Limited wifi, so just a couple of pictures with this post. It’s too bad as the pictures really tell a story.
Just before we left Tok yesterday I discovered a chip in the windshield. Fortunately there was a NAPA auto parts store in Tok that had a DIY kit for windshield repair. I bought one kit with the intention of repairing the windshield in Chicken later in the day.
Ken and Debbie had spent the night at a riverside turnout up the road from us and we joined up with them on the way to Chicken, Alaska. The road from Tok to Chicken has a lot of construction going on and we spent 20 minutes waiting in one spot before be allowed to continue. The road is fraught with “frost heaves” so in many places we were driving at 25 mph. It took a little over 2 hours to make the 65 mile drive to Chicken.
The town was established in the late 1800’s as a gold mining town. They decided to name it after the locally prevalent bird “Ptarmigan” but because nobody could spell Ptarmigan, they called the settlement “Chicken”.
Chicken has become a “must see” along the portion of highway known as “Top of the World” that runs from Dawson City in the Yukon Territories to Tok, Alaska. It has 3 or 4 unique stores and a café and a couple of RV camping spots. To say that it is a primitive town is an understatement. We had planned on spending the night but when we rolled into one of the campgrounds, Abby and I decided we would be continuing on to Dawson City.
When I tried to program the GPS, it kept saying it was 752 miles to Dawson City. It didn’t make sense as I knew the distance was 107 miles. I discovered it was rerouting me and trying to keep me away from the Top of the World road. Now I know why.
When I walked over to Ken’s truck he was programming his GPS trying to get to Dawson. I said to Ken “I guess you and Debbie came to the same conclusion as we have”. Yep.
We spent some time taking pictures and going through the store before we headed out and across a narrow one lane bridge on an unpaved road with Ken in the lead.
I have never seen why so many people like to drive the 4 wheel ATV’s. This “trail” turned us into a 6 wheel 40’ ATV and we did not enjoy the next 3 hours one bit. The road conditions were so bad that most of the way we were bouncing along at 10-15 mph for the 40 mile drive to the U.S./Canadian border. It was so bad, we had a light fixture come apart, cabinet doors were flying open, the right rear view mirror started rotating and Stella had to stand up by the windshield to keep from puking!
Hairpin turns and steep drop offs of 1500 feet were the norm. Debbie was calling us on the walkie talkie to tell us when traffic was coming. At one point a tour bus passed us and we got a little too close to the edge of the road and it gave way and the rear end started sliding to the right. As this was going on I had visions of the jeep going off the cliff first and dragging us down with it. I couldn’t tell what was going on with the jeep because the rear view camera was covered in dust and useless. While muttering “oh s***” a couple of times I was able to power us back on the road narrowly missing the tour bus.
We stopped just short of the Customs Office where Debbie informed us "we missed downtown Chicken". It seems the actual 4 stores were around the corner and we didn't see them. Debbie said she wanted to go back. You can probably determine on your own what my response might have been.
As we entered the Customs drive through the Customs Officer asked us the usual questions while looking at our passports. When he asked us how much alcohol we had on board and I replied “I’m not sure but whatever we do have will be gone by tomorrow morning after that drive”. He chuckled as he handed back our passports and said, “You might want to sign your passport to make it legal”. This is the passport I used when I was still flying for Continental and passed through Customs countless times and no one had ever noticed.
With only 65 miles to go we were happy to see the road had improved to loose gravel with many potholes. Only after driving the Top of the World” would this be an improvement.
About 20 miles from Dawson City, a tour bus passed us, well exceeding the speed limit, throwing rocks on us and cracked and pitted the windshield on the driver’s side. Ken said he could not see the road when it happened and he was driving blind for a few seconds.
A few miles down the road I noticed the bus parked at a rest stop and I radioed Ken I was pulling in to get pictures of the bus to document the culprit. As I was taking pictures of the tour bus, the driver came up to me and asked me what I was doing as I took HIS picture. I told him I was writing a letter to his company detailing his reckless driving and the damaged he had caused. He became somewhat belligerent and told me we were at fault for driving too slow. I told him maintaining a schedule does not trump safe driving especially with a bus load of passengers.
Just short of Dawson City is the Yukon River. There is a free car ferry to cross the river as there is no bridge. We waited about 30 minutes for our turn. Much to our surprise, Stella loved it! She sat on the dash during the loading process, the ride across the river and the unloading watching with wide eyes.
Spencer slept through it on the dash. Yawn.
We are licking our wounds at the Bonanza Gold RV Park a mile outside of Dawson City. Ken and I repaired the cracked windshield last night and I picked up a couple more kits this morning to fix the chips. We will spend at least 2 nights before moving on towards Whitehorse.
