#28 THE SILVER TRAIL

After a few days of rest and service the RV we leave the Alaska Hwy and go north on the Klondike Trail towards Dawson city 550km/330miles away.
The view changes continually as we parallel the Pelly mountains and Glenlyon Mts. on the right and the Nisling range on the left. We pass Lake Leburge made famous by Robert Service in his poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Further along we run beside the Nordenskol River to the town of Carmacks where the river empties into the mighty Yukon. These rivers played a large part in the history of the northwest. The native people lived beside them, fished them and hunted by them for thousands of years, they were also a means of transportation. When the prospectors found gold and silver in this area the roads were build beside the rivers and along old Indian trails. More recently these river all carried gold and silver to be processed in Whitehorse during the gold rush era a century ago.
The silver trail is a 225km/140mi round trip from the Klondike Hwy at Steward crossing to Keno City pop 20, yup 20 residents, 11 km past Keno City is Keno Hill, once home to one of the worlds richest silver deposit and thousands of miners.
The road starting at Stewart's Crossing has many glimpses of the Steward river, half way to Keno the pavement ends and we drive on a not so well kept gravel road the rest of the way. Keno has more buildings than people and most of them are near 100 years old. Many have been restored, and open to view, some are being restored now and others are in very poor condition. All the building in this area are build with wood and without foundations so is a big task to restore them and make them safe. One newer building was built in the 1960's and made entirely of beer bottles, 32,000 in all.
From Keno City to Keno Hill is 11 km of the roughest, steepest road we had ever travelled. The road was narrow in places touching trees on both sides, there were washout 10-12 inches deep and sharp rocks and big boulders the entire length and nowhere to turn around. I thought of my friend Stuart and just knew he would love to get his 4x4 up here. It took us 45 minutes to climb the 11km to the top.
I hesitate to overuse the word but the view was spectacular. We were totally surrounded by mountains peaks and we could see down into the valleys in three directions, we marvel again at the creative genius of our God. A great sight for sure, but a high price to pay with white knuckles, tense muscles and frayed nerves, and we still had to drive down. We made it and miraculously did not tear off the exhaust system, the generator, wreck the under carriage or puncture a tire . Thank you, Lord.
The are still several small family owned silver mines in operation today, and lots of gold fever prospectors roaming the hills looking to get rich.
Back on the Klondike Hwy we follow the Steward River towards Dawson City.