Top Of The World Hwy

6/5/14 - 6/6/14
Driving "The Top Of The World"
Dawson City to Chicken to Tok and then on to Fairbanks


This was the day that everyone dreads, to do, or not do........The Top Of The World Hwy.  We planned on "doing it" so  "we did it"

First we had to get on the ferry to cross the Yukon River.

Only two rigs, a 3 axle fifth wheel next to us.

The right side of trailer

Still crossing.  The ferry floats down river and then powers over to that wide spot of sand.

Three cars on the other side waiting to be loaded on the ferry

Almost there

The crew was thoughtful, they put several boards down on the sand so we wouldn't scrape.  They also had to put a metal plate out so our hitch wouldn't scrape.

Good-bye ferry






It seems like a lot of pictures but this was a new experience for us.

Not a lot to say except

 we couldn't have asked for better weather while driving on a

 gravel road all day. 

 Praise the Lord.

This part of the road

was in excellent shape

as they had already run

the grader over all the

pot holes.

There were times that we pulled over and stopped when cars passed us or there was oncoming traffic.

Yea.......we finally made it.

We had the normal questions at the border except this time we were asked if we had any pets......and.......did we have proof of Rabies vaccination.

In all the years we have been crossing, and there have been many since about 1992, we have never been asked if we had a dog and did we have proof of the Rabies.  Good thing I always carry a current copy.  What would they do if I didn't have the proof?

After crossing the boarder we had 13 miles of large, sharp hunks of gravel to drive on at 10  - 18 miles an hour.  This is almost the worst road we have ever driven on for 13 miles.
They were completely re-doing the road bed, I am standing on dirt pull out and the truck/trailer is on the rough road.

Back on the smoother rough road.  

We were going to spend the night but we decided to have lunch and go on to Tok.

Inside the Saloon/Liquor Store

Chicken Facts

I hope you can read it.

Chicken does not have a sewer system or power except for generators and water is brought in.

Good Bye Chicken

Tanana River is the second largest river in Alaska, it's very shallow and has  many islands.  The Tanana floods very easily in the spring run off.

Picture of old bridge and new bridge.

 We spent the night in Tok behind the Shell fuel station, as did several others.  We had dinner at Fast Eddy's, across the Hwy, which was excellent and they told us about a local Bluegrass band that was playing.  Wow, we were in for a real treat.  This group is going to play every evening at 7:30 pm during the summer, just about 50 yards to the left of Fast Eddy's.  This is a must see, they are really good.

Don't remember his name, 18 yrs old and will be joining his 19 yr old sister in the fall at a college in Pensacola, FL.

The next pictures are driving from Tok to Fairbanks

I was glad to see this as they were very instrumental in the building of the Alaskan Hwy.

 Crossing the Tanana River, you can see how wide and shallow it is.

A stop at North Pole, Christmas all year long

I almost forgot, no damage traveling Top Of The World Hwy.  We were lucky, I have heard some real war stories about the road.  As I said before we took our time and pulled over and stopped when traffic wanted to pass us or coming toward us.

So that's it for now, we are in Fairbanks.

Nancy

Dawson City Day 3 of 3

6/4/14

Another beautiful day with a few clouds coming in toward the evening.  It was 37' this am, but warmed up quickly.  We sit in a valley with good size hills keeping the sun from us until about 7:30 am.
After having a delicious blueberry muffin at Cheechakos Bake Shop we drove out to the Dredge No. 4 on the Bonanza Creek and to the actual Gold discovery site.

 A fantastic tour of the dredge which was the largest wooden dredge in North America, at the time.  The dredge was built in Ohio and then piece by piece was shipped all the way to the Yukon, at a total cost of building and shipping about $450,000 then is was reassembled on the Klondike river.  I never really understood how the dredges worked and how did all those "tailings" get in so many piles.  Well this was all explained very thoroughly.  This was a very good tour and something you would not want to miss. (not too many pictures inside the dredge as I ran out of "space" on the camera)

Coming back into town we fuel at $1.65/liter.  The most we have paid so far, but we only needed enough to get us to Tok, AK a distance of about 200 miles.

In the afternoon we went out on a river trip with a local Native American; Tommy Taylor, of Fishwheel Charter Services, took us out in the river then turned the motor off and we floated downstream while told us about the river, fish, an the animals and his way of life growing up on the river.

 His family owns part of Dog Island where he lived most of his live as a youngster. There were many Musher's everywhere andthey were very useful in the winter months, but during the summer months they needed a place for them so they were deposited on "Dog Island" and Tommy's family helped take care of them during the summer.  I guess it was pretty good for the dogs because they were fed lots of salmon and ran freely all over the island.  When the snows started coming people then came to claim their dogs.
We traveled further down the river to a place that also belonged to Tommy.  This is where he builds his own fish wheel and will catch 800 - 1200 fish a season.  The fish are fileted and then hung outside.  Most of the fish were food for his 52 dogs along with his family.  The dogs are now gone and he only fishes with the fishingwheel a little.  There are only a few people on the river that know how to make the wheel.  The wheel making was taught to each generation, so he learned from his father.

This is Tommy's house.  He bought this cabin in Dawson City, disassembled it and then re-assembled it here on his property 6 miles down river, he also aded a second story.

A small cabin build by someone visiting him who had never build a cabin before but did a very nice job.  It's a one room with bunk beds, cooking area and eating area.  It's short because it takes less heat.  The guy stayed in the cabin for one year.

Out door oven, he made all his bread.













Back to Dog Island and up on shore we were treated to hot tea, and a wonderful warm afternoon.  We soon had to return to Dawson City as it was almost 5:00 pm, my how the time flies.

Cute outhouse

Very fancy with two stalls

Tommy Taylor
Fishwheel Charter Services

End of a great day.















Tomorrow we will be heading to Chicken, AK, but first we will drive down to the river and get on a small ferry to cross the mighty Yukon River.

(some of these facts might not be exactly right but I can only remember so much)

That's it for now, have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.
Probably no internet for next several days

Nancy