The ferry was pulled out of the river today

I signed out of work today to walk down to the waterfront and watch the river ferry get pulled out of the river. It seemed like a really important thing to watch and experience in our first winter in Dawson City!

It was a beautiful winter day, fresh snow falling, temperature just right to keep the snow beautiful and white, and to freeze all the mud beneath.

I had no idea what time the “show” was supposed to start, but I could see action on the town’s web cam and was afraid to miss out!

But it turned out I was early. Way too early. I stood around in the snow, chatting with a bunch of different folks (everyone is so friendly here). Jeff stopped by three or four times as he carried on with his work day and lunch break.

I was told that once the ferry pulled up along side, it would be just 10 minutes until the action started!

Maybe it was just because of the low water (the reason for pulling the ferry since the river isn’t frozen yet), and maybe the low water was complicating things, but I stood there for at least a couple hours watching the action.

But the ferry still wasn’t out of the water.

And I wasn’t wearing my fancy new warm parka, and I had crammed too many insoles in my boots, and I was getting wet from the falling snow, and my crammed feet were getting cold. I was afraid as soon as I left, they’d pull it, and every moment I was sure the action was just a quick tug from a dozer away.

But I eventually caved in and wussied out, shuffling my frozen feet back home through the snow, and returned to work, missing all the action of the ferry eventually being pulled from the river. At least I’m assuming so, I haven’t returned for an “after” photo yet.

Next year… I’ll take my time and not head down at 10:30. After 1 o’clock seems like a much better plan! 🙂