Date: 30 June 2001 (Saturday)

Start: Tok RV Village, Tok AK

End: Guggieville RV Park, Dawson YT (200 miles)

The temperature was 52f when we got up, and the skies were cloudy.

We ate and got onto the road quickly, despite the sprinkles and threatening weather.

The first 15 miles was just down the Alaska Highway to Tetlin Junction, then we branched north on AK-5, the Taylor Highway.

The first 20 miles of the Taylor are ok, chip-seal pavement and narrow shoulders, speed limit 50mph. The next 20 miles are sort of the same, but not in as good condition, speed limit 35mph but most were doing 40 or so. This section was recently done, so I’m not sure why this section isn’t better. The next 20 miles was decent gravel, still with no shoulders, nobody was doing more than 35.

All through this part of the road, we turned and climbed and descended, never on a long straightaway. The road goes from river level to better than 3500 feet three times in this stretch. There are some campgrounds on the rivers where the road crosses them. There were some spectacular views from the high parts of the road down into the river valley, but there was no good place to stop to take pictures.

That 60 miles brought us almost to Chicken, AK. The town is named that because the miners who were deciding the town name couldn’t spell "ptarmigan", the first choice. It isn’t really a town, it’s a mining district and still active in gold mining. Just before Chicken, you pass an old gold dredge that’s falling apart but still a landmark. Also just before Chicken, the road gets bad; not really bad, but narrow with no shoulders, some ruts, and lots of pot holes.

Chicken, the town part, is composed of three areas. The first is the original town, all off-limits as it is private property. A book, "Tischa", was written about the first school teacher to the native children. We bought a copy to learn more about that.

The second part is "Beautiful Downtown Chicken", a collection of sheds with old-time false fronts. There’s a store, a bar, and a restaurant. It’s a pretty rugged place, the yard is rutted and muddy, and the prices looked high to me. Just after we arrived, a Holland America tour bus showed up and a zillion people got out. We left quickly and went to the third part, the "Goldpanner".

There, we got diesel to top off the tank (never let the tank get low up here), and bought a cap and a couple of pins. The guy pumping gas was ex Air Force, so we chatted for a while.

We left Chicken, still going north, and still in intermittent sprinkles and light rain. I was afraid the rain would get heavier and turn the dirt/gravel to mud/gravel. That would have stopped us – this two wheel drive pickup, even with limited slip differential, just isn’t all that good in muddy conditions.

Just north of Chicken, we came to a motor home headed the other way in the ditch. The ditch was shallow, but it leaned him over about 30 degrees. In talking with another person there, the trailmaster for a convoy he was part of, I found he got too close to the loose shoulder, and the shoulder collapsed under him and he slipped into the ditch. It appeared no serious damage had been done. The wrecker had been called, so we went on.

At Jake Wade Junction, AK-5 veers left to continue north to Eagle on the Yukon river. We went straight to go east to Dawson, on AK-9, the Top of the World Highway. Right there, we saw the wolf. We came around the turn after the intersection and there it was. We didn’t get much of a look; it took three or four long strides and disappeared in the roadside brush. We stopped at that point but couldn’t see it. It was far taller than any dog with similar ear structure, had a bushy but not coyote-type tail, and was dark gray. I wish we could have seen more of it. One viewable thing here at Jack Wade is an old gold dredge that is in bad shape.

After this junction, we climbed some more. It’s ten miles to the US/Canada border, and the border is at 4500 feet. This is above the tree line up here. This is the most northern border crossing between the two countries. The cloud layer was heavy and right at 4500 feet. As we left the customs post and entered Yukon Territory, we entered the cloud. Driving was real slow for a while (10 mph).

The variable winds through the passes blew the cloud around, so we could make a decent speed after a bit. The road on the Canadian side is paved but in poor condition in many places, so caution is required.

This section (border to Dawson) is the pretty part of this highway, the part everyone goes there to see. The visibility was so poor we couldn’t enjoy the scenery. We finally decided to return to re-do this 60 miles if the weather improves. This part of the highway (Dawson to Jack Wade and to Chicken) was originally called the Ridge Road, since it climbs out of Dawson onto a ridge and continues on the top of that ridge all the way to Jack Wade.

Nearing Dawson, we came suddenly down the hill into the Yukon valley and stopped at the riverbank to wait for the ferry. It came back from the other side and three trucks drove on, then us. Per instructions, we set the emergency brake and stayed in the truck. The Yukon is running at about 8 knots, so the ferry really works to get across, crab-wise, then up-stream to where it slams into the bank and holds itself there under power. We drove off and down the main street and out two miles to the campground.

As we stopped, I noted a smell and remembered I’d never unlocked the emergency brakes. I have to check that reminder bulb – I sure didn’t notice it. I probably didn’t do any harm – the rear brakes were relined before we left Manassas. But several people were asking about the smell.

We set up the trailer and went back downtown, first to the visitor’s center. We got some information there, then parked the truck and began walking around. Since we’d not had lunch and the time zone changed and we wanted to sample the local restaurant, we did. The early dinner (5:30 pm) worked out fine. Dolores had salmon and I had halibut, both very tasty and beautifully presented. St Mary’s church mass was at 7:00 pm a block away, so we did that. That leaves all tomorrow wide open for Canada Day!

There are many events planned tomorrow, including a parade, various ceremonies around town, concerts at the gazebo on the river, the gold-panning championship, and the Commissioner’s Canada Day Tea (whatever that is). We’ll be busy.

Correction to yesterday’s notes – three houses in Tok were burned and gutted. The fire was still being fought into the night but was not a threat to persons or property at day-end. The fire made Alaska (Anchorage) TV as the most serious fire of the 23 or so still burning.