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Left Burwash Landing hopeful for sun once more. Drove away from that fantasy--left the blue skies behind. A bit more disappointing than the day before, the clouds were really low, and we got the feeling that there were some REALLY big mountains behind them but we couldn't see them. Still a nice drive, until the torrential rain, that is! Once it started raining, we decided to drive as far as we could. Rain in the forecast for the next few days, so we didn't want to try waiting it out. We crossed into Alaska at Beaver Creek, where we saw our first large animals of our driving trip. A cow and baby moose, standing right in the middle of the highway, posing for pictures. Beautiful. Crossed into Alaska at lunch, and that's when the weather really took a turn. Crazy rain. We turned up at Tetlin Junction(for those of you with a map who care), and headed for Chicken. Yes, a town named Chicken. It's suggested they found Ptarmigan there and wanted to name it after them, but couldn't spell it... haha. Drove out of the rain, which was nice, and drove for a couple of hours down a road in the middle of nowhere, with no sign of humans except for the road we were on. No roads to anywhere else, no houses, hardly any other cars. Nothing. It was as in-the-middle-of-nowhere as I've ever felt. To stop the car, turn it off and hear nothing but nature. Amazing. Hard to describe. The whole time we were driving through an old forest fire area. I can't even begin to understand how many trees must have burned. Hours of driving. It's really beautiful in a way. Flowers have grown in between all the dead trees, and as far as you can see it's purple flowers and black trees.
Anyways, we finally arrived in Chicken, Alaska. What a cute little place. Population: 25 people and 1 old grump.(says the sign) It was great. We stopped at a little shop where bought our cheapest gas yet--about 90 cents a litre Canadian equivalent. We're not looking forward to filling up here in Dawson, where it's $1.37/L. Crazy. Anyways, the little shop offers free panning for gold. So, we got our pans, and headed out to a stream. We chatted with one of the guys there who told us he'd show us the ropes. He had lots of gold flakes in his little vial, so we trusted his judgement! A half hour later, with REALLY cold hands, we each had found a couple (very) little flakes. Eureka!! Maybe I'll just stay out here and pan for gold for the rest of my life. It was great sitting at the stream, listening to all the chatter. Who knew panning for gold could be such a social activity!? After some peanut butter and applesauce sandwiches, we continued on our way, on our quest for the Canadian border.
Our drive took us along the "Top of the World" Highway, and it's not called that for nothing. Amazing views. As far as you could see, in any direction. It was fabulous. I'm going to be such a menace driving when I get home, we stopped and backup up down the middle of the road(for pictures) so many times it's common place for me now! No traffic though, so you can do whatever you want! What an amazing drive. Everyone should do it once. Words won't do it, so I'll try to post some pics.
We crossed back into Canada at Poker Creek. Almost didn't make their open hours, 'cause we kept stopping for photos!! That HAS to be the most isolated border crossing in Canada. In the middle of nowhere. It was great. The officer was really friendly, and gave us great stamps in our passports. We drove across the border, gaping at the scenery, and decided to not try for Dawson City. We found a little road off the main road, pulled the car up and mostly out of sight, and set up our little tent with a better view that I've ever hoped to see at a campsite. Unreal. To bed early, and up ready to keep going. Couldn't believe the view that greeted us this morning... and the best part: sunshine! Blue sky as far as the mountains stretched away from us.
previous travel blog entry
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