Everyone wanted to be up early and in line for the Ferry to take us across to the other side of the Yukon River so we could begin our ascent of the “Top of the World Highway”. The George Black Ferry carries passengers and vehicles but can only take at the most 2 large RVs and 2 cars (and some passengers) on one trip. There is no other transportation from Dawson City to cross the river to this road. Since Dawson City is on the main path for tourists with RV’s heading to Alaska, the line can get pretty long while you wait your turn. Bill got me up at 6:45 to throw on some clothes, brush my teeth, run my fingers through my hair, grab some coffee and follow him in the tow car to the “line”. After we took our place on the road, Bill hooked up the tow car and I went into the RV to take a shower, dry my hair and the whole bit. Yes I did this all while parked in line on the street. Aren’t Class A motor homes wonderful??!! He inched us up every time the ferry reloaded. We had breakfast, Bill washed the windshield, you name it….we kept really busy while we waited for our turn. The time really went fast --- we were only in line for about 1 hr & 15 minutes. It was an event. There are two ladies traveling together that did not want to wait in line that morning so they crossed the night before and rented a site at a camp ground on the other side.
LOL,
LOL,
THE VIEW THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD AS WE TRAVELED ACROSS THE YUKON RIVER ON THE FERRY. THE SIGN TELLS DRIVERS NOT TO GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE. PASSENGERS CAN THOUGH, ON OUR TRIAL RUN WITH THE CAR, THE GUY TOLD ME TO GET OUT AND TAKE PICTURES. I DID.
THIS IS THE VIEW THAT MORNING FROM THE PASSENGER SIDE WINDOW OF THE RV AS WE CROSSED. THE YUKON RIVER AND MOUNTAINS.
THIS IS THE VIEW OF DAWSON CITY, YUKON, CANADA, FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE YUKON RIVER ONCE WE CROSSED OVER.
Okay, the “Ferry” ordeal was over ---- it was pretty funny but I thought it went smoothly. But….now this road that we traveled after that was another matter all together. Most of the way is just a graded, dusty, dirt road, very, very narrow, very bumpy and teeth shattering. It winds up and down, around and around, right on the edge of the cliff. I have to admit I was very nervous – Bill was doing a great job and I know he had it under control but I have never been a fan of heights. Especially when you are that close to the edge and there is nothing, I mean nothing, between you and a couple thousand feet to the bottom of the mountains. There is barely room for two vehicles to pass and the “Milepost” book warns you not to pull over to the shoulder as it is very soft and you take the chance of flipping over (into what or where might I ask??) We were only able to drive between 5-20 miles an hour. Once in a while there would be about 100 feet of paved highway but that was worse because the potholes were so bad. Bill testifies that it is quite a bit better than 4 yrs ago when they traveled it. For me --- next time I plan to find an alternate route. It may be a few hundred miles longer but I’m pretty sure the time will be quicker and my nerves will be a lot better. Bill was exhausted at the end of the day --- we arrived at about 5:30PM in Chicken, Alaska. I was exhausted as well from hanging on to the edge of my seat, the window, the dash and too much adrenalin. There is no way to describe all the beauty --- it was incredible (once I had the nerve to look). Nothing in sight but raw, unspoiled nature, every direction for miles and miles and miles!!! It was worth it….I’m glad we survived the “Top of the World Highway”! (But I’m not going to do it again – once is enough!)
CAN YOU SEE THE MOTOR HOME ON THE ROAD AT THE TOP OF THIS PICTURE AND THE ONE BELOW? SEE THE THE WAY THIS DIRT ROAD CURVES AND WINDS?
WHERE ARE THE GUARD RAILS...LOOK AT THE EDGE OF THIS ONE. CAN YOU SEE HOW CLOSE THE ROAD IS TO THE EDGE? YIKES!!
WE ARE ON THE ROAD IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT OF THIS PICTURE BUT THIS ROAD WINDS AROUND TO JUST BELOW THAT MOUNTAIN AT THE TOP LEFT. CRAZY HUH?
YES, THAT IS SNOW --- WE WERE SO HIGH UP INTO THE MOUNTAINS THAT THERE WAS SNOW RIGHT BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD....AND YES TO THE RIGHT IS THE BOTTOM OF THE MOUNTAIN...
ON THIS ONE I REALLY DID THINK WE WERE GOING OVER THE CLIFF...VIRTUALLY INCHES OFF THE ROAD IS THE "EDGE" STRAIGHT DOWN!!
DID BILL MENTION DIRT? WE WOULD STOP AND WAIT FOR THE DUST TO CLEAR BEFORE WE TOOK OFF AGAIN WHEN SOMEONE PASSED US.
Oh yeah, as Bill mentioned in his “Damage” blog….we have three windshields cracked and the PT Cruiser (tow car) is peppered from the stones. The RV has a split windshield (both need replaced) and the PT has cracks and bulls-eyes in 3 places in the windshield so that needs replaced. So you may say that it’s kinda like “closing the gate after the horse has gotten out” but we didn’t want the PT’s windshield to crack all the way --- no sense in replacing it until we get home but we don’t want the damage to get any worse. So for those of you that did not buy a protective guard for your windshield/front of your tow car ---- we took a “picnic” tablecloth, (you know the ones that have a soft side and a vinyl side), folded it over and placed it on the windshield of the PT under the wiper blades and shut the door on the ends to hold it in place. We put this on while waiting in line for the ferry. And…it worked so far, and I think if it survived the drive on the “Top of the World Highway” it must be good for just about anywhere. (I had suggested duck tape but Bill said that would not work --- I was disappointed, I thought Duck Tape would fix anything!!)
BUT SOME BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL SCENERY ON THE WAY....YOU CAN SEE FOR 100'S OF MILES ALL AROUND YOU. NO TELEPHONE OR POWER LINES, NO HOUSES, NO SHACKS, NO SIGNS!! JUST GLORIOUS NATURE!!
WE HAD MADE IT TO ALASKA –-- See we have the picture to prove it!! We passed through customs and made it back into the USA – back to American money, miles instead of kilometers and hopefully better cell phone & internet service. Bad news was the rest of the way to Chicken, the roads were even worse! Help!! We set out on June 18th heading to Alaska and finally on July 9th we arrived there. Now we had a lot of fun on the way and enjoyed some amazing scenery and interesting sights. We have had fun….but now we are in Alaska!! Yippee!!
THE VIEW BEHIND THE "WELCOME TO ALASKA" SIGN --- YES, SO VERY BEAUTIFUL!
Now as for Chicken….not much there. As mentioned in the heading for this blog, the recorded number of residents in Chicken is about 26, but there are only 4 who remain there the full year, including the winter months. These four stay here to keep the airport and the post office open. They receive mail by plane two days a week, Tues & Thurs, all year round. I hope these 4 receive a lot of mail during those long, winter days with little or no daylight, let alone sun. Maybe we should get their names and everyone can send them a note. I wonder if they get as much junk mail as we do in the lower 48!
We had a walking tour at 4PM by Nate, who lives in Eagle, about 80 miles farther north. He comes to Chicken for a couple months in the summer to do tours and help with the tourist trade. He spends the rest of his year trapping and living off the land. I’d say he was in his mid to late 20’s and lives alone in a little cabin there. He is now working with some sled dogs and wants to enter the Iditarod some day. The tour was of some totally derelict buildings that had been there since the mid 1950’s – I’m not sure why they are trying to preserve them – they should just tear them down. If you have read the book, “Tisha’s House”, one of the buildings was hers. She was a schoolteacher for one year in Chicken and wrote this book. We wished we had passed on this tour – besides the mosquitos were about to eat us alive! Have we mentioned how vicious the mosquitoes are in these parts?? And huge?? I actually think they like “Off”.
At 7PM we had a group meeting for dessert and information provided by the camp owner and his wife. They made their money mining and still do today but run this campground with cafe, gift shop, etc. We spent some time at the gift shops and watched the final episodes of Season One, “24”!! Bill still is trying to figure out what could possibly happen next season.
That was it for our day in Chicken – the next morning off to Delta Junction, Alaska, 186 miles, on much better roads – think it’s going to be a good day!!
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