Day 84 - Thursday August 10/17

(Written, formatted and posted on Thursday August 31st at Battleford, SK)

 Some housekeeping this morning before getting underway at 10. It was a sunny warm morning – just perfect for travelling. And man oh man did we travel today. Extraordinary roads and views! We travelled from our roadside 'boondocking' site overlooking the Tanana River in Alaska, across the "Top of the World Highway" to Dawson City, Yukon (map)

The day began on the Alaska Highway heading toward Tok, Alaska. The scenery was rugged – rock, trees and gentle hills climbing in and out of river valleys. The road was good – smooth and evenly paved. An easy drive. Nancy was at the wheel this morning.

Then just east of Tok, at Tetlin Junction, we turned north on the Taylor Highway (Alaska #5). The first section of the road is noted as a “scenic highway”. It was paved yet had some frost heaves, but nothing too challenging. 

The views were terrific from the ridges and hills that overlook the Fortymile River (which is a tributary of the Yukon River). We passed some evidence of a major forest fire in 2004. The fireweed which is a beautiful wildflower in the north is named because of its ability to flourish in burnt out areas.  Over and over again on this trip we’ve been reminded of the necessary role that fire plays in the lifecycle of the ecosystem. We have also learned that when the top blooms of the fireweed open, winter is only 6 weeks away according the local folk wisdom. We were noticing that the fireweed here had bloomed its last. This coincides with the notion that in Alaska the first snows arrive in September.

We stopped for lunch in a small campground. We were the only ones there so we sat at a picnic table in a campsite and enjoyed the peacefulness of the surroundings.

We had multiple wildlife sitings this morning: a most wonderful moose calmly munching away in a pond right beside the road; two groups of caribou – one with 3, the other with 7 animals. 

As we drove, we again noticed that the leaves on many trees along the roadside were beginning to change from green to yellow - winter's comin'!

About 30 km past our lunch stop, we reached the community of Chicken, Alaska – and the end of paved road for the rest of the day. Chicken was established as a mining camp in the early 1900’s. Its original residents wanted to name it for the plentiful wild fowl in the area but they didn’t know how to spell ptarmigan, so they decided to simply call it Chicken. Or so the story goes. And an amazingly creative bunch of entrepreneurs have made the most of the name! You can find all manner of chicken-themed items in the three shopping areas of the town. We spent some time in Chicken Gold Camp which combines the draw of the town name with its gold mining history. Michael bought a tee-shirt, as well as some other mementos.

Michael took over the driving as we were leaving Chicken – and the pavement. 

We encountered many road signs like these:

Almost immediately we encountered construction. This part of our drive was the very roughest and dustiest of any so far. The road was one lane at best in many places with steep drops, no shoulders, and encounters with mining trucks coming in the opposite direction. The views may have been terrific, but both of us had our eyes glued to the road until we reached a pull out at Davis Dome. Here we got out of the truck to take in the views, relax and catch our breath as we inhaled the extraordinary views. The drive of 40 miles had been hellish and taken an hour and a half.(photos)

We gratefully encountered some paved road for a few kilometres near the US Canada border. We had our passport ready and NO firewood on board as we returned to our native land. Crossing the border was relatively painless!

We stopped at a scenic pullout a short distance into Canada. We had endless views in all directions. 

The intrepid adventurers are "back home" in Canada!!!

It was a wonderful way to begin our drive on what is known as “The Top of the World Highway” (Yukon #9). This gravel road, although featuring sheer drop-offs of several hundred metres, was well graded and made for a more enjoyable ride for Nancy (as passenger). Michael as driver still had to keep his eyes closely focused on the road. 

Spectacular cannot come close to describing the expansive views of valleys and mountains. The dust was a hazard when encountering traffic going the opposite direction, but thankfully that didn’t happen too often as not many people choose to explore this road. We arrived at the Yukon River just across from Dawson City at 8:15. While we waited for the free ferry, we phoned a campground in the town to arrange for a spot to camp for the next two nights. This was the first time all day we had cell phone coverage. The owner of the park answered and told us the office was closed. But he agreed we could have a space for two nights. It was a relief to know we had someplace to stay.

The ferry across the Yukon River at Dawson City, Yukon:

Approaching the river

Dawson City, across the Yukon

The ferry, across the river

Return to our side on the west bank

Approaching the bank - using the current to steer the approach 

On board the ferry, on the Yukon

Crossing the Yukon River

Approaching the gravel bar landing at Dawson City Yukon

Michael had driven the truck and trailer onto the front right-hand side of the ferry as directed by the attendant.  We approached Dawson as so many of the gold stampeders would have done - by the river. The ferry “docked” directly into the gravel riverbank – quite an unexpected end to our crossing. But a procedure that worked well in that location. However, it wasn’t really the end. It seems we had been directed to load too close to the two story wheelhouse and if we drove out directly the trailer would hit the structure. All the other cars had to debark around us and we were left with two staff members telling us what to do. Michael was magnificent as he kept his cool following frequently opposite directions from the crew and not being able to see at all what was happening. Even the folks on shore joined in the process shouting out their suggestions on how to get Rocinante off the boat. Finally a third crew member appeared and took charge. Michael got out and inspected the situation. This new staff member gave clear instructions. Michael maneuvered as directed and soon the trailer was free. Smiles and applause from the crowd on shore greeted us as we drove away. Quite the welcome to Dawson City.

It had been an incredibly long day of travel through magnificent vistas and over roads that are truly nerve-wracking. We were so exhausted when we got to the campground that we didn’t even unhitch. We just cooked some hamburger hash-style, and boiled some potatoes, carrots and cauliflower. We did enjoy a fine G and T while the food cooked. 

Ahhh….. what a memorable day. One that will live in our memories for a lifetime.