TOK, AK TO DAWSON CITY, YT

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August 7, 2011 TOK, AK to DAWSON CITY, YT
UNBELIEVABLE!! There was a light rain through the night and this morning the skies are clear and sunny!! Just enough rain to settle the dust on our road today as we take a left turn out of Tok and follow Hwy 5, Taylor Highway, also known as “Top of the World Highway” to Dawson City. This road is 40% paved and 60% gravel, very winding and narrow with sheer drop-offs (no guard rails) and hairpin bends. It is open for only 4 months during the summer season. As we climbed farther and farther up the mountains into the tundra we were very fortunate to have clear vistas of the surrounding mountains - almost 360 degree views. The old settlement of Chicken was an interesting stop. In the very early 1900’s, early miners traveled far in search of gold. Food was sometimes scarce, but a particular area near the South Fork of the 40-Mile River was abundant in Ptarmigan, now the state bird of Alaska, which resembles the chicken. The miners kept themselves alive with the help of the Ptarmigan. In 1902, Chicken was to become incorporated. The name “Ptarmigan” was suggested. The only problem was that nobody could agree on the correct spelling. They didn’t want their town name to be the source of ridicule and laughter, so they decided on the name “Chicken”!! We were also very interested to visit the town of Chicken since this was the setting for the book “Tisha” which Lorraine had just read on the way here. It is the interesting story (based on a true story) of a 19 year old girl from Oregon who took a posting as the school teacher in Chicken back in 1927.
Further along this treacherous road (actually it was not any worse than many of the roads in Australia!) we came to the border crossing back into Canada, reached the top of the mountain and started our descent down to the valley floor below. There is no bridge across the Yukon River into Dawson City, just a SMALL open car ferry which carries one semi or large RV and a few cars. Well, you can imagine, it took a couple of hours to get all 22 rigs in our caravan over the river. We will stop in Dawson City for two nights, giving us time to tour the sights tomorrow.

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Photos

2011-08-07 Tok to Dwason City - Chicken outhouse
Sign on outhouse in Chicken.