2006-07-02: Christ The King Church
The village of Mayo owes its beginning to its strategic location as a transportation center to service the mining activity in the region. Sternwheelers navigated up the Stewart River to off-load supplies and to on-load the silver-lead ore. The historic buildings in this area date back to the 20's and 30's. This church was originally constructed in 1902 near Dawson City and was dismantled, transported by barge up the Yukon and Stewart rivers to Mayo and rebuilt at its present site in 1922.
2006-07-27: Five Mile Lake
Our drive today to further discover the silver trail took us by some beautiful lakes like this one. We are out in an isolated area so pretty much had the road (dirt)to ourselves.
2006-07-27: Silver King Mine
The Silver King Claim was first staked in 1903. It was one of the properties which were developed into major mines. We were able to see the old mineshaft at the base of the canyon.
2006-07-27: Elsa
In 1924, prospector Charlie Brefalt staked a silver claim on Galena Hill and named it after his sister Elsa. It was a major discovery and eventually produced millions of ounces of silver. By the 1930's, the town of Elsa had taken shape and it gradually became the major community serving the mines. Today the town is gone but there still seems to be work going on in the mine.
2006-07-27: Keno City
Keno City was the site of a flourishing silver mine camp but is now just a tiny village home to an eclectic mix of old-timers, miners and artists. We did the walking tour and saw this cabin which was built in 1922 by Victor Grant, the Territorial Agent.
2006-07-27: Beer Bottle House
Geordie Dobson moved this house from Calumet, an abandoned mining town nearby, in the late 1960's. He also owned the Keno City Hotel at a time when there was no refund for glass bottles. He felt there was some insulation value in the glass so started layering the bottles around his house. Four years and 32,000 stubby bear bottles later he completed the job.
2006-07-27: Marmot
On our drive today we didn't see any moose, bear or wolves but we did spot this cute marmot.
2006-07-27: McQuesten River Valley
We drove up to the top of Keno Hill (6000 feet) and were rewarded with this incredible panoramic view of the McQuesten River Valley...
2006-07-27: Signpost
...this signpost with mileage between here and places like London, Rio, Heidleberg which recognizes a group of visiting scientists during International Geophysical Year (1955) and...
2006-07-27: Snow
...snow!