New and Old Dawson City, YT

It is a town of contrasts. The "new" is very colorful...and not very new. The old is what happened when building improperly on the permafrost. There are no basements in Alaska due to permafrost. All buildings are sitting on a special gravel to protect the permafrost. It's like an underground glacier. It's anywhere from several inches to several feet below the surface. Dawson City has no paved roads..all dirt with potholes. All roads are specially prepared with a base of extra gravel before paving to protect the permafrost. With the supercold winters up here, (-20 to -60 all winter) most of the roads have heaves and potholes. Our truck rides like...a truck!








There are moose or caribou or elk antlers on many, many of the buildings.