John and Petra's Alaskan Diary
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12th September, 2001
A Weekend Escape to Dawson City, Canada.
For the size of the state there are not many roads criss-crossing Alaska, with lots of the country being only accessible from air or by river. During summer a dirt road, the Taylor Highway, that leads to an alternative border crossing with Canada is open. It connects from Tok via the "Top of the World" Highway to Dawson City, Canada and meets with the "AlCan Highway" (Alaska Canadian) in Whitehorse, Canada after another 400 miles. Before the "Top of the World" Highway would be closed for this season, John and I went on a drive to Dawson City. Although it was raining as usual we enjoyed the autumn scenery along the way. Once we left the main highway 10 miles east of Tok, Alaska, the road took us north and soon we were in the tundra. The scenery of close peaks and distant mountain ranges was splendid.
Halfway up the Taylor Highway we had to stop and wait for a "Follow me" car to take the traffic across a 10 mile long construction site. Most other travellers were out for the start of hunting season. So most other cars on the road had trailers full of camping gear and had several four-wheel drives (in OZ known as quads) with them. We stopped at a tiny settlement called "Chicken", a small cluster of tourist businesses trying to cash in on the golden past of the area. The place is still dug up by a gold dredge.
Further on the dirt highway we stopped to take in the wide vistas of the country.
View from the Taylor Highway
Numerous rivers make their way north to meet the Yukon river. Most of Alaska seems to drain to the north into the Arctic Ocean, or with the Yukon river into the Bering Sea. The fall colours were already visible in the low shrubs of the Alaskan tundra. The birch and aspen trees did not seem far behind, some showing yellow leaves. Another stop was to look at the Jack-Wade dredge, an abandoned monstrosity that was used to dig up valleys around rivers and streams.
Jack Wade dredge
There are still active mining leases along the highway, and trespassing is very much discouraged. Shortly after our stop at the dredge we were pretty close to being involved in a traffic accident. High speed mixed with rain and dirt road does not go well. An oncoming SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) barely missed the truck traveling in front of us, and did a great job not to hit us. John and I were breathing deeply for a short while. We later talked to the people in the truck, who said they were very scared by that incident.
On we went to the "Top of the world" highway. After 9 miles the border station between Canada and USA awaited us with two very friendly custom officers. While the Canadian guard went to stamp our passports his helper inspected us.
Canadian border guard helper, Canadian/USA border station
On we went, enjoying the expansive views with the Brooks Range to the north, and rolling hills and mountains to the south. There was not much snow to be seen.
A further 60 miles on we got our first views of the Yukon river. Its valley was pretty wide, so the river had developed lots of ox-bends, and side arms. The highway took a steep descend towards Dawson City. We had to cross the river on a ferry, which was quite a sight. The city itself has about 1000 residents, and lives of summer tourism and a bit of mining. There are a number of exhibits including a museum in town. During summer the local theater is putting on a play about the gold rush, and at another place a guy is reciting literature of Robert Service, who used to live in Dawson City in the early 1900s.
Most streets in Dawson City are not paved, and the township is quite compact. It was fun to explore it by foot without having to worry to be run down. We easily spent a full day exploring the local vicinity, taking in much of its history, which is mostly based on the stampede for gold in the late 1890s.
Much too soon we had to start heading back, but not before some of the local products (e.g. Yukon salmon) had been tasted. We also stocked up on some cheese and other "exotic" products, which are pretty hard to come by in Fairbanks. We headed back along the same route.