Here come the gravel roads!

We’re leaving Dawson City for now, but we’ll be back later in the week. We should have more time on the return trip to check things out. There’ still a lot of things we’d like to check out!

But to head further north, we actually have to double-back and go back to the Dempster Highway turnoff east of the city. We actually passed by it yesterday on our way heading into Dawson City. At the turnoff there is a big sign there which is great for photo-ops. There is also a set of warnings and recommendations for drivers who want to head up the Dempster. There were no warnings against using Mokes for the drive, so we’re going!

The first portion of this drive is through another wondrous portion of Yukon Territory as the Dempster winds through the Tombstone mountains. The views here are spectacular; as usual still photos don’t capture it. You need to be here to experience it.

The road continues north and passes through Ogilvie Ridge which again provides some awesome views. Through here the haze of forest fire smoke was dampening some of the views, which was unfortunate; the haze was not nearly as bad further south in the Tombstone mountains.

The road became even more choppy as we headed towards Eagle Plains and out of the mountains. For the most-part the roads here are pretty similar to the condition of most southern-Ontario cottage country gravel roads; something we are all very familiar with. Though, there are a number of stretches where it does get worse, with larger stones making the road feel more like a cobble-stone pathway than a road. You certainly feel all those stones in a Moke!

The speeds we travel at have decreased on this stretch. We do need to keep our wits about ourselves to manage the more gravelly areas that tend to grab the tires and/or the tires start to float as if on marbles. There is a distinct difference between how the Green Moke (with wider tires) and the Blue Moke (narrower tires) handle on these roads. The Green Moke tends to want to float on the gravel, while the Blue Moke has a bit more traction.

Today the race was on to make sure we could arrive at Eagle Plains before the hotel restaurant closed at 7pm. We had already experienced missing closing-time a couple times before, and today Phil & Jeff were jonesing for a nice hot cooked dinner instead of room-temperature sandwiches.

Fortunately we rolled in shortly before 6pm, only to find out the restaurant kitchen was actually open until 8pm! The internet here was pretty decent in the lobby, but was really bad out by the hotel rooms, which was unfortunate. Getting a good internet connection has been key to making sure we can continue to publish our blog and videos on a daily basis!

The Eagle Plains hotel is probably the worst hotel we’ve been in in terms of up-keep. But it’s the only show in town. In fact, Eagle Plains is pretty much just a gas-station with a hotel + restaurant. If you leave from Dawson City and aren’t in the mood to do the 9+ hour drive to Fort McPherson (1 hotel), or the even longer 12+ hour drive to Inuvik (3 hotels), you’ll want to stop in Eagle Plains.

It’s slim pickings up here! These are the only stops where you can get food, gas, or lodging; with a LOT of hours of driving in between. On a related note, us being 4 guys the bathroom situation is pretty easy along the way. But as a lady, this portion of the journey might be much more challenging.

As for dinner at Eagle Plains, it was expensive, but pretty typical fare for a North American diner. It was really nothing special. But it hit the spot. Three stars: ⭐⭐⭐

Honestly, the food was probably not worth writing about or taking a picture of, but we did so anyway to satisfy the people who are just here for the food blogging! 😊

Tomorrow, we do leg two of the Dempster, and get ourselves up to Inuvik! This trip includes two ferry rides!

Starting Location & Time	Dawson City, Yukon Territory – 9:18 pm
Ending Location & Time	Eagle Plains, Yukon Territory – 5:49 pm
Total Kilometers	408 km
Total Time	8h 31m