YHMA Blog

July 29, 2011
We had the cameras, we had our money pouches for the all important snack run vital to the success of any road trip; in short, we were ready for the great journey to Carcross. We revved the engine and set forth into the mist of Avalon.

Our executive director Tracey, her sister Suzie and myself were attending a ceremony honoring the memorial of the S.S. Tutshi. The Yukon ministers present also took the opportunity to recognize and thank members of the community who had contributed to recent communal projects. The CEO of Justin took the stage and gave an overview of the condominium project that would make Carcross’s economy more robust through the winter and help develop growth. He thanked the White Pass Company for honoring their long time agreement to provide employment to first nations. After the ceremony the crowd and the speakers headed to the visitor’s information center for some post ceremony talk and victory cupcakes. The little palm sized deserts were deceivably potent and induced in me a sugar high of such magnitude that had me seeing stars by the third one. Tracey, Susie and I took the opportunity to walk around carcross and visit some of the historic sites. Skookum Jim’s house was first on the list as the fabled residence was something of a holy grail for me. Having seen original pictures of it in the book I had been reading “Children of the Klondike” only days earlier it was a great treat to see it in person. It’s currently being restored with construction taking place on the inside. We moved along to the S.S. Tutshi and inspected the inner skeleton. Amazingly, the pieces of machinery that had weathered the time and also survived the fire were still there. We took the stairs to the second level and admired the mountains and the outer construction of the boat. The burns were still evident on many parts of the sternwheeler incurred by the tragic 1990 fire. Some of the pieces were truly gigantic and made it very easy to appreciate the sheer power of the machinery.

The Duchess Train car was petite and almost toy like in stature. It seemed something the town royalty would ride in on a quiet Sunday afternoon in town. We could barely fit into the compartment to take a picture!

The bridge seemed to be out of order during our stay and but it was open to those determined to brave the circumstances and look past the “use at your own risk sign”.

After the official ceremony, the shaking of hands, and professional acknowledgements we treated ourselves to some delicious ice cream. The Carcross General store was spewing forth hordes of people as even more tried to get in to get candy, snacks and ice cream. It seemed like half the town had been shoved into one building.

Carcross had changed a great deal over years since my last visit. The roads had been paved, there were a number of buildings that had been renovated and Eddies check point was here! An oasis of food and companionship, Eddie provided us with colorful remarks and delicious mouth watering burgers. I salute your BBQ abilities Eddie. There was an assortment of old age buildings that also reminded me of the times of yore and really gave Carcross that dynamic hybrid town feeling of the old and the new.

Unfortunately the train did not make an appearance while we there but we had plenty to keep us occupied during our visit.

Carcross is surrounded by magnificent mountains that made for spectacular scenic landscapes. They dwarfed the town and made the passerby’s realize that as powerful the sternwheelers and the machinery was, even though they could crush stone metal and bone, it paled in comparison the scope of our surroundings.

There was a wonderfully telling picture on the top deck of the S.S. Tutshi that displayed a house being moved from Bennett City to Carcross. Did I mention they moved the house onto a raft and were floating it across the river? It needs to be seen to be believed.

We also got to see the golden spike memorial plaque that celebrated the 100 year anniversary of the golden spike in July 29, 2000. I often speak about this event on my tour so it was a great pleasure to actually see the memorial for myself.

On our way back to Whitehorse we stopped briefly at the Caribou Crossing and Yukon Wildlife Museum which almost rivaled Carcross in structure density. They had built a near self-contained village which had everything your road wearied heart could have desired. We went in and browsed the gift shop. 

The trip to Carcross and the S.S. Tutshi ceremony were both wonderful and very memorable. If you can you should make the time to visit the historic site and the amazing community that is Carcross.

Sebastien