August 26,2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Yesterday we left Delta Junction, Alaska and headed for Dawson City, Yukon. Having been told by a few people that the “Top of the World” Highway was in terrible shape, lots of gravel & for the most part a mess, we had much discussion before deciding to give it a go. We figured that we may never be this close to Dawson again so let’s just do it. We’d also heard that it was a beautiful drive and the weather was not too bad, overcast with the very odd bit of sun but at least it wasn’t raining, so there was hope of seeing some scenery. At Tetlin Junction, just south of Tok, we headed east toward Chicken, Alaska. The road to Chicken was quite good for the most part. The town/village (hamlet ?) of Chicken was interesting. It consists of an RV park, a couple of stores, half a dozen houses and a bunch of rusting mining equipment. There is no electric power in the village, no plumbing or conveniences that we take for granted every day. Not some place that I would want to live, thank you very much. We hit gravel road just before Chicken and it was gravel until the Canadian border, with lots more stretches of gravel on the so-called “paved” sections. That said, the drive was spectacular. The section from Tetlin to about the Canadian border is spent slowly climbing and then the road snakes along the top of ridges and you get the most amazing views on both sides. The terrain is high, rolling hills covered in the most amazing colours of vegetation. There are stunted spruce trees, and spindly birches, but at the top of the ridges they’re scarce because of the altitude, and the shrubs, because it’s fall, have changed colour and it’s an unbelievable display of dark reds and yellows interspersed with very dark green (almost black) spruce and fir trees. The underlying rocks and lichens are various shades of greys, greens and browns, and you can see for miles and miles across this tapestry of colours. The drive was very much worth the extra miles. The Canadian customs post is perched on a windswept hill with no sign of neighbours except the local herd of caribou (some of which calmly crossed the road in front of us). The customs officers work one week on, one off, from May to October, with only their US counterpart to talk to, though we did notice a big satellite dish at the post. We crossed the muddy brown Yukon River on the little ferry & arrived in Dawson City at about 7:30 p.m. After checking into an RV park just outside the city we went back into town to check out “Diamond Tooth Gertie’s” - an old style saloon/casino with some games tables, slot machines and on-stage entertainment. We caught the 8:30 show, lively if amateur, with a chorus line of dancing girls doing the Can Can, then wandered the streets of the town. The streets are not paved and still have old style wooden sidewalks. Many of the shops, hotels etc. are in the old western style and very nicely done – painted multi-colour to show off the trim on the windows and verandas. Unfortunately, most of the businesses were closed for the day, other than the numerous bars and saloons. We briefly considered trying a Sourtoe Cocktail, but agreed that we could live without that experience. There are paddle wheeler boats tied up along the levee of the famous Yukon River. Signs everywhere suggest you try your hand at panning for gold. We got home too late to make dinner so settled for a glass of wine and some cheese and crackers before bed. Off to Whitehorse today we hope, though there’s word that the road south of Carmacks is closing because of flooding that’s caused a washout. So, do we backtrack to Tok? Great drive though it was, it’s a long rough road to repeat. The decision is made: head south!