Lone Rider Pedals

2016 Epic RoadTrip - Day 39

June 21, 2016

Day 39 - Tok, AK to Slana, AK - 77 Miles

Relaxed day, short mileage.

A stop at the Alaska Gift Shop, then the grocery store and the onto Slana, AK which sits right on the boundary of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Staying at the Hart D Ranch. The owner, Mary De Hart, is a bronze artist. The ranch is very quaint and secluded and has great internet that I can get from right inside the RV.

The fridge door is filling up....

June 20, 2016

Day 38 - Chicken, AK to Tok, AK - 78 Miles

Decided not to stay the second day in Chicken, AK. The lack of internet is killing me. That, plus the fact that I’ve seen all of Chicken – been there, done that, and got the T-shirt. I decided to leave Chicken and head to Tok, even though I had planned to stay an extra day.

As I was driving down the Taylor Highway, I can see evidence of the 2004 forest fires. Alaska lost 1.3 million acres of forests in this one, putting the total for the year at over 6 million acres destroyed.

Fireweed is a wildflower (AKA weed) which thrives in burn areas. The colors are brilliant and they bloom all summer long. There was supposed to be bright areas of them, but I didn’t see any fields of them, just a border along the roadside.

Tok is a very small town...not much bigger than Chicken. But it did have a place to wash the RV, so that’s how I spent some time this afternoon. The mosquitos and bugs are as prolific as the love bugs in Florida. It also had a gift shop, owned by a former iditerod contender and Yukon Quest Winner. There are a couple places where a musher gives demonstrations or talks about the races. The Burnt Paw Gift Shop had a couple puppies on display and for sale, owned by a local musher.

I have internet today and cellular service. Feeling better already. Gas is $2.70 per gallon, about half of what I was expecting.

Tonight is the summer solstice and it should be daylight just about all night long. Debating whether to stay up and check it out. Unfortunately, the town is too small to be having any sort of celebration.
Oh, well, what can you do.

Spent the rest of the afternoon in the 'lounge' on the internet and having a couple of Kokanee beers. It is the only place I have been in where you can still smoke at the bar. Seems the indoor smoking ban is not a state law, so businesses can decide for themselves.

Steak for dinner tonight! Finally have a fire ring, but there is a fire ban, but the lady running the RV Park said I could use charcoal if I am really careful. Done!

Ryder waiting for Mommy...

Midnight in Whitehorse, YT

Abandoned vehicles seem to be all over the road.....

Braeburn Lodge...World Famous Cinnamon Buns...they were huge! And good!

Yukon Quest check station as well as cinnamon buns!

Fireweed!

One of the original roadhouses from the 1890s

Downtown Hotel, home of the Sour Toe Cocktail

2016 Epic Road Trip - Day 37

June 19, 2016

Day 37 - Dawson City, YT to Chicken, AK - 88 Miles

Top of the World Highway! Even though the mileage was minimal, the trip was on the long side, as the road is not paved and full of potholes and goes up and down and all around.

Alaska or Bust! And it is Alaska! I traveled West again from Dawson City, Yukon to the Alaskan border via the Top of the World Highway, which travels along the top of the mountains. Spectacular vistas in every direction. Pictures just don’t do justice to the beauty of this area, but I are trying anyway.

Passed through Customs again. No problem!

Well, the Customs agent’s big question to was whether I had seen smoke on our way up the road. I had. Seems there was a lightening strike a day or so ago. The spotter planes flew over..they thought the fire was small, and now they are getting reports by some travelers seeing flames. All I saw was smoke. And just like that I am back in the USA.

The whole road this morning has been loose gravel and packed gravel with occasional stretches of paved road. I have had incredible views, so there are lots of pictures to show. The only wildlife today was a bunny, which may or may not have been a snow hare, and I missed getting the picture.

Finally, I arrived in Chicken, Alaska -- population 7. There are 3 stores connected behind the back counter– same clerk runs back & forth. Gift shop, liquor store walk up window & saloon, and café, plus 2 RV parks. I visited all 3 shops, had lunch in the saloon – with food prepared in the café – and still had time to pan for gold.

I took dirt from the middle of a tailing pile (already been mined by the professionals) – and paned in the creek. Got a few flakes, but at least it was free.

Mosquitos are big up here, and plentiful. Met some bees and spiders, too. However, the internet that was advertised in their ads is virtually non-existent and there’s no cellular service.

Ferry Ride across the Yukon River

Top of the World Highway

I think this rock formation sort of looks like a lizard...don't you?

It's a heat wave!

I made it to Alaska!

Absolutely gorgeous! The picture really doesn't do it justice.

Ryder made it to Alaska too!

The Big Chicken in Chicken, AK

A mining chicken

and another chicken....

Booming downtown Chicken, AK

Lunch served in a gold pan...

And another chicken....

Panning...

2016 Epic Road Trip - Day 36

June 18, 2016

Day 36 - Whitehorse, YT to Dawson City, YT - ___ Miles

A wonderful day of breathtaking beauty heading predominately north to Dawson City, YT. The difference between the two towns is like night and day. Dawson City came about as a gold rush town around 1896-1898. Wooden boardwalk sidewalks were built, wooden storefronts, saloons, hotels, etc. and it has essentially remained the same since then.

I took in a cabaret-style show at Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall. Lots of fun, even though it was only 30 minutes long and the dancers only had a couple moves. But it was all good. Had a nice dinner of Rib Eye Steak and potatoes and even won $400 on the slots!

While at the show, I heard that the highway I took the other day from Dawson Creek, YT has been closed due to extreme flooding. It was described as “the kind of floods they show on the news in Texas”. Even more damaging, the whole highway (Hwy 87) collapsed in Carmacks, YT; like a huge sinkhole engulphing both sides of the road. It will be months until it is reconstructed. Had I waited one more day, I would have been really messed up with at least a thousand mile detour to get back on schedule! I haven’t had internet since then, so I haven’t been able to read about it yet.

My travels today took me through incredible mountains and glacial lakes. The berms of the road were lined with purple fireweed. I don’t know if it was planted or just grew wild, but it was everywhere. I came upon Braeburn Lodge, known for its cinnamon buns, so I tried another. It filled the dinner plate. Another roadside stop was the old Montague roadhouse, a place for dinner and lodging for prospecters heading to the gold.

As I approached Dawson City, I could see hundreds of acres of tailings and tailing ponds. They’ve been declared an historic site so, although people can flatten them out and build on them, they can never been mined again. It has been estimated that only about 20% of the gold had been extracted from these tailings, since their methods 120 years ago were more primitive than methods in use today. Bummer....