Top of the World

We got up Monday morning to start our trip to the most northern border crossing in North America and, of course, it was raining! We had really hoped to able to enjoy the fantastic views of the mountains and valley as we crossed the "Top of the World" highway but most of what we saw was clouds caressing the tops of the mountains and then sliding down onto the top of the road. This road is all gravel and dirt with some chip seal surface on the Canadian side and only dirt on the Alaska side. The RV is a rough riding vehicle anyway and add to that holes, rocks, mud, and ruts and the ride gets even worse. Then, there was the rain and fog to contend with. This was NOT a good day. By the time we got to Tok, Alaska the Jeep and bikes were one big dirt ball and the RV was half brown with a white top. It was not a pretty sight! We saw one truck and a large RV in the ditch. If you got too close to the ditch the soft mud would pull you right in and over.

We did get to see a few sights along the way as the clouds would periodically lift so we could enjoy the view. We stopped in Chicken, Alaska -- a town of 23 people (in the summer) and 3 businesses. They say the name came from miners who couldn't say or spell ptarmigan so they just called the town Chicken. Tok (rhymes with poke) is a small town that you have to go thru both coming into and going out of Alaska.

One gas station had a deal that if you filled up with gas, you could use their car wash for free. It took us 45 minutes to clean both vehicles and the bicycles. There was still dirt on them but they look sooo much better.

We dry camped next to a pond about 10 miles west of Tok. Other than some kids thinking it might be a good place to party, it was a nice, quiet place to camp. Us and a gazillion huge mosquitos.