Day 23: On to Chicken, Alaska!

We made it to Alaska, but what a drive! Top of the World Highway - we had read about it and talked to people who had driven it, trying to decide whether or not to take that route. In the end, despite reservations, we decided to give it a try.

We started by crossing the Yukon River on the (free) George Black Ferry, just outside Dawson. The ferry wasn’t that big, but it got us safely across.

The road was gravel right from the start. Luckily, since it had rained the past few nights, the road wasn’t dusty. Actually, the road wasn’t too bad at first. Patches of fireweed, the Yukon provincial flower, lined the shoulder. As we climbed higher, the trees and shrubs got shorter until we were above tree line altogether. We did feel that we were on “top of the world” as we looked down at the mountains below us. The views reminded me somewhat of the Smokey

Mountains. We spotted a weasel/marten (not sure which) on the edge of the road. He took one look at us and quickly made it for the underbrush.

I was just beginning to feel that maybe this route wasn’t so bad after all, when the road got bumpier and the mountains and valleys got steeper and the turns got sharper. Guardrails were minimal, so I was glad that most drop offs were on the other side of the road. It was about this time when Jay said “If I would have known the road was like this, I wouldn’t have taken it.”

Then suddenly, the roadway was paved and the Alaska border was just ahead. Crossing the border was a cinch! The paved road was short-lived, ending after only 13 miles. The guidebook says that the next section of the highway “can be challenging”. We can vouch for that. The road was narrower, the downgrades more pronounced, with hairpin turns, and had a surface that resembled a washboard of varying intensities. We were more than ready when we reached Chicken, Alaska, our destination for the night. It had taken us more than 5 hours to drive 108 miles, averaging about 23 MPH.