I don’t believe in coincidences and today was a perfect example of why.
I was offered the morning off from work and took it to catch up on things at home. This made it possible for me to have an earlier lunch than usual, which put me at the café just in time to run into friends I made in Inuvik who were just going through town for the day. We had lunch together then met up at Gerties tonight for drinks.
Needless to say, it’s been a great day!
I went to the free store this afternoon not to ‘shop’ but to drop off yet another large basket of clothes and other items. It’s been a great summer for decluttering and while I still have more to do, I’m just about ready to completely take the rig apart and reorganize it.
I’ve made serious inroads into mastering the dang wardrobe and am proud that I gave away about twice as much clothes this summer as I brought home. I did manage to score a full new wardrobe for less than $20 this year, which made it easier to give away older pieces I was tired of wearing.
I’m happy to report that the wardrobe now looks 100 times better than this!
Next up on the list is to go through my books. I have so many free sources for books in Dawson that it’s been easy to go overboard and bring home more than I’ll ever have time to read. With my iPod Touch doubling as an e-reader, there’s no sense in keeping anything but the most special print books on hand.
I expect to have a lot of time on my hands in October, so more decluttering, organizing, and decorating will be my priorities when I’m not working. After working seven days a week for four months, it’ll be nice to have time to get back on track with my homekeeping duties!
Parks Canada’s Bear Creek Compound is somewhat legendary in Dawson as few have stepped foot in it. Today, for the first time in at least seven years, and possibly for the last time, the compound was opened to the public for a few hours. Checking it out seemed like a good use of my afternoon break!
From the Parks Canada website:
Bear Creek is an industrial complex of some 65 buildings and related structures located in the Klondike River Valley, 10 kilometres east of Dawson City. From 1905 to 1966, Bear Creek was the Klondike headquarters for corporate mining interests, acting as the administrative and repair centre for the goldfield’s dredging operations. These huge dredges worked the goldfields, replacing the small individual miner of the gold rush and ensuring the viability of gold mining as a profitable business up until 1966.
(For a refresher course on dredges, go back to my post about Dredge No. 4.)
Parks Canada acquired the complex in 1975 but because of environmental concerns could not do too much with it. One of the biggest hazards is the mercury that was used in the gold extraction process. The cost of rehabilitating the site to make it safe for the public would be prohibitive. Today, Parks Canada mostly uses the buildings for storage, but there is one garage left for repairing big machinery.
Visiting the compound was an extraordinary experience. The majority of the buildings are in some stage of decay, mostly advanced, and many have artifacts left in situ, as though time has stood still. It reminded me a lot of touring Alcatraz, actually, and the weight of history was incredibly present.
the mess hall
the floors in the messhall undulate like fields of prairie wheat
Parks Canada lumber storage
the most impressive building–you open a very heavy and thick door into a dark and earthy-smelling tunnel. My camera’s flash did too good a job here!
exterior of the root cellar
tailing
that yellow never fails to take my breath away!
this machine was cast in Ohio!
decay
this cavernous building once held all manner of giant machinery
a giant transformer
permafrost wreaking havoc in the tin shop
55 cents a gallon!
this building is obviously in modern use. 🙂
incredible!
this tunnel is just about tall enough for me to crouch in!
coming apart at the seams
exterior of the steno office
staff housing (doesn’t look much better from the exterior than any of the other buildings!)
this shed holds ‘props’
the engineer’s house
this house surprised me with the number and size of rooms it contains, as well as the ample storage
toilet room off a massive bathroom
news article about Neil Armstrong!
1962 calendar (I suspect it was planted here; seems in too good shape)
information about Bear Creek
blank forms
wheelbarrow dug out of the permafrost
the staircase inside the welcome building is in surprisingly good shape
the interior of the engineering building is in excellent condition
adding machine
I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to tour the Bear Creek compound. What a way to conclude my stay in the Klondike!