Top of the World!

The top of the world highway connects Dawson City, YT and Tok, Alaska. It was all paved once, but several sections have degraded to rough gravel. We were warned of tire popping gravel, and rough roads, but like all true adventurers (or folks who just aren’t terribly smart) we didn’t let the dire words deter us. We are going over the top! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_of_the_World_Highway

The trip starts at the ferry in Dawson City. You must cross the river to begin. Thanks to my travelling companions, I have pictures of my little rig on the ferry. All of our original group of four are going.

  

Jon and Sue join me and across the river we go!

    

The road is mostly gravel, but so far, it’s not bad at all… Again, thanks to my travelling companions, I have some road pix with me in them!

  

  

  

The trip is all about the challenge, and the scenery. let’s do the scenery first…pix=1000 words

  

  

  

  

  

Now, the challenge. First, you have to get through US customs. That’s pretty easy! I love the sign… man, can you say: “detached duty station”?

  

Yes! I finally make it to Alaska! … Oh, Wait, Skagway was in Alaska… well, Bullshirt, that doesn’t count! This is the real Alaska moment!

Then comes 12 miles of heavy road construction. The road surface is big rock and gravel, with lots of sharp pointy rocks that can (and do!) puncture tires. We crawled along at 5-10 MPH for most of the 12 miles, and I’m glad to say that none of us in our little group suffered a tire failure. Others on the road were not so lucky, We stopped to help some folks who had indeed shredded a tire. Finally, the road improved to rough dirt, and it seemed like a super highway!

  

We sailed into Chicken… it took us about 5 hours to cover around 100 miles. Chicken is, well, Chicken. If you haven’t been there yourself, I can’t explain it to you. A very funky little town with about 3 permanent residents, a weird bar, a great café with excellent food, and a lot of odd things scattered around….

  

  

This is the very small, very unusual bar, with lots of hats and underwear hanging from the ceiling, the gift shop, for fine Chicken memorabilia, and the local police force.

  

Scattered around the hills are other oddities. ChickenStock?

  

     

After Chicken, the road had this strange black smooth surface on it. Don’t know what it was, but I was able to drive like 40 or 50 mph on it. Must be some newfangled invention. Made record time down the hill to the West Forks BLM campground and pulled in for the night. What an interesting day! We celebrated with a toast, Champaign and glasses provided by Kim.

Tomorrow, it’s back to civilization: Tok, AK. Then, on to Seward for fishing!