DAWSON CITY – The Yukon ice has stopped moving in front of Dawson, catching most people by surprise.

For a week to 10 days after the George Black ferry was extracted on Oct. 15, there was no ice to speak of in the river.

Then small floes came and went, as the temperature fluctuated above and below the zero mark.

During the last week, there has been a steady accumulation of larger ice pans, but this was the case during the last three years as well, so it didn’t necessarily mean anything.

In those years, the ice jammed farther upstream, leaving a two-kilometre stretch of open waster in front of the town.

Canadian Rangers Sgt. John Mitchell reported that he had seen that early Monday morning. He was busy getting ready for the Remembrance Day service at the Robert Service School and didn’t have time to look into it further.

During that service, there was a fair amount of buzz among people who were aware that this had happened.

It’s too early to say when the first people will try to cross the ice on foot, or when the first snow machines will attempt it.

As always, people are cautioned to be careful until such time as there is an official word, but there is traditionally light traffic well before that.