free ferry across the Yukon. We had been told it could be a three hour wait since it only holds a few vehicles, but we were the first in line. As we crossed we looked back at the thriving town of 
Dawson City.Upon landing we turned right and up, and up, and up until we were overlooking the Yukon Valley and we were really on top of the world! All the way to Alaska we were on hog backs along a ridge. We could see peaks to the north and all around we could
see forever. We were driving on domed mountains with a good grade. For the first 20 miles it was pavement then a 
good grade of gravel in short patches. There was no wind so the two RV’s that passed us we had to wait a good while for their dust to settle.
In the distance we could see eight layers of mountains. There was no one meeting us so we drove in the middle of the road, picking the best route.
All of this route was over 3500 feet, but no snow. This part of the road was not spectacular, but very pretty. At 36 miles we had met no one.
The Top of the World Highway, Yukon Highway No 9 began as a pack trail out of Dawson City shortly after the Gold rush. It serviced sixty mile and neighboring gold creeks. The trail was gradually improved and came to be known as ridge road.
In the 1930’s, the road was extended to the border and from there to Jack Wade and Chicken. Connecting these Alaskan communities to Dawson City in Canada. In the Late 1940’s Alaska’s Taylor Highway gave communities road access to the outside world by the newly completed Alaska Highway.
As we neared the border we climbed 
a big pass to 4400’ and to the south there was a drop off for the ones traveling east.
When we left the Yukon at 8:30 we wondered if we would get to the border before they opened at 9:00 am, and would it be Alaska time or Yukon as that is where we turn our clocks back. Sure enough as we reached the border it was 10:30.
We laughed when we saw the sign at the 
border and Poker Creek Alaska, population 2.
But then the road changed from cliche to 
Alaska sand which was OK, until the rocks started showing through and those spots became rough. Then there were potholes. But again we were able to chose the best side of the road because we were still not meeting anyone.
By now we realized it was further to Chicken than we had thought and we had only bought enough Canadian priced gas to get us there. Oh, sweat!
All this way we had been at or above timberline allowing us the distance views.
We stopped at the first good pull out after the border for a rest stop and realized the front end of our slideout had come out about two inches. We worked to get it back in, to no avail. We realized we had sheared the pin at the outside of the slide. This happened to the back part of the slide three years ago while in Oregon, but that time the slide was open and wouldn’t close at all. Thank you God that the slide was in this time and we could continue slowly to Chicken and we felt every bump.
While we were stopped a pickup passed going the opposite way with a sign saying “Bus coming.” We waited and waited, and decided he was just driving, but why would he have that sign?
Well, you guessed it, sure enough on a very narrow part of the road, we turned a corner and there he was, bigger than life. We both stopped, neither willing to move as we faced each other, Fred walked over to the driver and they figured if we pulled up and over to the soft shoulder a little and he pulled up and over a little we could inch past. Thank you God that he was on the outside and we were inside. Both shoulders were soft and either could sink on the outside. Thank you again for safely getting us past.
Fred had reduced his speed from about 35-40 mph we had been making to about 10 mph to keep the slide from coming loose. The terrain had changed along with the road and we were going up and down, round and round crossing pretty valleys and rivers then going over the next mountain. At one time, between mile 75 and 82, we crossed a river, the road went up the next mountain and we were on the outside of a sheer drop. Fred jokingly said, ‘The trees would stop us if we went off the road,’ but the few that were there had been burned in a forest fire and wouldn’t have held us if alive because it was so steep. This was our only scary part. Sure glad we didn’t meet that bus there!
The road continued to decline in quality, but was dry and once we met a road grater, so they are constantly working on it.
Several times Milepost, our Alaskan Guide book talked about us being in the boreal forest. Seems like we have seen that name before. Then we remembered it extends around the top of the world. White and black spruce, paper birch, quaking aspen and balsam poplar are the dominant trees in Alaska’s boreal forest. As we followed the Alaska Highway northwest we entered the vast forested interior of the Tanana and Yukon Valleys.
Olivia had the Milepost in her lap the whole drive, reading lines like, “road shoulders, where they exist, are generally narrow and may be soft and unstable on paved and gravel portions, avoid driving on the shoulders.” She also marked several of the pullouts for possible overnight stops.
This road should be taken in two days and we had planned to stay in or around the town of Chicken. Legend has it that Chicken was named because the original inhabitants could not decide on the spelling of Ptarmigan, a bird similar to the grouse. They are sometimes called chicken, there fore the name.
We searched out a mechanic at the 
“Busted Knuckle” and he attempted to fix the slide, but didn’t have the ability, so at 1:30 we headed on to Tok. Fred can’t believe how
clean our trailer looks in the photo with the mechanic. It hasn’t been washed since California and with the unpaved roads it is filthy. We need a trailer wash soon!
He told us about a mechanic in Tok and also about the Alaska Highway stretch we missed by going over the Top of the World. He said the Top of the World route was much better than that part of the Alaska Highway and about ten miles north of Tok the highway would be smooth.
We were able to increase our speed to 20 mph as the road was somewhat better, but we still felt every bump. We began to doubt what the mechanic had said about this road being smooth and about the Alaska Highway being worse. How about it friends that drove that way from Whitehorse?
To those of you that drive back to the lower 48 over the Top of the World please let us know which way to go home.
Sunday, June 12 was not a day of rest for us. Tok did not have a United Methodist church. In fact, no churches. It is only a crossroads with a few RV parks, motels, gas stations, car washes and thank goodness a mechanic. We were fortunate to have him
arrive about nine am.
Willard worked and worked on his back under the slide and on top of the gravel parking site. He made several trips to his truck to get tools. Three times he went back to the shop for another tool or the bolts needed to hold the slide and allow it to come and go. Fred was amused with 
Willard’s truck and wondered why he had to go back to the shop so many times. It seemed he had all he would ever need on 
his truck. He was very meticulous and did a good job. He worked for about 6 hours on our trailer, but charged for only 3 hours. Maybe this was fair because it was obvious he hadn’t worked on this slide design before.
Even though he was a very quite man, Fred had the chance to visit with him some. Willard is married to Adrianna. She is from Mexico and has a small shack café in town. Last winter the freeze was particularity bad on her water pipes. One was damaged several feet under ground and hasn’t yet been repaired. Willard says most of the townspeople keep asking when she will open so they can have their Mexican food fix. Even in in Alaska they crave Mexican food!
We knew it would cramp our style having our slide in, but we had also planned to make this a wash stop. Sorting laundry was not easy in our cramped rig. Olivia ran back and forth to the washroom at the Tok RV park we landed in Saturday afternoon. Three weeks of dirty clothes fit into three of their big load machines. Olivia went back to the trailer to put on makeup as she had hurriedly made the trip to put the wash in.
After they were in the dryer she met and visited with Sandy from Alabama. Sure enough she was parked next door. They had just arrived and Bill dropped her and their laundry while he washed their motor home and bought groceries. As the dryer kept on and on we talked of putting together supper. Olivia cooked beans, Fred the cornbread, Bill cooked bacon and Sandy made a rhubarb pie.
About this time Willard finished the job, his car wouldn’t start so Fred took him to the shop so he could come back with a tow truck.
The Maverick game started, dinner was ready. Fred ate in shifts, alternating with the game.
This was a hard day but ended with celebrations—our slide was fixed, our clothes washed, the house partially clean and the Mavericks won the NBA championship. It was a good day!
Monday, June 13 Olivia read in Gwen’s blog and we agreed we are on a “Design as you travel” trip. This day brought a change of plan to move to staying put for the morning. Then maybe driving an hour or so and find a nice place to spend the night.
Gwen also said, Alaska is miles and miles of miles and miles. We agree.
Thanks again for your responses, please keep them coming by clicking on
Olivia@bobheck or Fredharrington@yahoo.com
