Gold Fever! A Holiday to Dawson City via Chicken and the Top of the World Highway

Having gotten into the swing of the whole campground host thing, it was time for a new adventure.  We'd heard a lot about Chicken and the road to Dawson City and thought it would make for a great overnight adventure.  Leaving the trailer behind, and with hotel reservations made for the big city of Dawson, we headed out early Tuesday morning.

Roads are always a major topic of conversation in Alaska.  Not so much where they are going, it's the condition they are in that can be the subject of hour long conversations and spirited debate. We knew that the road repair crew was currently working on the Taylor Highway, the 64 mile road from Tok to Chicken. Like many roads in Alaska the part being repaired, the gravel section, was much better than the potholed, permafrost wracked remainder.

Then there is the 72 mile road from Chicken to Dawson City called the Top of the World highway.  Primarily rough dirt, and narrow, with steep drop offs over 1000 ft clifts, the road winds along the ridgetops, above treeline. Dave did the driving. I pointed out the numberous gold dredging operations we passed along the Forty Mile and Mosquito Rivers, the magnificent alpine views and counted down the miles, first to the Canadian border and then to Dawson.

But note, I wrote that the road was 'primarily' dirt.  There is one section, the last 12 miles in Alaska, that is beautiful, smooth, wide asphalt. Nothing but horrible dirt up to it, nothing but bad dirt afterwords.  But there it is, the best road in all of Alaska.

In Canada, the road ends at the Yukon River just across from Dawson.  The ferry runs continiously, is pretty quick, and gave us a chance to say we've rode the Yukon.

Dawson City itself, is pretty cool. A gold town that sprang up in the late 1900's and is still the center of Yukon mining and tourism today.  The old 19th century architecture and character is well maintained, and really classy.  The streets are dirt but there are wooden boardwalk sidewalks butted up to false front stores, victorian theater houses and saloons.  We had a great dinner is an old fish house.  The rain hammering on the tin roof only added to the boom town ambiance.  But there really isn't much there even if you include a visit to the Jack London and Robert Service cabins. I did, and have, often wondered how "the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell."

The next day it was back over the Top of the World, but with a stop at the community of Chicken. Named Chicken because the locals could not spell ptarmigan, the town isn't much more than two restaurants, four stores three RV parks, an old mining dredge, a few current mining operations, and a 'learn to pan gold' tourist sluice box.

It being a beautiful day and as gold panning involving playing in water, as well as being a quintessential Alaskan experience, it was time to give it a try.  Best decision ever!!!  Gold panning is taking a shovel full of dirt and washing it and swirling it until nothing is left but gold!  Shinning, gleaming gold.  We panned 5 shovel-fulls and got 'color' in every one.

Now we're back at the campground.  Looking north I keep thinking about the gold in them thar hills...and thinking about going back for some more.