Day 25 - Carmacks, YK

Today we are heading to the small town of Carmacks, YK which is only a 2 hour drive. The road started out nice and straight but quickly became twisty turny if that's a word. I think my top speed was 80 km/hr. That's okay its all about the adventure.

In 1998, on the July long weekend campers failed to properly extinguish their campfire near Little Fox River, just south of this point. The fire danger was extreme. Strong winds and high temperatures took the small blaze and quickly whipped it into a major crown fire. Efforts continued all summer to contain the fire. It stayed alive throughout the winter smoldering underground. The fire was finally extinguished in the spring. The fire cost was $2.2 million.

Carmacks is located at the confluence of the Yukon and Nordenskiold Rivers. It is the traditional territory of the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation. Before the Klondike Gold Rush, George Carmack built a trading post and started to mine coal from the hills behind his place. Hence the name of the town.

We started our walking/driving tour of Carmacks at the visitors centre. The young lady working there was very informative.

A series of roadhouses were built along the Whitehorse-Dawson City winter road while it was being constructed in 1902. The roadhouses were spaced every 30 miles to provide a change of horses and offer travellers a hot meal and a bed. During its heyday, the Carmacks roadhouse was a 12 room two story building.

Coal deposits were first discovered in Carmacks in 1887. Since then there has been three successful coal mines in the area. These coal cars are probably from Tantalus Butte. The enormous need for fuel to power the river steamers created a demand for coal.

Orloff King was a prospector who roamed the area around Carmacks. He built this cabin in the 1920s.

In 1902, White Pass & Yukon Route acquired contracts to build the winter road between Whitehorse and Dawson City. This stable was owned by WP&YR where they owned a large herd of horses.

Beautiful bridge over the mighty Yukon River. We will be using that bridge tomorrow as we continue on with our travels.