Chilkoot

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Travels Without Miranda, #3: Flying from Las Vegas, Nevada, to the Grand Canyon, Arizona

My first morning in Las Vegas had me being driven down the Strip to McCarran airport in a stretch limo.

There, I climbed into a tiny helicopter that took me over the Mojave desert, within view of Mead Lake and the Hoover dam, all the way to the Grand Canyon. We landed within it and were given time to explore and enjoy a champagne brunch.

Let’s just say this was a more luxe experience than I normally go for. I was until then a backpacker, a camper, a youth hosteler, not someone who stays at a nice hotel and drinks fancy drinks by a pool lined with palm trees! And I most certainly was a frugal traveler, not one who would do such extravagant things as take a half-day helicopter ride from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon. Nope!

I’m not sure what came over me during my planning of my southwest road trip. I’ll plead mental exhaustion, what with the stress of having lost my dad earlier that year. I needed to be pampered and catered-to, to do things just for fun to reawaken my zest for life. I didn’t know if I’d ever come back to that part of the US and I was so close to the Grand Canyon. The helicopter jaunt sounded like the perfect way to see the Canyon with the time I had available to me. It just about broke my budget, but it is now one of my most cherished memories.

Rather than taking photos during this jaunt, I made full use of the video setting on my camera, so the following images are stills from my movies, explaining the poor quality. Unfortunately, the second half of my Grand Canyon recordings have been lost due to reshuffling between several computers. I have managed to save a picture of me at the bottom of the canyon, proof enough that I was there even if someone did tell me that the image seems to be photoshopped. 😀

a glimpse of the Strip

a glimpse of the Strip

Lake Mead

Lake Mead

Mojave desert

Mojave desert

Colorado River and the Grand Canyon

Colorado River and the Grand Canyon

a non-photoshopped picture of me at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

a non-photoshopped picture of me at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

Sometimes you end up in a place where you get the chance to experience an incredible adventure. Do it and @%@$ the budget. I applied this lesson when I decided to hike the Chilkoot Pass at a time when I financially had no business doing so.

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Fall Colours

I was happy to get today off, but not so much as when I realised that, hey, my day off coincided with my one year anniversary of being on the road! I didn’t hesitate to pack up a picnic and head back up the Dempster to Tombstone to see the fall colours! I was a little bit late as the colours are fading, but I did manage to get a few good shots. I also decided to rehike the Grizzly Creek Trail, sans 30lb pack, and discovered along the way that I’m sick and tired of climbing UP and I need a break from climbing mountains. 😀 To add to my disappointment, the pictures I took from the summit are all washed out and don’t do justice to the landscape. Bah. 🙂

En route, I stopped at the Klondike River Lodge for a coffee and ran into my Chilkoot guides yet again! Not much later, I ran into my cyclist friends whom I’d met on the Top of the World highway. What a small world for such big country!

On the way back, I picked up a young guy I’d met at the camping this week. He looks like a complete punk, but he had wowed me with his impeccable manners. I hate to judge a book by its cover, but I wouldn’t have picked him up had I not met him before. I’m glad I did because he had the funniest story to tell. We somehow got on the subject of stupid questions tourists asked and his favourite was “What do you guys do with the ice bridge?” To which he replied: “We take a big saw and cut it up into chunks. Every resident of Dawson has to keep at least three chunks in their freezer all summer and then the bridge is reassembled the next winter.” Hee hee!

It was a grey, drizzly day, but, still, what a spectacular anniversary!

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This map showing the elevation change for the Grizzly Creek Trail was not up when I first hiked here. Had it been, I'm not sure I would have ventured up with my 30lb pack! It's actually not that far off from the elevation change from Sheep Camp to the summit, but it's STEEPER!

This map showing the elevation change for the Grizzly Creek Trail was not up when I first hiked here. Had it been, I’m not sure I would have ventured up with my 30lb pack! It’s actually not that far off from the elevation change from Sheep Camp to the summit, but it’s STEEPER!

there was another one of these guys hanging out by itself in the bushes

there was another one of these guys hanging out by itself in the bushes

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okay, this was worth the climb :)

okay, this was worth the climb 🙂

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An Evening at Gertie’s

Last night, I met at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s the cyclists I picked up on Friday.

We ended up staying for all three shows, at 8:30, 10:30, and midnight. We were there four and a half hours! I wish I had known that it’s okay to take pictures of the shows.

The 8:30 wound up being my favourite. It’s the most ‘cancan-y’ of the three, with lots of swirling petticoats and leg kicks. The 10:30 wasn’t bad, but it was more song than dance. The midnight show was disappointing. I’d been told it was the most flamboyant and naughty show, but I found it less flamboyant and naughty than the 10:30.

What amused me the most about the evening was how many people came into Gertie’s and gravitated to my table. I didn’t realise how many folks I’m friendly with! Even Mark and Victor, the guides from the Chilkoot, walked in at one point, fresh off the Yukon River from guiding a canoe trip! Talk about an authentic gold rush experience; discussing our slog over the Chilkoot at Diamond Tooth Gerties!

I hadn’t had a night out in too long, so a couple of pints, some pizza, entertainment, and conversation were just what I needed. The best part is that thanks to my season pass, the evening only cost me twenty dollars. Of course, it helps that I didn’t gamble!

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The Top of the World Highway (and Chicken, Alaska)

Several things came together this week to give me an excuse to drive the Top of the World Highway from West Dawson to Chicken, Alaska today!

My neighbour is moving to Anchorage and wanted a spotter behind her rig (a very nice Airstream) in case she ran into problems on this reputably rough road. She had driven the Top of the World before and knew that there is pavement shortly after Chicken and that Chicken is doable as a day trip from Dawson. So, not having had a day off since I got back from the Chilkoot and wanting to go to Alaska in memory of my dad who would have been 60 on the 24th, I found myself with ample excuses to go for a drive. Dad loved to go for drives and he would have enjoyed today’s trip so much!

The Canadian portion of the road is easy, mostly paved with a few gravel sections. The US side is essentially a dirt road, but we got lucky in that it had just been graded. Lately, people have been arriving at the campground from that road with their nerves fully frayed, but there was none of that today. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but I preferred a bit of mist and drizzles to having to keep my eyes glued to the road!

We left at about 10:30 and got lucky at the ferry, being able to drive on immediately. This was my first time since childhood going onto a ferry with a vehicle and it was good practise for this fall when I go to Vancouver Island! It was a most peculiar sensation to be moving forward without pressing any pedals!

It took us two and a half hours to get to the border at Poker Creek. She sailed through surprisingly quickly. I was asked where home is and it was lovely to not have to skirt around the question and reply “Dawson City.” He asked me where I was going and then why when I replied “Chicken”, shrugging when I said “Just to say I’ve been.”

It’s 40 miles from the border to Chicken and it took us almost two hours to get there as we followed two identical fifth wheels that exercised an overabundance of caution (not that I can blame them). We stopped at the new gift shop to get a free chicken (think keychain-sized plucked rubber chicken!) promised to us if we presented a brochure signed by the manager here. We then continued on to ‘downtown Chicken’, which includes a couple of very nice outhouses, a kitschy gift shop, a saloon, a chicken coop, and a café offering pretty good grub. Chicken has a year round population of 15, no flush toilets or phones, children are home schooled, the injured are medivacced to Fairbanks, and the old grump has left town. It’s an interesting place that had me hearing dueling banjos, if you get my drift…

The drive back was much quicker, even though I stopped at the pitifully few pull-outs to get pictures and to marvel that I was there, in mainland Alaska. It’s been an incredible summer!

The re-entry into Canada was easy as the border guard was a French-starved québécoise more interested in chatting about how long Dawson has been home than in whether I was trying to smuggle anything into the country. She did get around to asking me if I had any booze (no). It was surreal to cross from Alaska to Yukon in French!

About 75km shy of Dawson, I passed a couple of cyclists who seemed to be having tire issues. At first, they tried to convince me that they were fine, but the more they thought about my offer of a lift, the more it obviously appealed to them. They had doubts that all their gear would fit in my car, but I had every confidence it would. Check out the pictures for proof! 😀

We had a good chat as we continued on to Dawson, amused by the added serendipity that they were picked up by a fellow French speaker (he’s French, she’s German). They had planned to camp in West Dawson, but were happy to come here, to Bonanza Gold, when I told them that we have hot showers and laundry facilities!

The ferry crossing took no time at all, but it was 8:30 when we got back to Dawson. I suggested that getting food would be a good idea and they offered to treat me since I’ll be driving them around a bit tomorrow to find parts for their bikes. I think the dump will be a good place to start looking!

Today exemplified why I love this life so much; each morning is full of possibility for adventure and new encounters. Days like this just didn’t happen when I was doing the daily grind in Gatineau.

In the toad, crossing the Yukon. My first time since childhood on a ferry in a vehicle!

In the toad, crossing the Yukon. My first time since childhood on a ferry in a vehicle!

Slowly climbing above the treeline.

Slowly climbing above the treeline.

Slowly entering tundra.

Slowly entering tundra.

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So pleased I finally caught a Welcome to Alaska sign!

So pleased I finally caught a Welcome to Alaska sign!

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Boundary, just after the border. In summer, lodging, gas, and food can be found here, but it was closed today.

Boundary, just after the border. In summer, lodging, gas, and food can be found here, but it was closed today.

I had this image of a village of chickens...

I had this image of a village of chickens…

entering downtown Chicken

entering downtown Chicken

Downtown Chicken, part one

Downtown Chicken, part one

Downtown Chicken, part two. Of two.

Downtown Chicken, part two. Of two.

Chicken's chickens. And duck.

Chicken’s chickens. And duck.

Look at those purple mountains!

Look at those purple mountains!

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This is why it's called 'Fireweed.' The flower is bright purple in the summertime and turns to these fiery shades in the fall.

This is why it’s called ‘Fireweed.’ The flower is bright purple in the summertime and turns to these fiery shades in the fall.

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the edge of the world

the edge of the world

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I told them everything would fit if we put one bike on the roof.

I told them everything would fit if we put one bike on the roof.

They were amazed at my ability to gauge how much I can fit in my car. Apparently, the limit is one bike on the roof, one in the trunk, two people in front, one person in back, two huge backpacks in the trunk, and small items scattered throughout!

They were amazed at my ability to gauge how much I can fit in my car. Apparently, the limit is one bike on the roof, one in the trunk, two people in front, one person in back, two huge backpacks in the trunk, and small items scattered throughout!