Chop Chop Billy Goat

For absolutely no other reason than the fact that we had already driven 3000 + miles, and that the arctic circle was only another 250 miles, we decided to take a side trip ….

After spending too much time in Fairbanks we were happy to hit the road again and head to our last major north country destinations before heading south: the Taylor Highway, Top of the World Highway, and Dawson City, Yukon.

There are only two routes into Alaska by road. You can drive the Alaska Highway from Whitehorse, Yukon, to the tiny town of Tok (pronounced “toke”) Alaska, or you can drive from Whitehorse up to Dawson City, Yukon, then take the gravel Top of the World Highway and Taylor Highway to Tok. On the way in we took the Alaska Highway route, so for the return trip we took the Top of the World Highway route.

The Taylor and Top of the World Highways have a bit of a fearsome reputation among RV travelers. The guidebook recommends against driving them in the rain because of slick conditions, recommends carrying a spare tire or two because of the harsh gravel, and says to be careful when making way for oncoming traffic because RVs have toppled over after pulling over too far onto soft shoulders. When we passed through Whitehorse in late June we heard horror stories about terrible conditions and lots of flat tires in a long construction zone and, sure enough, a story of a RV just recently toppling over and then sliding down a hill until it was stopped by trees. Needless to say these stories made Pa (but not Ma) a bit nervous! However, as the summer progressed and we talked to more people the consensus seemed to be that route was perfectly doable, so we decided to go for it.

As it turned out, the Taylor and Top of the World Highways were a piece of cake, and some of the most beautiful scenery we have seen. The first sixty miles or so were paved and had lots of vivid fall colors. We spent the night at the beautiful West Fork Campground on the Taylor. The next day was Ma’s birthday, and we celebrated by stopping in the community of Chicken, Alaska, a tiny collection of rustic tourist attractions in the middle of nowhere. After Chicken we hit the gravel portion of the Taylor, but it wasn’t bad it all; it was soon enough after a rain that the dust wasn’t bad, but not so soon that it was still muddy. Then we had thirteen miles of brand new pavement; the construction zone that had spawned so many horror stories back in June was now the nicest roadway in all of Alaska. After passing through a tiny customs station we drove another few hours on good gravel on the Canadian side. This part ran along the ridges of the mountains instead of down in the valleys (hence the name “Top of the World Highway”) and there were gorgeous vistas of fall colors on all sides. The highway ended at the Yukon River, where a small ferry takes travelers and their vehicles across to Dawson City and the Klondike Highway. The Yukon River is fairly wide at Dawson City, and apparently it is cheaper to run a ferry 24-7 for the summer months (in winter vehicles just drive across the ice) than it is to build a bridge.

Rather than immediately taking the ferry across we camped for a few days at the lovely Yukon River Campground, which is across the river from Dawson City and right next to the ferry landing. Our site is next to the river, and there is a large gravel bar right below our site for the kids to play on. A few minutes downstream is a sternwheeler graveyard where the hulks of at least five or six old paddlewheelers are lined up in the woods next to the river. To go into town we just walk up the to free ferry and take the next one; it runs back and forth continuously and the wait is never more than five minutes.

Dawson City was the center of the Klondike gold rush, and it still looks much like it did back in those days. Many, if not most, of the buildings in town are from that period and have been well preserved. The Canada Parks system has a nice visitor center, and there is an old sternwheeler parked along the main street. All in all, Dawson City is probably the most attractive tourist oriented town we have seen in the north country.

The gold mining in the Klondike was, and still is, placer mining, where miners dig up rock and dirt from current and ancient river beds and then run it through sluices to separate out the heavier gold nuggets. Over the past hundred and some years every single bit of land in the valleys around Dawson City has been dug up and processed, so for a few miles outside of town the landscape is nothing but big piles of discarded river rocks interspersed with ponds. What surprised me is that placer mining is still very active in the area. On one drive up the creek where gold was originally discovered we saw at least three active mining operations, which generally involves an excavator digging up gravel, and a big machine to process it to sift out the gold. Many businesses in town have a sign up that says “Placer mining supports this business, and this business supports placer mining.” We talked to a couple who are working for the season at a placer mine four hours from Dawson City on dirt roads. He is one of the operators for the excavator (they dig 24-7 in shifts) and she cooks for the camp. They said they processed 300 tons of gravel an hour, and that yielded about one ounce of gold.

While Dawson City is one of the nicest places we have stopped we are probably going to be leaving in a couple days. Fall comes on fast here, and the puddles and ponds are already starting to freeze at night, and the days just barely get up to the fifities, and the forecast is for some nights to get into the low 20s and upper teens in the next few days.

A couple days ago, we were at Chena hot springs, outside Fairbanks. Chena’s hot springs were discovered by Robert and Thomas Swan in 1905. They made a resort there, with twelve small cabins and a bath house. They also made a trail to Fairbanks that was used for horses to bring people back and forth. The actual traveling time was twelve hours. Later the resort was improved and the lodge was added.

While at Chena, we went swimming in the indoor pool. It was super fun. Little Kid quickly got cold, but he was soon ready to go back in. I had a lot of fun diving for rings, wearing flippers, and playing with Little Kid. Ma later got some time to soak in the hot springs.

On our last night at Chena, we saw something very exciting – the northern lights! Ma and Pa stayed awake to see them, and when they did they woke me. We went to the resort’s airstrip and had a spectacular view of the northern lights. First there was a horizontal streak,  then it vanished and another one formed. My favorite part was a vertical one that grew brighter and brighter.   All the   northern lights we saw were green. The northern lights are created by solar wind particles trapped in the atmosphere by earth’s magnetic field. The particles interact with gasses in the air and create the colors.

The next day, we left Chena, did our town stuff in Fairbanks, and started on the Taylor highway.

“Daddy has a big boo boo on his belly button.” That is Little kid’s summation of the hernia surgery which Pa had on Wednesday,

Before heading into Teklanika Campground at Denali National Park, Pa was fairly sure he had a hernia tear (he had had the left side repaired in 2000 – and so recognized the telltale bulge). Did some googling, found what seemed like a good surgeon, and made an appointment to meet with him on our first day in Fairbanks. The doctor said that the surgery was not urgent; but after Pa and I discussed it at length, we decided to just get it over with, especially before driving thru remote areas on our return to the lower 48.

Surgery was scheduled for five days later.  All went great! They were able to do the procedure laparoscopically, which made for much faster healing time. By day three post op Pa was off the Percocet and getting around fairly well. Each day he gets better and better …..

Also in Fairbanks we swapped generators. Our old one, affectionately know as Jenny, weighed nearly two hundred pounds (weight we did not need on our over loaded tires) and was way too much power for our needs. We sold her on Craigslist, to a civilian military employee, who escorted us onto base (Ft. Wainwright) where we parked at the auto shop and he spent three hours removing the behemoth. She has been replaced with “Honey,” a super quiet and lightweight (21 lbs) Honda generator that Pa has always wanted.

Our time in Fairbanks wasn’t all medical and machines …. there was also time for some fun …… visited Pioneer Park, a 44-acre park with a playground, gold rush town, a kiddie train, museums, etc. Went to the Sandhill Crane festival, where we saw – and heard – hundreds of cranes (and lots of Canadian Geese and a pair of trumpeter swans) as they prepared to head south for the winter. Explored the University of Alaska Fairbanks Campus (and decided that we would never want to go to school where the winter temps where forty below and the sun only came out a few hours each day). Tried our luck at gold panning (no luck). Shopped at Bentley Mall, the northernmost mall in North America (even further north than the mall in Greenland!). Saw a small section of the 800 mile oil pipeline, which runs from the North Slope to Valdez. And otherwise just explored this hard scrabble, end of the road town filled with some really, really nice and quirky people.

Now we are going to spend a few days about an hour outside of Fairbanks at Chena Hot Springs, before we return here for Pa’s post surgery appointment …..

At Denali, as Ma said, we spent the first four days at Riley Creek. After that we went to Teklanika. One day we took a bus to the Eielson visitor center. On the bus, people can call out “stop” if they see an animal and the bus will stop. Sometimes people would call stop for a rock or something else that looked like an animal. On the way we saw some Grizzlies in the distance, little white  dots on the hill that were Dall Sheep, and lots of caribou that were really cool. When we got there (after almost three hours), we had great views of Mt. McKinley.  We went on a mile long hike with a 25% incline! When we finally got to the top, we were blown off our feet with what Ma guessed was forty mile per hour winds. The wind was so strong that I could lean back into the wind without falling over! Up there we also saw two caribou. After a little hunkering behind rocks to escape the wind, we headed back down the mountain.

On the way back to the campground, we saw plenty more caribou. We saw a grizzly bear with two cubs and stopped to watch them. The three came closer and closer until they crossed the road and began eating right next to the bus. They must have been three feet from the bus! After awhile we finally kept going. The rest of the drive back was uneventful.

On my birthday, my day started with surprise chocolate milk – In a striped cup that was super tall! After geting awesome presents from Ma and Pa, Aunt Nancy, and Grandma, we watched a movie on the computer.  Soon we ate delicious brownies cooked by Ma. After that, we took a walk in the campground. I met the campground hostess’s boys and spent the rest of the day playing with them, playing a game where we tried to push each other in mud, and many other games.  In the evening, Pa and I went on a cross country hike. First we took a trail over a hill, bush whacked across the tundra, and then climbed the hill on the other side. When we got to the top, we were very tired. On the way back we got stuck in a swamp and were wading for a while. When we finally got back home,  mosquito bitten and wet, we enjoyed ice cream.

After a couple of days we got on the bus again with plans to get off randomly and hike cross country. Unfortunately, at the place we wanted to get off there was a grizzly bear. The second place we wanted to get off there was a caribou in the middle of the road! Little kid then fell asleep and we went all the way to Eielson. At Eielson, we set off on a small hike. We soon settled in at a patch of blue berries and began eating. After that we got on a bus and headed back. We saw another bear that was right next to the bus! After a little more time in Denali we headed to Fairbanks.