The much anticipated T
op of the World Highway lived up to expectations. The views were expansive, the drop-offs were steep and the road was in good shape, but slow going. We ended up between a pilot car and two Holland America tour buses for quite some time. It was nice having everyone pull over for us! W
e arrived in the sprawling metropolis of Chicken AK and saw the entire town in less than an hour. There have apparently always been characters living there and the current residents are no different. We camped next to two Canadian motorcyclists who hit pay dir
t in us. We loaned them our chairs after we saw them sitting on small logs and Dennis delivered coffee to them in the morning. These fine trailers were on the other side of us. Looks like we overbuilt for the neighborhood! We left Alaska the next day and finally had no screw up
s at the border. We to
ok such care to hide our over-limit items and they didn't even bother to ask about them. This has to be one of the loneliest border outposts and it made us wonder just how badly these guards messed up to end up stationed here. Dawson City has a free ferry service across the Yukon River. We were placed on this SMALL ferry with one of the Holland Americ
a buses. Now, Barb always tells everyone that Dennis is a good driver and this is absolute proof. The bus loaded first, which left us about 4 inches clearance on the right and less than 1 inch on the left. No problem! The bus people sure were gawking! Dawson City is really nice. It was the origin of the Klondike Gold Ru
sh. Many o
f the buildings in town are original - some in better shape than others. We toured a gold dredge, which was a barge that basically dug it's own lake as it dug down 40-60 feet to hit bedrock and gold. The dredge pivoted side to side and was winched along in
7 foot increments.
This left waves of rock piles up the canyon and throughout town - pretty despite the destruction. This dredge operated until 1960 and was a very noisy and unsafe place. The ranger told us they took oral histories of some of the workers a few years ago and had a difficult time because they were so deaf. We also drove up to Midnight Dome, which gave a great 360 degree v
ie
w of Dawson City. The shows at Diamond Tooth Gertie's Saloon were fun and we watched the end of a ladies poker tournament - which made Barb miss her poker girls. We skipped the Sourdough Saloon and it's sour toe cocktail. They put an actual severed toe, donated by those who have lost them to frostbite or accidents, in your drink. That's just wrong. Finally, we took the ferry back across the river (in the Jeep) and hiked to the paddle wheeler graveyard. These b
o
ats were pu
t in dry do
ck, aka abandoned, on shore as they aged or became obsolete. They have been left to deteriorate, but were so interesting to walk around. Carmacks is just a quick overnight stop, but we did hike to Five Finger Rapids on the way there. It sure was fun hiking down the hill and stairs! There was only one opening that the paddle wheelers
cou
l
d navigate through and many boats were damaged or destroyed here. We also saw a mama and baby moose across a pond. Barb also saw a bear and a porcupine but Dennis was continuing his good driver skills and missed them. The Coal Mine Campground & Canteen served delicious ice cream and burgers, so Barb took the night off. Oh, the Yukon River is running backward right in front of us but don't be alarmed...it makes an S curve through here. We saw a plump bear in the morning and we're outta here!
op of the World Highway lived up to expectations. The views were expansive, the drop-offs were steep and the road was in good shape, but slow going. We ended up between a pilot car and two Holland America tour buses for quite some time. It was nice having everyone pull over for us! W
e arrived in the sprawling metropolis of Chicken AK and saw the entire town in less than an hour. There have apparently always been characters living there and the current residents are no different. We camped next to two Canadian motorcyclists who hit pay dir
t in us. We loaned them our chairs after we saw them sitting on small logs and Dennis delivered coffee to them in the morning. These fine trailers were on the other side of us. Looks like we overbuilt for the neighborhood! We left Alaska the next day and finally had no screw up
s at the border. We to
ok such care to hide our over-limit items and they didn't even bother to ask about them. This has to be one of the loneliest border outposts and it made us wonder just how badly these guards messed up to end up stationed here. Dawson City has a free ferry service across the Yukon River. We were placed on this SMALL ferry with one of the Holland Americ
a buses. Now, Barb always tells everyone that Dennis is a good driver and this is absolute proof. The bus loaded first, which left us about 4 inches clearance on the right and less than 1 inch on the left. No problem! The bus people sure were gawking! Dawson City is really nice. It was the origin of the Klondike Gold Ru
sh. Many o
f the buildings in town are original - some in better shape than others. We toured a gold dredge, which was a barge that basically dug it's own lake as it dug down 40-60 feet to hit bedrock and gold. The dredge pivoted side to side and was winched along in
7 foot increments. 
This left waves of rock piles up the canyon and throughout town - pretty despite the destruction. This dredge operated until 1960 and was a very noisy and unsafe place. The ranger told us they took oral histories of some of the workers a few years ago and had a difficult time because they were so deaf. We also drove up to Midnight Dome, which gave a great 360 degree v
ie
w of Dawson City. The shows at Diamond Tooth Gertie's Saloon were fun and we watched the end of a ladies poker tournament - which made Barb miss her poker girls. We skipped the Sourdough Saloon and it's sour toe cocktail. They put an actual severed toe, donated by those who have lost them to frostbite or accidents, in your drink. That's just wrong. Finally, we took the ferry back across the river (in the Jeep) and hiked to the paddle wheeler graveyard. These b
o
ats were pu
t in dry do
ck, aka abandoned, on shore as they aged or became obsolete. They have been left to deteriorate, but were so interesting to walk around. Carmacks is just a quick overnight stop, but we did hike to Five Finger Rapids on the way there. It sure was fun hiking down the hill and stairs! There was only one opening that the paddle wheelers
cou
l
d navigate through and many boats were damaged or destroyed here. We also saw a mama and baby moose across a pond. Barb also saw a bear and a porcupine but Dennis was continuing his good driver skills and missed them. The Coal Mine Campground & Canteen served delicious ice cream and burgers, so Barb took the night off. Oh, the Yukon River is running backward right in front of us but don't be alarmed...it makes an S curve through here. We saw a plump bear in the morning and we're outta here!
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