What Would You Do-o-o for a Klondike Bar?

As we entered Whitehorse, the first thing we saw was the sternwheeler, the Klondike.  Now dry-docked, the largest sternwheeler in the fleet travelled to and from Dawson City during the 30s and 40s, carrying supplies, freight, and people to areas of the Yukon not reached any other way.  It would begin running after the ice melted in May and would go until the ice froze.  Not a terribly long season.

The Yukon is a big, big river . . . and this is just the beginning of it.  Its flow today was between 10 and 15 miles per hour, and there was a lot of water in it.  When I asked the docent about the river during the snowmelt, he said it used to run torrentially, but now that there is a hydroelectric dam above the city, it is well controlled.  I cannot imagine what it must have been like before the dam and lake.

They have refurbished the boat back to its 1930s style.  The spartan crew's quarters were a stark contrast to some of the opulence of the passenger's living space - though their rooms were not much bigger than the crew's.  But the dining area?  Wow! Looking at the menu, the food was not too shabby, either.

It is hard to imagine being on this boat while going up the Yukon, but obviously, people did - at least until the Alaska Highway and other highways were built.  The sternwheelers ran until 1955, when the Klondike was finally put out of service, the last one of the bunch.  This was a fascinating look at transportation in the north.