Truckin' Across the Top of the World Highway!

Day 78, June 9, we arrived in Dawson City and stayed at the campground in town for two nights.  After we got settled into our site, we walked to the Dawson City Museum, which we found very interesting and helped set the stage for the town and the people who came here. That evening we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Triple J. It was good! We had an excellent appetizer of Poutine.  I had probably the best ever fish and chips - fried just right. Thankfully our campsite was a bigger corner site, giving us enough room to spread out and enjoy a campfire. Trying to adjust to the 22 hours of sunshine here.

Guess that's as close to the ocean as we're getting!

Boardwalks are everywhere in Dawson City as I'm sure those streets are sloppy in the rain.

Frost heaves caused the old church to get a little sideways!

The mighty Yukon River

Our poutine appetizers was so good!

The next day, after getting some chores done, Ron got the bikes out and off exploring we went.  First stop was to go to the ferry landing to check it out and see how it works. It's free and it's first come, first served. We will be utilizing it tomorrow.

Then we rode along the Yukon River. After that we went to the top of the town to the Jack London Museum. Here's some history I didn't know about him. He came to the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897 looking for gold. The museum features a replica log cabin built with some of his original logs and a food cache. It was an interesting, small museum. I guess I now want to read "The Call of the Wild" again! The Yukon inspired his writing. He made it a practice to write at least 10,000 words everyday.  365,000 written words a year.

Author of The Call of the Wild

His replica log cabin and food cache

Another author's cabin - Robert Service. NPS does tours here.

Loved reading the tombstones

You have to ask for a key to get into the "camera"

I didn't really get it except it gave a different view.

Next stop was the Sourdough Saloon so we could have a Salty Dog Cocktail.  Bummer.  They were closed. Only open Wednesday through Sunday.  

Day 80, June 11, found us first in line when we pulled up to the ferry. Didn't have to wait too long for it. The George Black ferry runs 24 hours during the summer.  We drove a long way - 0.02 miles to the Yukon River Government Campground, situated along the mighty Yukon River.  We found a nice, roomy spot and decided to set up camp.  We attempted to walk down to the Sternwheeler Graveyard, but there's a ravine with a log that I wasn't comfortable walking across. Didn't find any other way. Oh well. We really enjoyed watching the Yukon roll by, the boats and listening to the birds.

Not a big ferry

There was more boat traffic on the Yukon than I would have expected.

Making camp on the riverbank

Ron is pondering something big.

Day 81, June 12 found us starting the adventure to the Top of the World.  There are only 2 other roads in North America that go any higher and that is (1) the Dempster Highway or (2) the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay. It's a beautiful drive, unlike any drive we have ever been on.  The road wasn't all that bad, although it was messy at times and turned to gravel later on. It was 65 miles to customs. You're at the highest point on the road at the border at 4,515'. When we crossed to Alaska our trip meter said we had traveled 9,737 miles! We took a detour to Eagle but about halfway there (traveling 15 mph to go about 20 miles) we decided to turn around when the road went from gravel to mud. Rain clouds were building. The scenery was spectacular though.We stopped for the night at a BLM Campground - Walker Fork Creek. Got a spot with a view of the creek. And then here came the rain! After the rain cleared we enjoyed a campfire with our neighbors, who were camping there for 10 days to pan for gold!

Fishing

Looking down at the customs office.

Hard to see the beautiful mountain ranges in the clouds!

Yep, a journey of 9,737 miles so far!

Our creek view campsite with a waterfall across the creek.

Day 82, June 13 we set the Rambler on course for Chicken and then Tok.  The Top of the World Highway connects Dawson City, YT with the Taylor Highway that takes you to Tok, AK. The highway winds above the Timberline and I can see how this made a treacherous trip for the early "sourdoughs" traveling.  It's mostly a beautiful, scenic, winding dirt road and gravel. The road that was paved from Chicken to Tok was horrible.  Many frost heaves.  When we came in 2017 I remember the road wasn't that bad. The highway was 175 miles, we did it in 2 days.

Chicken was busy! Their annual Chicken Fest is this weekend. So many campers coming in. So many campers setting up on every piece of grass you can find.  They expect around 3,000 visitors to it. You have to realize that there are no services in Chicken. They have generators, etc. They are basically off the grid. Reminds you a little of Luckenbach back in the old days.

Welcome to Chicken!

Inside the bar. A wee bit claustrophobic.

Can you see the frost heaves in the road?

The Rambler is a wee bit dirty.

We're staying at Tok RV Park, highly recommend. Did the laundry, bought groceries (even found a brick of Velveeta for $10.97 ha!),  gave the Rambler a bath, cleaned the inside and then walked to Fast Eddy's Restaurant for a really good dinner! And salad bar!  So nice to have a lot of "fresh"!

Very nice car wash!

First salad bar in I don't know when!

Bluebonnets and we're not in Texas!

Looking at the map tonight to figure out our route.  That's the thing - you make reservations waaayyy in advance for Denali National Park. You just pull a date out of your head.  I had pulled July 4 out. So we still have time before we get there. So we're going to go ahead and go visit Valdez now instead of later. Which means we will get home a little earlier. That baby daughter of ours is getting a big baby bump and I don't want to miss too much of it!