Wednesday, June 29, 2011
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| Ken and Carole |
by: Ken and Carole Adams, #1 Wagonmasters
Today was our day to travel the Top of the World Highway! The drive started with a ferry ride across the Yukon River at Dawson City, Yukon Territory, to the border with Alaska. The route climbs from the river to 4000 feet. It winds along the ridge tops providing the most spectacular vistas in the whole world!. The Canadian side is graded gravel with remaining sections of pavement. After crossing the border, we followed 34 miles of twisty, winding, potholed, dirt road to Chicken, Alaska. The route can be muddy and dusty, as it descends from Canada; full of chuckholes, mud bogs, soft shoulders, rental RVers who have never driven anything larger than a compact car, and a few tour buses hauling cruise ship visitors.
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| waiting in the long line for the ferry |
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| Panoramic views from the Top of the World Hwy |
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| Dusty, bumpy road to Chicken |
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| Top of the World Hwy sign |
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| back in the U.S.A. - finally Alaska! |
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| one of the many highway signs we saw today |
Despite the challenges, including a major delay loading the ferry due to construction and passenger vehicles, we all arrived filthy but safely in Chicken. We enjoyed a chicken filet dinner (what else did you expect??), a delicious blueberry dessert, and the opportunity to take a tour of the Pedro Gold Dredge.
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| Pedro Gold Dredge |
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Yum! Blueberry Crumble
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We also held a crazy hat contest, with lots of creative entries. Chris Findley was the ultimate winner.
Beautiful downtown Chicken is a quirky town, with a liquor store, gift shop, restaurant and gas station, all catering to the tourists who spend 15 minutes as they pass through by car, RV or tour busses. There are also many seasonal gold-miners in the area, making for an eclectic mix of folks. Chicken is also home to a small cannon. Apparently it is a local tradition to set the cannon off at random times. For our group that event happened at 10pm. The report was loud enough to make your innards quiver, and woke up most of our group, some running out in their night clothes to see if it was the end of the world. About the time everyone had finally settled down, a second charge was sounded.
It is a hardy group of individuals who call Chicken home. A place where winters bring temperatures of 70 below zero. We have enjoyed visiting it during the summer, but I don’t know any of our fine group who would like to be here during that other season.
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