One of the great things about travelling as we are is that there are no alarms in the morning or schedules we need to strictly adhere to.
It was a chilly night last night, and the morning saw us layering up and turning the heat on when we started driving. It was raining a bit… then a lot, then it cleared.

We stopped at the Montague Roadhouse Heritage site. Built in 1910 by Tom Stewart and Arthur Raymond.
It served as a vital stop for travelers, mail carriers, and miners on the Dawson Overland Trail.
The fellas provided meals, a warm place to sleep, and fresh horses for the stagecoach run between Whitehorse and Dawson City.

A little further down the road, we went through a small village called Mayo. Founded in 1903 as a river settlement during the silver-and-gold mining era. There are now about 450-500 residents. I saw a sign as we went through about Mayo being the hottest and coldest… and I missed the rest. So I looked it up.
Ahhh weather!
Record High: 36.1°C (97°F) on June 14, 1969.
Record Low: -62.2°C (-80°F) on February 3, 1947.
Total Range: 98.3°C (176.9°F) difference, marking one of the largest temperature differentials ever recorded.

Next, we arrived at Five Finger Rapids. Five Finger Rapids are a famous set of four basalt-conglomerate rock islands that split the Yukon River into five channels. They are located along the North Klondike Highway. It’s a stunning scene.

The landscape has changed yet again. The mountains are lush, rolling mountains. Sometimes covered in trees, sometimes they looked like well-manicured grass – which I’m sure they are not. We aren’t used to the trees here. Willows, dwarf birch, thin-leaf alder, stunted aspen, and spruce. They’re so little – but hearty!

Massive upgrades are happening to the Klondike Highway. We weren’t held up long, but had to be taken by a pilot vehicle through a couple of areas.

There had been a few massive fires through that area in 2024 that scorched the trees as far as you can see in some areas.

We drove a little closer to Dawson City to camp tonight. We again find ourselves along a river. The Stewart River. It’s stunning, of course. There are two other campers out here. They are not close by, and we’ve not seen or heard them.
Here’s the thing about this particular river camping spot. It’s also an active airstrip! We are set up off to the side at the end of the strip, right on the river. The McQuesten Aerodrome is 2,800 feet long by 75 feet wide. There is no building, and the airstrip primarily serves local mining and river navigation activities.

So this is where we rest tonight. The dogs played in the golden hour, and we enjoyed a little stroll. It’s supposed to hit 0° tonight, so we’ve started our ‘winter’ protocol and have the heater on and a few bigger windows insulated. The heat kicked in early, so it will be a chilly night.
Tomorrow is Dawson City, and we’re excited to check it out!