Top of the World

Do you know what / where the Top of the World Highway is?  No?  Don’t blame you, I didn’t know about it either before starting our trip but am definitely glad that it made it onto our “To do” list. This seasonal highway goes from Dawson City to Chicken and then connects to the Alaska Highway near Tok, AK. Most highways follow the river valleys, but not this one. It goes along the mountain tops. Hence the name. 

What it really should be called is the OMG Holy #$%& Highway! Since it travels the tops of the mountains, all the views are down. And down and down. The tops of the mountains are relatively flat, so you get these amazing vistas. But sometimes, when you’re cutting across the edge of the mountain, with no guard rails, it’s a bit scary. We took plenty of pictures, but they really can’t do it justice. 

From Dawson to Chicken is 174 km. It took us about 4.5 hours. I drove, because my control freak, stress case tendencies would have had me completely frazzled if Bob had drove (yes, he is a good driver – on pavement; gravel is different). The road is mostly packed gravel, which is in pretty good condition on the Canadian side.

Crossing the border (yes, there is an official border crossing near the highest point of the highway), the Alaskan side is in noticeably poorer condition for the first 20 miles. To be fair, they were doing construction to improve the road, but a packed earth road, light rain and a 13000 lb. trailer are not my favorite driving conditions. I’m not sure if the large rock chunk road they like to use on the uphills are better (or worse) though.

The first thing we noticed after crossing the border were the people. On the Canadian side, there were only a few vehicles of tourists (like us), and some service vehicles. On the Alaska side, we were constantly meeting pick-up trucks and trailers. I guess this area is a big hunting area and it’s obviously hunting season. We even saw a set of hunters dragging a caribou behind their quad. 

We pulled into Chicken, a small mining town along the highway (called the Taylor Highway in Alaska) and found a spot for lunch. Chicken is an interesting place, and not one many people will see in their lifetimes (and I didn’t get ANY pictures to prove we were there. Bah!). Its population is 15 in the winter and 30-50 in the summer. There are only 3 businesses in town, but they have gas/diesel, cafes, campgrounds, and even wifi. This is a true fringe town, though, and solar panels & generators are strongly in evidence. There is no outside sourced electricity, no running water, no flush toilets. We ate at the Downtown Chicken café (very good food), and I got a sticker to put on the trailer at the gift shop. I wonder how a town of 15-50 manages to keep up with the tourist/ hunter traffic and demand for services.  (A Holland America tour bus, on its way over the Top stopped into the café just as we finished up lunch.)

Perhaps the gold that is still being mined in the area helps balance out the lopsided tourist season.  

Border Crossing

I wanted to stop, just plunk my butt down & relax for the rest of the day (and maybe gold pan a bit, or check out the Pedro dredge that is there), but Bob wanted to keep going on to Tok, 2 hours (only 124 km) further. He drove through the rain, but at least the road was now paved. The rain wasn't such a bad thing though as it washed off a fair bit of the road dust from the truck & trailer. Boy did we get grubby! We pulled into Tok, a small community on the Alaska Highway, around 5:30, visited the Info Centre (these things are gems when you’re travelling!), and learned about Mukluk’s - a bit of an entertainment/ activity spot that sounded just right for the kids. We played skee ball, and mini golf, and the kids got cotton candy.  It was getting late (even with the time change) so we checked into the Tundra Lodge RV Park and settled in for the night.  

Alaska side construction