When we woke up this morning we were unfortunately greeted again by cool drizzly weather. Apparently there is a stationary low hanging around in this area which causes wet, cool weather to be around for the next few days. Being the optimist that I am, We're hoping to drive out of this weather system today.
After packing up the Honda, we drove to the ferry to get across the mighty Yukon River. We didn't have to wait very long before it arrived from the opposite bank of the river. There was no line-up so we drove right onto it. The ferries are free here courtesy of the Yukon Government. After getting off the ferry, we started on the "Top of the World" highway to the Canada-US border. The first few kilometers were pretty good, on a well paved road. However, after a short time we climbed to the top of the mountain ridge and the road disappeared into the low hanging rain clouds which translated into heavy dense fog. Shortly after getting our heads into the clouds, the road started to deteriorate as well. Instead of pavement, we were now mostly on gravel. The road basically runs along the mountain tops until well after cr
ossing the border. So, the fog stayed with us for about 2 hours. We crossed into the US around 10 o'clock. This is the most northerly US Customs point apparently. The customs agent got us through without much fuss and we started on the American part of today's route. Well...we thought the road was bad in Canada, we were wrong, this road was truly a challenge. While the road in Canada was covered with gravel, this was just a dirt road, no gravel at all. The rain had turned the dirt to a glutenous tan coloured mud. We had to keep our speed way down in order not to slide off the road and off the mountain sides. On the plus side, we're now descending all the time and getting our heads out of the clouds, i.e. the fog disappeared. After
about 20 miles, we came to the "town" of Chicken, population 35. Here we stopped for a coffee break. At this point, the road thankfully turned into a paved road and our troubles were more or less over.
ossing the border. So, the fog stayed with us for about 2 hours. We crossed into the US around 10 o'clock. This is the most northerly US Customs point apparently. The customs agent got us through without much fuss and we started on the American part of today's route. Well...we thought the road was bad in Canada, we were wrong, this road was truly a challenge. While the road in Canada was covered with gravel, this was just a dirt road, no gravel at all. The rain had turned the dirt to a glutenous tan coloured mud. We had to keep our speed way down in order not to slide off the road and off the mountain sides. On the plus side, we're now descending all the time and getting our heads out of the clouds, i.e. the fog disappeared. After
about 20 miles, we came to the "town" of Chicken, population 35. Here we stopped for a coffee break. At this point, the road thankfully turned into a paved road and our troubles were more or less over. 
It was just too bad that we were in the fog and clouds most of the time so far. Occasionally, we caught glimpses of the mountains around us which are really spectacular. On the Alaska side though we travelled from Boundary, population 5? (where we crossed the border) to Tok through a massive forest burn area. This forest fire destroyed thousands of square kilometers of forest. It took us a couple of hours of driving before we finally left this devastated area behind. As far as you could see, the mountain sides are covered with blackened stumps of burned trees.
Oh yeah, we saw a few cow moose, one with a calf, along the way as well as a fox. The fox was too quick and we didn't get a picture of him or her. That's all the wildlife we saw today. Still no grizzly bears or caribou :-(
By the time we arrived at Tok, we turned onto highway 2 to Glennallen where we planned to stop for the day. This road is paved, but the winters here do a real number on the highways. It sometimes feels like you're on a roller coaster. The road looks more like an ocean with waves.
On the plus side, the gas prices are a lot lower than in the Yukon. I filled up yesterday before leaving from Dawson this 
morning and had to pay $1.39/l for our regular gas. In Alaska, I'm so far paying about $3.68/gal which is a bit over $1.00/l if my arithmetic is correct. This might be expensive for Americans from the lower 48 states, but for us it's only a little more than we are used to paying at home.
morning and had to pay $1.39/l for our regular gas. In Alaska, I'm so far paying about $3.68/gal which is a bit over $1.00/l if my arithmetic is correct. This might be expensive for Americans from the lower 48 states, but for us it's only a little more than we are used to paying at home.Oh, did I mention that the weather got quite nice? By the time we got to Tok, the clouds started to lift somewhat and it got sunnier as we went on. Also, the temperature got to 19 deg C by the time we stopped in Glennallen, whoo hoo.
Wash me please!!
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