Over the Top of the World to Tok

Left Dawson earlier today and caught the free ferry over the Yukon River where we joined the start of the Top of the World Highway...about 60 miles from the US border and another 80 or so to the little crossroads of Tok, which is where we'll spend the night before continuing on to Anchorage tomorrow. The Top of the World is famous both for its remoteness, as the name implies, and the sweeping views from the tops of the passes as you motor along. No guardrails here. Unpaved for the most part, it was actually a pretty good quality gravel road on the Canadian side - made pretty good time all the way to what must be the most remote and isolated US border crossing on earth - just two agents and a swarm of mosquitoes. Since we were first off the ferry we were ahead of the pack until we got to the border where we encountered a convoy of about 15 big RV's - almost seemed like they were waiting for us. Just about the time I was resigning myself to creeping along behind them for the next several hours they all pulled over and let us pass! Had to check the license plates to make sure they were really Americans. Good show, guys, and much appreciated.

The road changed dramatically as soon as we crossed into Alaska. Lots of mud and potholes until we arrived at the small town of Chicken, which is basically an RV camp and about 3 small businesses - a cafe, a bar, and a souvenir shop - a real "back of beyond" kind of place. There's a cute story that attaches to the name: seems that back in the old days the original name of the town was ptarmigan - for the endemic birds that populate the bush in the surrounding area. Had that name for years, in fact, until one day the locals decided to commission a sign to welcome people to their town. Problem was that they couldn't agree on how to spell ptarmigan, and the sign painter, finally exasperated by all the argument and indecision, took matters into his own hands and just painted "Welcome to Chicken" on the sign...and it stuck. I think the official summer population is 50, although am told it shrinks to about 15 hardy souls in winter. Blessedly, the dirt road gave way to pavement a few miles outside of town and we rode it all the way into Tok.


Spent our last day in Dawson just wandering around. Went to the Dawson City Museum, which was quite well done, and attended a couple of the programs that Parks Canada sponsors...living history reenactments which were really a lot of fun. They had one guy in period costume at the Robert Service cabin who told the story of the Bard of the Yukon for about 45 minutes, complete with full-on recitations of several of Service's more famous poems. The guy was really amazing...and entertaining. Seemed to know everything Service ever wrote by heart. Also visited the Jack London cabin about a block down the street. London was one of the Stampeders of 1898 who struggled over the Chilkoot Pass and started making his way downriver to Dawson with his partners. About 75 miles south of the city they met a bunch of guys who had turned back after finding out that everything in or near Bonanza creek had long since been staked, ie they were too late. Undaunted, the party detoured up the Stewart River (a tributary of the Yukon) and staked their claims there. Had to go to Dawson to file, though, which is how Jack London happened to stay in the city for about 2 months in the Fall of 1898. He and his party built a cabin and worked their claim for a year or so before giving it up and returning to the US. Story is that when London returned to Oakland the following year he had $4.30 in gold dust for his efforts, but a trove of memories and material to draw on for his now famous novels and short stories about the Klondike Gold Rush. Anyway, they "rediscovered" his old cabin back in 1966 and eventually relocated it to Dawson City, where it sits today.




An elevated cache to protect food supplies from marauding bears.



Taking a look inside



The spartan interior.



Had to do a double-take (OK it was a triple-take) of this old hotel window before I realized it was just a mannequin in a hotel along the old "Paradise Alley".


Finally realized it was time to move on once we realized how strict the local parking regulations were.

On to Anchorage tomorrow, where we'll be staying for a week.