Top of the World Highway

From Dawson City, we drove the Top of the World Highway through fog and limited visibility. We did see a few caribou cross the road in front of us. Through the fog, it was like ghost caribou coming across the mist. We successfully crossed the US border into Alaska only to find there is no big road sign on this road so we’ll be on the lookout for that again on another upcoming crossing. We camped at Walker Fork Campground along the Yukon River. It rained in the morning so we arrived in dreary conditions, uncertain what to do for the day. When the afternoon seemed to bring a clearing in the weather, we decided to explore the nearby and intriguing town of Chicken by ATV. There are 7 year round residents, but the population goes up to 21 in the summer. Three businesses vie for your tourist dollar with gift shops, restaurants, gold panning, and a variety of chicken humor. I was amused to learn the founders wanted to name the town Ptarmigan, but couldn’t agree how to spell it, so they called it Chicken instead. We enjoyed from scratch chicken pot pie, homemade salmon burgers, salad grown on site, Alaskan cider on tap, Alaskan root beer, and fruit pie sitting on the patio. The area has a gold dredge. Despite the residents, more matter of fact than friendly, it was a fun stop. It is a sketchy dirt road to get there and the supposed two lane gets a bit narrow. We even saw a big rig that had slid into a ditch several hours before we passed that way. The morning rain had softened the shoulders leaving them unreliable. That gave us quite a reality check for our drive over with the camper and trailer the next day. Luckily we didn’t face an oncoming vehicle in the narrow sections so passed the road uneventfully.

Because the rain delayed our original plan, we got an early start so we could ATV into Eagle. The town used to be the military Fort Egbert and is now the Yukon Charley Rivers National Preserve. The National Park Service offered a 9am tour of the town that we wanted to see. We left at 7am with 80 miles of rough dirt road to cover. Mark slowed down when he had to, but enjoyed the challenge of ripping around to get me to the tour in time. Our only delay was sharing the road with a mama and baby caribou who seemed happier to trot the road in front of us. Sadly we only got a picture of them from behind. We skidded into town at 9:10am to the courthouse and joined the tour, only missing the first room of the courthouse. They walked us to several buildings in town, including the mule house, the church (where we all took turns ringing the church bell – which I’m sure the town residents find endearing), the courthouse built by Judge James Wickersham, who later went on to found the town of Fairbanks. There were wild strawberries all over the fields. Miniature in size, the sweet dots were smaller than ju ju bees and packed with flavor. We spent some time chatting with residents of the town, including one woman who was proud that have running water. This is quite a luxury in the town of Eagle. When she first moved there 20 years ago, a neighbor gave her a valuable piece of advice – that she should never go to the town well or creek to get water. She explained that by making her husband complete the chore each week, he would quickly see the need for digging their own well. She said that was the best advice she could have received, because after one year, her husband did buy the equipment and dig a well for their home and she was so grateful to having running water. Can you imagine using the outhouse in sub zero temps for months or hauling water each week, using a camping style shower to get clean? It was a long, uneventful 80 miles going back the way we came. We were hoping to get another glimpse of the caribou herd, but they did not cooperate with our plans.

We loaded up the camper and drove into Tok, where we rejoined the Alaska Highway. This is the only city in Alaska that you must pass twice – when you arrive in Alaska, and again when you leave, regardless of which route you take. We stopped at Fast Eddy’s restaurant. We ordered lasagna, which was delicious and enough to save for lunch on another day, but the real highlight was the fresh salad bar. Because of vegetable restrictions on crossing the border into Alaska and Canada, which we do several times on this trip, it was easier to not bring salad fixings so that was quite a treat. We found a little local campground, called Alaskan Stoves for a restful night after a long day of driving. There was a paved path along the Alaska Highway for bikes or walks so I was able to get out for a run and we were able to walk Molly with little concern for wildlife or traffic.

Before arriving in Delta Junction, we passed the Delta Meat and Sausage company. We stocked up on reindeer breakfast sausage and reindeer sausage sticks. While curious, wereally have to struggle with the thought that you are eating Rudolph. It turns out they cut the game meat with beef and pork, just like you do with elk or venison at home. The sausage was full of flavor and spice so it was tough to distinguish a unique reindeer flavor, but it was delicious. They also had yak, bison, and elk sausage, which we tasted but didn’t purchase. (They all tasted similar to me.)

We drove on to Delta Junction, which completed our drive on the Alaska Highway. We left home 2 1/2 weeks ago and have driven 3600 miles, but our journey into Alaska is far from over. Technically the Alaska Highway is 1422 miles from Dawson Creek to Delta Junction. But don’t worry, lots more roads to travel and explore.

After a quick stop at the Knotty Shop, famed with the best ice cream in the state, we were ready to arrive at the next tourist stop, the North Pole.