guests lamenting spending the past three hours rearranging flights home.

Unfortunately, theHAL ship Zaandam encountered propulsion problems on June 9 forcing the ship to dismiss its itinerary and return to Vancouver for repairs, that are supposed to be fixed by today. The land tour passengers were advised today that the Zaandam ship portion of their tour has been cancelled. They were to rendezvous in Skagway with the cruise that left Vancouver on June 10. That itinerary will now only be visiting Ketchikan and not making a stop in Skagway. The passengers will receive compensation of a full refund on their ship portion and some other compensation. However, they spent the early afternoon in Dawson City rearranging their flight back home from Skagway rather than Vancouver and four days earlier than planned.

The driver for Klondike Stories Driving Tour was Jesse. There were ten passengers that fit nicely into a small bus. The first stop was by the river and we walked the 20 meters to the outlook. Jesse gave us some history of the location. Dawson City is located on the Yukon River at the point where it is joined by the Klondike River. The Yukon River is the third largest river in North America. This confluence, traditionally called Tr’ochak had been a summer fishing ground for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people for thousands of years. Th area was flood prone. In 1988 a dyke was built and even a 21st century flood caused little damage as the dyke which held even though the water almost reached the top of the dyke. The dyke is a pedestrian and cycling path now. Yukon was created in 1898 and North West Mounted Police were sent to the territory capital, Dawson City, just months before the Gold Rush. Dawson City remained the territory capital until 1953. Before Dawson’s first bank opened in 1898, everything was paid for in gold nuggets and gold dust, carried around in caribou skin pouches called “pokes”. Prices in Dawson were so high during the gold rush, even a nail cost twenty-five cents. The Klondike Gold Rush was the world’s largest gold rush growing Dawson from a village to a community of over 40,000 in less than a year. The city was named after George Mercer Dawson, Director of the Geological Survey of Canada and leader of the expedition that explored the region in 1887, with the purpose of surveying the Alaska boundary at the Yukon River. Tex Richard, who went on to build Madison Square Gardens and start the New York Rangers, worked as a bartender in Dawson during the Klondike Gold Rush.

We drove past the Jack London museum, thought to be partially constructed from his abdomen wilderness cabin and four years later by hunters. Pieces were bought back to Dawson City and some went to a Jack London museum in California. Further down the street was the Robert Service museum. They are famous early 20th century Canadian writer and poet, respectively. The Robert Service museum is across the street from the house where journalist and writer Pierre Burton spent his childhood. We drove down Front street past lots where a dozen saw mills operated over 100 years ago. Lumber was needed for building and the many sternwheeler plying the river. They used a cord of work per hour to propel them. Jesse uses four cords of wood to heat his house in Dawson’s seven month long winter. The forests were clear cut over one mile on either side of the river to supply the saw mills and the demand for wood from Whitehorse to the Arctic Circle. We drove past the completely fire ravaged remains of the 1898 wooden Westminster Hotel, Yukon’s iconic tavern, known locally as “The Pit” that burned on May 17, less than a month ago. Jesse gave us a lot of information about Dawson’s history.

We walked over to a Greek restaurant for dinner called the Drunken Goat. The special was Chicken Souvlaki with roasted potatoes, lemon rice and greek salad. The cost for two was less than $100 including a glass of Oatmeal Stout and the tip.

We walked a few blocks to take pictures of the Robert Service museum, Pierre Burton’s childhood home, Jack London’s cabin and the Dawson City Museum , just a 10 minute walk from the hotel. We also took a picture of the thousand years old Moosehide Slide.

Total Steps 9,649