June 12, 2009 Day 21 Tok, Alaska
Our sunny day in Dawson Creek started with a visit to the Danoja Zho Cultural Center. Be sure to go at a time when there is a guided tour. We have learned that being there when they open often gets you individualized tours and true life experiences instead of a canned presentation. We were fortunate to have two outstanding guides. I think the First Nation people's museums are second only to the wildlife.
Be sure to gas up in Dawson City, as you won't see any gas stations for over 100 miles. We forgot to gas up, but we had a big enough tank to make it to Tok.
We lined up for the free Dawson City ferry, which you must take to get across the Yukon River. Otherwise you would have to go all the way back to Whitehorse and around, and you don't want to do that. We were first in line for their second trip, and we only had about a 20-minute wait. We then took the Top-of-the-World Highway, which I would never ever take again. It is all dirt and gravel, rutted, pot-holed, and NARROW, WITH SOFT SHOULDERS! As the passenger, you are looking at a steep 1,000 foot drop-off, not knowing if the side of the road will hold. Truly scary! Dean, the daring one of our duo, says the road has a "washboard surface" and is a "disaster". The coach has a fine layer of dirt on everything-after we got it so clean during our time-delay in Whitehorse.
After 45 miles, we reached the border, which we whizzed through. The country changes, but the road doesn't. We lunched at a pretty turnout where the lupine was a bloomin' on one side of the road and there was a lot of snow on the other side.
The fine dirt from a Class B way in front of us was coming into the coach, and it really was bothering my nose and lungs. The dirt cloud just seemed to hang in the air. We were blessed with rain which settled down the dirt and cleaned off the windshield. However, it started dripping inside, too. The RV really gets shaken up on that road, and something isn't fitting the way it used to. If you do decide to take this road, make sure everything is super secure in your coach. I think it's very hard on the RV. We only did 20-25 mph, and it was really bouncing around. The manager of the gas station at the next town, Chicken, told us that he hadn't driven it this year, but he had heard it was much worse than usual. There isn't any construction or any sign that it will be improving soon.
If you do go on TOTW, be sure to stop at the turnout with the information about the 40-Mile Herd of caribou. At one time, there were over 560,000 in the herd, and it dropped down to 5,000. People from Yukon, Canada, and Alaska have worked together to limit predators, and caribou are rebounding.
After what seemed forever, we reached Chicken, AK. The people there wanted to name it after the ptarmigan, but they couldn't spell it. Many of the locals called the ptarmigans "chickens", and they could spell that. We had a coupon for a free chicken, but it was raining, and the gas was $4.35 per gallon. We decided to buy gas in Tok, about 77 miles away. About 2 miles outside of Chicken, the road is paved, except in many construction spots. But, even there, whatever they are using on the road makes it pretty smooth. However, there are no highway signs mentioning Tok or much of anything else. We felt very isolated-no cell phone service, no landmarks, just signs saying you were leaving Forested Area #12 or whatever. We finally found a little sign naming a little lake where somebody must fish occasionally, and it was referenced in our "Milepost". When you intersect Highway 2, you need to turn right, there isn't any sign until you've already made the turn and gone a bit.
When we came into Tok, we immediately went to gas up at the place recommended by RV Forum friends. Dean went to the fuel pump, and there was a sign saying you had to re-insert your credit card for each $100 in gas you bought. There was a button to "pay inside", so Dean pushed it, rather than repeatedly put his credit card in. Then the message said, "Please wait." So he waited, and waited, and waited. He is so much more patient than I am, but eventually he tired of waiting, so he went to the mini-mart to find out what was happening. There was a sign on the door saying they would open June 25. So, Dean came back to the pump, and ended up inserting his card 4 times. This place does have the lowest fuel cost in Tok, 52 cents a gallon cheaper than in Chicken. It is the first gas station on the east end of town, across the highway from Fast Eddie's restaurant and has a sign that says LAUNDRY GAS.
We had a great meal at Fast Eddie's-reasonably priced, well-stocked fresh and crispy salad bar, good service, well-prepared food.
Wildlife: 1 jackrabbit
Weather: Started out sunny, then rain followed by thick overcast, chilly, 50's and 60's
Overnighted at: Gateway Salmon Bake & RV Park, $23.50, 30 amps and water-a few spaces with free WiFi and sewer, but you can go into Fast Eddie's Restaurant, which is currently running the park, and they will set you up with WiFi for as long as you want. The Salmon Bake is out of business.
