Alaskan cladding

One of the Yukon's claims to fame (actually the only one I can think of) was the

mother of all Gold Rushes of 1898-9, centred around the pop-up town of Dawson. After

an almost imposible trip to get to the goldfields in the first place, one of the routes

back to civilisation for the (mostly) luckless miners was to go further down the Yukon

river to Nome in Alaska via paddlesteamer, You can get a brief sense of this

adventure today with a 'sternwheeler' excursion from a number of tourist spots on the

Yukon or Nenana rivers in Alaska. You will inevitably visit an Athabaskan Indian

settlement on the banks of the river whose inhabitants survive on fishing/hunting, and

things like wood-carving and mukluk-making for the souvenir hunters.

However, thre settlements themselves are interesting, with the fishing activty using

river-driven traps, and various eccentric sheds, like this one covered in drying skins as

part of its exterior cladding. If you should be tempted by anything that's for sale, go

for the mukluks - boots made out of qiviut fur, the innermost wool from the musk-ox.

If that's what the Innuit wear on their feet, you can be sure they will be the warmest

boots you'll ever own, but with qiviut at twice the price of cashmere, they won't be

cheap.

One of the Yukon's claims to fame (actually the only one I can think of) was the mother of all

Gold Rushes of 1898-9, centred around the pop-up town of Dawson. After an almost imposible

trip to get to the goldfields in the first place, one of the routes back to civilisation for the (mostly)

luckless miners was to go further down the Yukon river to Nome in Alaska via paddlesteamer,

You can get a brief sense of this adventure today with a 'sternwheeler' excursion from a

number of tourist spots on the Yukon or Nenana rivers in Alaska. You will inevitably visit an

Athabaskan Indian settlement on the banks of the river whose inhabitants survive on

fishing/hunting, and things like wood-carving and mukluk-making for the souvenir hunters.

However, thre settlements themselves are interesting, with the fishing activty using river-driven

traps, and various eccentric sheds, like this one covered in drying skins as part of its exterior

cladding. If you should be tempted by anything that's for sale, go for the mukluks - boots

made out of qiviut fur, the innermost wool from the musk-ox. If that's what the Innuit wear on

their feet, you can be sure they will be the warmest boots you'll ever own, but with qiviut at

twice the price of cashmere, they won't be cheap.