Top of the World Highway!

I have to say we are more courageous this trip than last. When we left Alaska in 2010 we didn't travel to Chicken or Dawson City because we heard the road was so bad. This time, we started our trip into Alaska from Dawson City so we had to travel Top of the World Highway and Taylor Highway....oh, my.

 Because the road follows the ridges, you have fantastic views on all sides!

 The views were fantastic, but Top of the World Highway was just hard packed gravel. The road follows the mountain ridges so there are a lot of ups and downs and squiggles!

Here is a video of us traveling Top of the World Highway. As you can see, the going was slow. It took us over 4 hours to travel the 109 miles from Dawson City to Chicken!

 Just before the Canadian border, we stopped at a rest area for lunch. The rock cairn on the hill across from the rest area marked the highest point on Top of the World Highway. I wanted to walk to the top, but the wind was howling and it was cold!

 Next stop, customs at the Alaska border.

 The American side of the highway was paved for 14 miles and it also had some fantastic views.

 And at the Eagle/Chicken, Alaska Y intersection, the road went from paved to dirt! Yes, I said dirt. The Taylor Highway from the Eagle turn-off to just south of Chicken was dirt! Oh, my! What a narrow road for big RVs. And here is a video of the dreaded Taylor Highway!

And I can't tell you how much dust....we had to clean the engine compartment of the car before we could jump the battery. Of course, it died while being towed and using the brake assist coming down those squiggly roads!

 We found our campsite for the night in a gravel pit south of Chicken. Then we drove back to Chicken to explore the town.

 Chicken is/was a gold mining town. Other than a few stores and campgrounds, there is not much to see.

Certainly any town named Chicken should have at least one large chicken.

There was also a gold dredge---Pedro--which was not as large as the dredge in Dawson City.

 From Chicken, after a night in the gravel pit, it was time to head for Tok, Alaska.