Day 53: Chicken to Dawson City.....or Goodbye, Alaska!

We awoke in Chicken to 38 degrees and heavy fog.  Hardly worth getting out of a warm bed!  However, on the morning walk with Ranger, the campground owner said that this was typical weather for August and September and the fog would burn off.  And it did…somewhat.

We headed out around 9:30, with at least some visibility.  Alaska Route 5, the Taylor “Highway” is a dirt and gravel road, no guardrails, barely room for two vehicles to pass, with many curves, great drop-offs, and soft shoulders.  Those conditions continued for almost 40 miles, very slow going, to where Rte 5 turned north to Eagle, AK and we turned east to the US/Canada border.  The Boundary Road was, surprisingly, fourteen miles of paved road, with painted lane markers and even some road signs, and it took us to Customs, where we sailed through without a problem.

From there, the road was the Top of the World Highway, appropriately named as it wound along the crest of mountains, in many parts above the tree line.  We were back to dirt and gravel, no guard rails, no lines….and no sign of civilization.  That continued almost the whole way to Dawson City, where we again were on paved road.  To add to the excitement, once we crossed the border, we were in the clouds, with poor visibility---unfortunate in that the scenery was supposed to be quite spectacular.  However, Dan covered the 108 miles from Chicken to Dawson City in about three and a half hours, which was fast for that stretch of road.

We got a site at a Yukon Territory government park called Yukon River.  The site is, naturally, right on the river, across from Dawson City.  After having lunch, the three of us walked to the ferry slip and rode the free ferry to Dawson City; Ranger did quite well on the ferry although the loud noises from the engine did frighten him somewhat.  From the ferry slip, it was an easy walk to the visitors center where we picked up maps and other information and checked out the one “in-town” RV park, with an eye to staying there tomorrow night.  Then we wandered the streets with wooden sidewalks and gold-rush era buildings before riding back across the river to the campground.  It was, for the first time in days, quite warm (upper 60’s) and we enjoyed some time sitting outside before (surprise!) some rain moved in.  It did not last long, however, and I look forward to a peaceful night’s sleep.

As the bumper stickers say, “I survived the Top of the World Highway!”

Photos to follow, when the internet is stronger.