Top of the World Highway – Taylor Highway

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 – Day 54 

I got laid in Chicken…so says the sign as you enter Chicken.   Chicken is not on the electrical grid…as a matter of fact there are no power lines leading into the town at all and the only highway into the town is not maintained in the winter; meaning no snow plows.  I can see why the population is only six.  We sort of “roughed it” last night as well.  We had a campsite with no facilities.  No sewer, No water and No electric.  We were boondocking for the first time since we started trailering more than twenty years ago.  We did cheat a little; we ran our generator so I could have some toast before I went to bed and again this morning to make my coffee.

Yesterdays post made note of the poor roads for the last 20 miles into Chicken.  Well that was nothing compared to the 40 miles that they call the Taylor Highway going up to the border crossing at  Poker Creek.  Twisting, turning, up and down, on a gravel track with pot holes that could swallow a small car. Large rocks barfed out by the last grader that came through added to the obstacle course.   No guard rails anywhere, with shoulders that were non-existent and not quite two lanes wide in most places.  Just my kind of road.  The section of road from Chicken to the border crossing took us over 2 1/2 hours to complete at an average speed of 20 km/hr.

Surprisingly, probably 75% of the traffic on this road was recreational vehicles with a handful of motor cycles. Also most of the traffic was coming from the Canadian side (the opposite direction).  We seem to be seeing more Canadian licence plates on the road as well, most of those are from BC.

We managed to make it to the border crossing and made it through without a strip search. (Lucky for the border guard!)  This section of the road is called the “Top of the World Highway”. This was a phenomenal drive with gorgeous mountain scenery. The remainder of the road to Dawson City was mostly asphalt with some major frost heaves.  Long gravel sections were quite frequent, but these were well marked.  As you descend the mountain into Dawson City, you see the Yukon River in the distance.  The Yukon river flows over 3200 miles from the Yukon Territory, through Alaska and finally emptying into the Bering Sea on Alaska’s west coast.  The only way into Dawson City from the west is by a Yukon Government Ferry.  The crossing takes only a few minutes and is quite amazing to watch as the ferry fights the current of the Yukon River before reaching the opposite shore.

Dawson City is considered an historical site by Parks Canada and almost all the structures in the city must match with the gold rush period.  This was particularly evident as we drove down the main street, Front Street to our campground.  We are looking forward to spending the next three days here.  There certainly seems to be a lot to see and do.

Chicken or Ptarmigan?

Monday, June 22, 2009 – Day 53

We got our usual early start around 9:45 AM.  The temperature was 17C when we finally got underway headed east on the Richardson Hwy. We stopped at an overlook to take some pictures of the Alaska Range to the south.  They were bathed in sunlight and really stood out against the blue sky.  We got talking to a couple from the Seattle area who had been generally doing a similar route to ours.  They had attended the Summer Solstice celebration in Fairbanks and were previously in Denali National Park.  They were lucky enough to get a full view of Mt. McKinley, while they were there.  We gave them our travelling card in hopes that they will send us some of their great shots.  Curt and Laurie were headed down to Valdez for a little more touring, before heading home to Washington.  We are finding it difficult to NOT stop and talk to people on our route.  They always seem to have some interesting stories. 

We continued on to Delta Junction, which is the official end of the Alaska Hwy at milepost 1422 and took some pictures here.  (Although we have not driven the route contiguously; when we arrive in Dawson Creek, BC, we will have driven the whole length of the Alaska Hwy.) We continued on through Tok, where we fuelled the truck and stopped at the Visitor Center.  When we came out, there was a guy on a bicycle talking to another guy in a camouflage hat.  I recognized the hat belonged to JP, whom I’d met on the Arctic Circle tour back in Fairbanks.  The biker with whom he was talking was from Belgium who had started this current bike tour in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 01, 2007.  Apparently when he finishes in North America he is headed for Cape Town, South Africa where he will start his journey homeward.  Much more dedication than I have!!

We departed Tok and were soon turning northward on the Taylor Highway which leads to the Top of the World Highway and into Dawson City, YT (the home of Jack London and Pierre Berton).  The first 18 to 20 miles has been scarred by a forest fire; but after that the  scenery is just amazing.  Some gravel sections and steep inclines but well worth the effort.  We were stopped at a scenic viewpoint and a truck camper pulled in at the same time coming from the opposite direction. The camper had Manitoba plates so we had to stop and talk – What else??  The couple turned out to be from Morden, Ron and Doreen Martens know our friends Jim Taylor and Liz Leatherdale.  We meet someone on a mountaintop in remote Alaska and they know someone we do.  It’s a small world!  We continued over gravel roads for the next twenty miles and stopped in the old gold mining town of Chicken, Alaska. In the winter the population is 6, but in the summer the population swells to 21 not including tourists. All of their water is hauled in and their electricity is provided by diesel generators. Now, why did they call it Chicken???  The early prospectors couldn’t spell Ptarmigan, the state bird…so kids that’s why you should stay in school!!

One other noteworthy event today.  On the Alaska Hwy. just west of Tok, we caught a flying stone from a semi trailer.  We couldn’t see any chip at first but when we got into to Tok to fuel I noticed a chip in the windshield near the roof line. Within a few miles this tiny chip had become a “C” shaped crack.  This was on one of the best portions of the roadway in Alaska; after travelling on all kinds of gravel roads we got a stone chip here.  Go Figure.

Riverboat Discovery – Fairbanks Alaska

Sunday, June 21, 2009 – Day 52 – The First Day of Summer – Longest Day of the Year and Father’s Day

Heard from David and Kevin today, wishing me a happy Father’s Day.  I guess they got lucky not being at home as they didn’t have to buy the “old guy” a gift.  I never thought that I’d miss them as much as I do.

We went grocery shopping this morning and then went on a stern wheel boat.  The Riverboat Discovery.  This operation has been a family tradition for well over a Century, as the founder of the company came here during the gold rush and became a riverboat pilot.  Every successive generation has carried on the family tradition.  The boat does a short cruise on the Chena River, where it meets the Nenanna River.  It used to go up the Nenanna but silt from the river has all but closed up the channel for a boat this size.  Smaller motor boats can still get through  because of their much shallower draft.  Homeowners along the route all come out to wave as the boat cruises by and the commentator seems to know each person on shore and calls out to them over the public address system.  There are staged events along the route. 

The commentator noted that 1 in 60 Alaskans have a pilots licence and it seems that there are small planes everywhere.  Considering the long distances between places in Alaska there is good reason. The first staged event was a take-off and landing of a pontoon plane.  He didn’t seem to need the take-off length of a land based plane.  He did a quick fly by and then landed the plane and spoke with the commentator on a wireless microphone.  The pilot then took-off a last time to enjoy Father’s Day with his family.

Next we were entertained by a sled dog demonstration.  This was led by the husband of the late Susan Butcher. Susan Butcher was a five time winner of the Iditarod Trail endurance race and her kennel has produced many winning dog teams. After a brief introduction they hitched up 10 dogs to a converted ATV for a trip around a quarter mile track.  They reached a top speed of 20 miles/hour.  These dogs love to work and run and they behaved exactly like the Denali Huskies in their eagerness to run. And also like the Denali Huskies these were jumping up on the roofs of their houses and barking loudly as if to say, “Pick me, Pick me!”

We sailed down the river a little further to an Athabascan Indian village, that was a re-creation of a typical summer camp, with some extras.  There was a demonstration of how they would take their salmon catch and prepare it for smoking. They would only catch as much as they could process and nothing would go to waste.  Entrails and heads were used for dog food or used in fish head soup.  There was also a demonstration of the clothing that they would make some of which was very finely detailed.  A very pretty girl of Eskimo descent modelled a sun parka. Because they were a nomadic hunting people they had different types of houses depending on their location and activities.  We returned to the dock after the demonstrations and we then returned to the dock from which we had departed almost 3 1/2 hours earlier.  The ship was unloaded fairly quickly considering the number of people from cruise ship tours (14 bus loads in total) who were on board.

The Dalton Highway & Summer Solstice at the Arctic Circle

Saturday, June 20, 2009 – Day 51 – Summer Solstice 09:45 PM Alaska Daylight Time

Sounds strange, Alaska Daylight Time – it’s always daytime here in the summer.  Celebrated the day by crossing over the Arctic Circle. Up at 4:30 AM in order to be at the bus depot at 06:00 AM, with a departure time of 06:30 AM.   I took the bus tour with the Northern Alaska Tour Company, up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle at 66 degrees 33 minutes, north latitude.  (Can’t remember the longitude, but that wasn’t why I went.)  Would have liked to go up to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean, but that will have to wait for another lifetime.

We had a great tour guide/driver.  Barbara has been doing this for a number of years and really seems to enjoy what she’s doing.  Gave us a thorough lesson in Botany, Geology and History.  She got us out walking on the tundra sedges and feeling down 12” into the mucky ground to feel the solid, impenetrable, layer of icy permafrost. (Barbara asked, “Does anyone know the difference between sedge and grass?”  Someone piped up, “You can’t smoke sedge!” – Turns out that was John!)   Cotton grass was blowing in the wind and fireweed was coming into bloom. She also gave us a lesson in placer gold mining and the building of the Alaska Pipeline.  Met a really nice couple from Belfast, Ireland who I found out were staying at a North Pole, B&B. Turns out they were just down the road from our RV Park.  I became aware of John and Pauline at the Yukon River Camp. (A camp up here refers to a base camp where food and lodging are available, usually very Spartan in nature and usually in an Atco industrial trailer – Rooms were $199/night.)   They were looking at a map on the wall and talking to Barbara about the Yukon River.  It turns out that their knowledge of the Yukon is better than mine! Pauline told me about Robert Service’s literature and about Lake Labarge! (Kind of embarrassing when people from the UK know more about your country than you do!)  It turns out that they visited the Yukon last year and had to come back for their Alaskan Experience this year.  They had rented a vehicle for their touring and had already been to Denali, where John had captured some incredible bull moose shots…full frontal moose!  He has promised to send some images that I will feature in “Spot the Moose.”  (Of course, I will give the photographic credit to John!)  They are off to Wasila and then fly out of Anchorage.  They will overnight in Vancouver and then fly to Toronto before taking a short flight to Ireland.

I also had a chance to talk with JP and Cathy from, the St. Augustine area in Florida.  I’m guessing JP is in his 60’s and he’s an addicted biker.  That is a racing bicycle!  He teaches remedial math and English at a community college, but he said adamantly that, “I don’t do windows or summers!”  His summers are free to travel.  In his spare time he is a Boy Scout troop leader.  I never did learn his real name, but I’m guessing it is Jean Paul – He was born in New Hampshire but spent his early years in eastern Quebec, before returning to the United States.  An intriguing guy.

Everyone got their picture taken at the sign that has been erected at the Arctic Circle, and Barbara served us chocolate cake.  After this brief stop we got back on the bus to drive the Dalton Hwy back to Fairbanks.  On the way Barbara pointed out the remains of a wrecked truck camper from last year.  Apparently the guy came down a hill a little too fast – and we all know that at the end of a steep downgrade, there is a hard turn, rather than an uphill to slow you down.  Anyway, somehow he lost his camper unit which landed up at the bottom of a 25 foot embankment.  Nobody was seriously hurt but now he must remove the unit or face a hefty fine for littering.  As we continued homeward we saw many more people headed north, probably to celebrate Summer Solstice (some people are crazier than me) at the Arctic Circle.  We arrived in Fairbanks just after 10:30 PM.  It was still light out and would be for the rest of the day.

Oil and Gardens

Friday, June 19, 2009 – Day 50

The weather today was really a mixed bag.  Drizzle and rain one minute, sunny and bright the next.  Generally the skies were partially cloudy with a high temperature around 18C.  We drove up to the Alaska Pipeline viewing area just north of Fairbanks approx. 20 miles out.  This is an amazing feat of engineering.  The pipeline is 800 miles long stretching from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to the Valdez terminal on Prince William Sound.  It crosses 3 mountain ranges, 5 major rivers and numerous streams.  It must carry 145 degree F oil across frozen permafrost without causing any damage; while at the same time being flexible enough to cope with thermal expansion in the steel pipe.  All the while it must be able to cope with regular seismic activity.  The pipeline was built in a zig zag pattern to allow most of the expansion to occur on steel supports.  To see just this short section  of pipeline up close is jaw dropping.  I don’t think that Janet was that impressed…I guess it may be a guy thing.

After lunch we went to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks to visit their Botanical Gardens.  We were amazed at the types of crops that they are growing this far north and some of their innovative gardening methods.  The 20+ hours of daylight may also contribute to the lushness of the area.  The lawns were so thick that they made it difficult to walk on.  The growing season is only 100 days long so they must utilize fast maturing crops.  They utilize a lot of plastic sheeting to retain heat and moisture in the soil and they also use a lot of raised “beds” to retain heat.  Possibly some ideas that can be used at home.

Yes Virginia; there is a Santa Claus – and he’s at the North Pole, Alaska

Thursday, June 18, 2009 – Day 49

We departed Denali National Park around 10:07 this morning under cloudy skies.  There was a very light drizzle and the temperature was about 12C.  The drizzle/showers continued for a good portion of our route north along the Parks Highway, Route #3 and it didn’t start to clear until we got close to Fairbanks. The scenery was once again spectacular.  We passed through a couple of areas that were boggy and mosquito infested but were fortunate enough to get some ammunition for our “Spot the Moose” feature.   

 

 

In Alaska, there are wild iris’s that are in bloom right now, and they occur in these boggy areas. They are in a word, beautiful (and when I can figure out how to correctly use the camera’s macro settings, I’ll get some decent pictures of them.) We arrived in Fairbanks just after 1:30 and found our chosen campground.  The Riverview RV Park is located along the Chena River just south east of the city of Fairbanks approximately 8 miles from the downtown area.  It is well treed area with easy drive through sites.  A really beautiful campground with super hosts.

Once we got settled we went into Fairbanks to check out the Alaska Public Lands Information Center (APLIC).  There are a number of these Centers across Alaska and had we known how informative they were, we would have stopped at more.  We arrived in time to see a film about the Exxon Valdez oil spill,  This was a documentary film taken shortly after the spill in 1989.  Seems that “America’s Biggest Oil Spill” was in the news back then but it somehow doesn’t have the same impact until you see the rich ecological area that it affected.  Apparently there is still oil under many of the rocks and much of the beach sand in Prince William Sound and many of the animal species are just now starting to rebound.  We were able to get some information and some first hand knowledge about  the Dalton Highway, which leads to the Arctic Circle.  This is the original road built up to Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean, which was at that time called the “Haul Road”, due to the fact that only semi trucks used it to haul goods in order to support the building of the Alaska pipeline.  It is still mostly gravel and still primarily used by the semi’s and as long as one follows the special rules of the road one should be okay.  We find out tomorrow as we head north up the Haul Road.

We also visited the North Pole today.  Yes Virginia, there is a North Pole and it is located in Alaska, just south east of Fairbanks. We went to the City Hall and it was about the only building that was not decked out in North Pole paint or finery.  Almost everything here has a Christmas theme. (Even one of the police cars had lettering with snow on it.  We were taking pictures of each other at the North Pole sign when a guy pulls up and asks if we would like our pictures taken together. We said, “Sure if that’s not a problem?!”  He replied, “That’s just one of my jobs as mayor of North Pole!”  To which I replied, “I was expecting someone with a white beard and a red suit.”  Doug Isaacson, had a neatly trimmed beard and moustache and a Hawaiian shirt.  He told us where to find the Santa House and he was driving back to work again (this was at 6:00 PM.)

So off to Santa Claus House we went.  WOW.  (I had only used that word to describe the scenery, so far.)  This place is everything Christmas.  Ornaments, baubles, lights…just about anything you could imagine. And of course Santa was there talking to the guests and listening to some of the kids who already had Christmas wishes.  I’m a Christmas-nut anyway so I was in seventh-heaven.  I had a smile on my face the whole time I was there.  Right next door is the Santa land RV Park, also with the Christmas theme.

As I write this it is almost midnight, but looking outside it seems like dusk.  Not daytime but definitely not night.  These days with close to 22 hours of daylight certainly mess-up your sleep/wake cycles.  Got to get to bed now.

Denali – Our Last Day

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 – Day 48

A far cry from yesterday morning when we were up at 05:00 AM.  Slept in till 10:00 this morning, but that was OK as we both needed to catch up on our sleep.  This was a down day today, with not a lot on our agenda.  We walked the stores and gift shops along the strip and except for a few novel items in some stores it is pretty much the same as the first gift shops we visited in Skagway.

In the afternoon we went to see the sled dog demonstration once more.  This was the first year for this interpreter doing this dog sled demo.  She does however live in Fairbanks and mushes in the winter, so she was familiar with how to do it.  It amazes me how these handlers move these muscular dogs into place and get them hitched up in just a few minutes. What’s even more amazing is the power these animals have to get a sled weighing 150 lb with a 150 lb driver, moving from a standing start up to 17 miles per hour in just a few feet.  They just come sailing around the track.  We were thoroughly impressed.  It was warmer today and the dogs seemed to be content to just rest in the shade rather than being sociable.  They prefer temperatures of –10 F

We drove to the 15 mile checkpoint just to see Denali for the last time and returned to the trailer.  We did some cleaning and had an early supper.  Tomorrow, we travel to Fairbanks and then the Arctic Circle for Summer Solstice.  We certainly liked Denali National Park, it’s a real treasure,

COMMENTARY - The Denali Rainbow RV Park had numerous shortcomings.  You can’t always go by the descriptions in the ads.  The place is basically a construction site parking lot with old oil drums and front end loaders decorating the property.  We were shoehorned into a small space next to their electrical panel and backing onto the gift shops.  The main sewer pump out is right next to our dining room window.  Glad they didn’t have to pump it while we were here. Seems like someone found a better use for the land than a parking lot.  Let’s grab some cash from the RV’ers coming to Denali.   This is NOT a Big Rig Friendly park…while we were here we saw several RV’s come in and try to park only to move to a non-serviced site or move out of the park completely.  The water is atrocious.  It is so hard that you cannot build up a soapy lather for either washing or dishwashing.  (We didn’t even want to try doing a laundry!)  The FRESH water in the toilet bowl already has a yellow tinge to it.  And does it ever stink!  I think that they must go down to the Nenana River and bring it up by the bucket load.  They did however have reasonably good Wi-Fi Access. It is very obvious that once again the cruise ship lines have bought up the property closest to the entrance to Denali National Park, thrown their considerable weight and money around and once again forced the locals to the periphery.  Some shops which are located on the outskirts display signs in the doorway saying “Locally Owned”.  Driving 12 miles out of town to fuel the truck we saw many much nicer  RV Parks which were owned by locals.  Had we known this, we would NEVER have supported the cruise enterprise!!