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Dawson City, day 23

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

	We stopped by the Post Office on the way out of Chicken to mail post cards and then headed towards the Top of the World Highway and the Yukon Territory.
	Climbing up, up, up we came to a turnout showing some of the of the 40 mile Caribou herd’s territory. The herd now numbers about 20,000 from a known population of 500,000. Killed off by hunters, predators and possible weather the herd dropped to 10,000 before starting to comeback.
	We came to the border crossing with the highest post office in North America, and kept climbing on the Top of the World Highway (4,515 ft.). We pulled off at an interesting rock point with a great view (W140.77996 N64.10164 at 3,750 feet elevation). We discovered the point was a great place for producing multiple echoes or yodeling if you prefer.
	Since this position is not in the Milepostguide, we claim the rock to be Debbie and Keith’s Echo Rock. I am reasonable convinced also that we were the first Sportsmobile Sprinter across the Top of the World.
	The highway continued on dropping as we went, then climbing and dropping again. As we approached Dawson City, we found the Top of the World Golf Course. Traveling the world’s longest driveway we checked out the course.
	Next we crossed the Yukon River on a small ferry (lots of current and mud due to all the rain) and found our campground (wet).Skip, who was also at the campground, convinced me to accompany him the one of the local watering holes at The Downtown Hotel. The bar offered us a chance join that long sought club membership, that premier group of adventurers, that one-of-a-kind devil may care explorer society by kissing a severed human toe.
	I was prepared for this adventure with a delightful pasta with garlic and broccoli dinner. My experiences with several unnamed Army buddies (ok, I will name them – Jim Butler, Larry Kimmel, Richard Brokhausen and other members of the exclusive CCN band of brothers also prepared me for an event of this importance.)
	Some of the pictures here might not be suitable for frail, weak or otherwise gentle persons or girly men. The toe tasted slightly like chicken with just a hit of Madagascar cinnamon and Vietnamese nuc-mam.And is all I will say about that.
Video of the partial range of the 40 Mile Caribou herd.
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Tags: Alaska, BC, kiss the toe, YT
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Chicken, day 22

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

	Today we are heading through Tok, the only city you see coming and going to Alaska if driving. At Tok, we turned north, this time towards Chicken, Alaska.
	On the way there we saw another moose and just out of Chicken the highway turned to dirt (we did over 600 miles of dirt road on this trip). We checked into the campground (dry) and met a fellow camper, USCG (ret.) Skip who had cocktails with us. Skip is on the same route as us until Whitehorse.
	The three main building in Chicken, a gift shop, bar and restaurant that are built on quite a slant due to permafrost. We shopped for souvenirs and went back to camp. We had a stir-fry of Bok Choy, Snow Peas and Bell Peppers (see Debbie’s recipes, soon to come . . . )
	We played Scrabble that night and at the end of the game (which I let Debbie win) she protested the first word I spelled (er, misspelled).
	During the night there was a heavy frost, the first of the season and another sign summer is over. I had put some of our gear that had gotten wet out to dry and it ended up even more wet.

Tags: Alaska, BC, YT
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Out of the Arctic, day 21

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

	We pulled out of the campground (Milepost 107, Bear Country, just above Finger Mountain.).
	We stopped for a short hike at an area that showed tors (leftovers from glacier erosion) and continued south. The colors had started to change. Not many reds, only a few low bushes near creeks had red but lots of yellow from the Aspen trees. The yellow against the deep green of the Spruce is quite beautiful.
	There were many more trucks going out but the trip was uneventful. We did stop at the Arctic Trading Post. Full of smoke from the fire, a bare wooden floor and a second story only 5-1/2 feet tall, this was another example of do the best you can in the Arctic
	We passed through Fairbanks and stopped at North Pole Alaska. Lots of shopping done there and photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. It is Christmas all year here.
	Sadly the reindeer they keep caged should be freed. Not only are they deprived of their natural instincts, and the correct diet, they drink water they have just peed in – Santa needs to pay more attention to his reindeer.
	We camped at a nicely keep campground, The Lazy Moose, with a very pretty view of the river.

Tags: Alaska, Arctic Circle, BC, YT
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Heading south, day 20

Sunday, August 24th, 2008

	We left the campgound and went down the hill to the Arctic Circle sign (1/4 mile). No one was there so we got some good photos. Finally another group came in and we took their photo while they took a few for us.
	We headed out to Coldfoot (about 50 miles) to get fuel. The Arctic Interagency Vistor Center there is very good. You could easily spend several hours here and learn much about solstice and the area.
	Coldfoot does have ultra low sulphur diesel but a big sign on the highway leading north, warned there may not be any ultra low-suphur diesel fuel ahead.We had a beer in the most Northern bar in America and contemplated going futher north to the continental divide or a couple of campgrounds further where someone had seen a herd of caribou.
	We reluctently decided to turn south, in effect now heading for home.We drove south several miles past the Arctic Circle and camped off the road at a spot with a great view.
	The colors had started to change. Not many reds, only a few low bushes near creeks but lots of orange from the Aspen trees. The orange against the deep green of the Spruce is quite beautiful.

Tags: Alaska, Arctic Circle, BC, YT
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The Arctic Circle, day 19

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

	Today we heading north to the Arctic Circle. It is about 200 miles of paved and gravel road. Most of the gravel portion is smoother than California’s 580 and 680 freeways. One of the gravel portions has the “Roller Coaster” – a hill with a long steep down grade followed by a long steep upgrade. We hit the bottom at 65mph with Debbie screaming all the way.
	There were several 8 and 9% grades but the first 18 miles is the roughest. After that, a piece of cake. We crossed the Yukon River on the way and basically followed the pipeline. It was a Sunday so there was very little truck traffic. Plan your trip to include a Sunday either going in or coming out.
	We reached the Arctic Circle around 1 or 2pm. It was actually crowded with folks taking pictures. We took a couple and planned to come back in the morning for more. We camped at the BLM Arctic Circle Campground.
	It is a undeveloped campground with an out-house (normal plumbing in the Alaska bush – we will never take our bathroom at home for granted again!). We were the only ones there except for a few million gnats that left around 8pm. We had a nice fire and roasted a few marshmellows. Wow, here we are! A goal for many years.
	The light grew dim around 11pm. A long sunset lasted well after midnight. A full moon also was up and we had thin cloud cover so there was no chance of seeing the Northern Lights or stars. Both the sun and the moon moved around the horizon never directly overhead.
	Note: There is no diesel fuel between Fairbanks and Coldfoot. We expected it at the Yukon River or the Hot Spot Cafe so plan accordingly.



		Video: What is the Arctic Circle

Tags: Alaska, Arctic Circle, BC, YT
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