6-13-2011

   On June 11th we began our ride on the Top of the World Highway. The highway is so named because, along much of its length, it skirts the crest of the hills, giving looks down on the valleys. It is also one of the most northerly highways in the world at those longitudes. It was a rough ride with some of it chip seal and some loose gravel. There were several switch backs and several white knuckle areas where you rode along the edge of some long drop offs. It reminded me a lot of the Apache trail in Arizona. The views were  great and made the ride bearable. We’re glad we did it but wouldn’t do it again. We entered Canada on May 17 and today we were going to cross back into the USA. The border crossing was simple and we began our tour of Alaska. The road was dirt for the next 40 miles or so to town of Chicken. It is a small town and they were having a music fest so we decided to travel on. The road we just traveled from Dawson City to Chicken is only open in the summer as the only way across the Yukon river at Dawson is by ferry so when the river freezes over the road is closed. Except for the frost heaves the road from Chicken to Tok was pretty good. That evening we had our bottle of champagne that we had been carrying since we bought it at a winery in Florida. At Tok we returned to the Alaskan highway. Some of the rivers are still icy here. We made our way to Delta Junction and the end of the Alaskan highway. A little north of Delta Junction the had our 1st sighting of the Alaskan pipeline.  Were now in Fairbanks having a few down days. Tomorrow we’ll do some exploring here and decide when we’re going to head over to Denali NP