Top of the World Highway and a town called Chicken

Leaving Kluane National Park we headed northwest towards Alaska again to the small and exciting (not) town of Tok, Alaska. As boring as Tok is, it's a good place to stock up on supplies and fill up the car before setting off for the Top of the World Highway.

Downtown chicken

A far more interesting stop is a town called Chicken that was settled by gold miners at the end of the 19th century. When a post office was established, the settlement required an official name. Since nobody could agree on the spelling of Ptarmigan, a name suggested based on the prevalence of ptarmigan in the area, they agreed upon Chicken to avoid embarrassment.

These days, Chicken is home to 17 inhabitants and downtown Chicken consists of a souvenir shop, a saloon and a cafe as well as Chicken Poop, the public bathroom. There are still some active gold mines in the area and some old dredges can be seen around Chicken.

Chicken Poop

The Top of the World Highway is one of the most northerly highways in the world and it winds its way along the crests of the hills. It's supposed to be one of the most scenic highways, but I was a bit disappointment. The scenery is beautiful and the views are spectacular but I expected snow capped mountains instead of rolling hills.

Poker Creek is the highest US road border and there is a one-hour difference in time zones at this border. The highway is mostly paved on the US side but once you cross into Canada, most of it is unpaved until you reach the vicinity of Dawson.

US-Canadian border along the Top of the World Highway

The Dempster Highway

According to our rental car agreement and the waiver we signed, we were not allowed to take the rental car on the Dempster Highway, a 760km unpaved road built on permafrost that connects Dawson City to the Inuvik on the Artic Sea. However, the weather forecast was good and we couldn't resist the temptation of at least exploring part of the Dempster Highway. There is a visitor centre dedicated to the Dempster Highway in Dawson City where we got the necessary maps as well as information about the sights along the highway.

A few facts about the Dempster Highway:
- Built in 1958 for oil and gas exploration
- 761 km of unpaved road built on a gravel berm to
   insulate the permafrost in the soil underneath
- the only service station is at Eagle Plains at 370km
- Only road in Canada that leads to the Arctic Sea
- Flat tires and cracked windshields are the norm
- Named after RCMP Inspector William John Duncan
  Dempster who ran the dog sled trail from Dawson to
  Fort McPherson

A rain shower along the Dempster

The first stop along the Dempster is the Tombstone Territorial Park, part of the First Nations traditional territory. The park protects a unique wilderness of rugged peaks and permafrost landscapes with an abundance in wildlife. We did a couple of short hikes accessible from the visitors centre and the Dempster Highway and got a glimpse of the beauty of this unique landscape.

Tombstone Territorial Park

Eagle Plains (Population 8) at km 369 is the halfway point of the Dempster and also the only access to civilization along the highway. It's an important stop for food and fuel and a small hotel offers accommodations to stranded travellers. Although there is a small campground at Eagle Plains, we decided to drive to the Rock River Campground at km 440, past the Arctic Circle. In hindsight, we should have stayed at Eagle Plains as the other campground was in the woods along a river, not only was it infested by millions of mosquitos we also didn't have a view to enjoy the midnight sun on the longest day of the year. 

We made it!

The next day we decided to drive up to the border with the Northwest Territories before heading back towards civilization. The temptation to drive all the way to Inuvik was hard to resist but in the interest of time, we had to start trekking back. We also didn't want to jinx our luck by getting stuck somewhere with our rental car as we were not really prepared for this adventure in the first place. We didn't have any spare tires nor a jerry can with extra fuel but the luck was on our side this time!

The furthest North we have ever been!

Along the Dempster

The Dempster also serves as an airstrip

Yukon Part 2: Kluane National Park

The scenic Haines Highway offers great views of glaciated mountains and offers a variety of scenery, from coastal forests to alpine tundra. After winding through a wide alpine valley, it descends into Haines Junction, the gateway for Kluane National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site which includes Canada's highest peak Mount Logan (5,959m). After a visit to the visitors centre, we hiked the Sheep Creek trail that climbs along side of Sheep Mountain in the hope to see the Dall sheep. Despite the stunning view of the valleys, mountains and glaciers the only glimpse of a Dall sheep we saw through the binoculars at the visitors centre. At this time of the year, they are high up in the mountains but can be seen at lower elevations during spring and fall.

View of Kluane National Park from the Sheep Creek trail

The majority of the park can only be explored by hiking and mountaineering, however, we did explore the Alsek Valley road only accessible with a 4x4. After driving for about 10km along a bumpy road crossing several flooded areas we got to a point where the road was barely visible and we decided to track back. The scenery was absolutely stunning though.

Alsek Valley

Point of no return

Kluane National Park has been home of the Southern Tutchone for thousands of years living a nomadic lifestyle in order to take advantage of the abundances of of wildlife and plants throughout their territory. After being denied access to hunting, trapping and fishing in the 1940's the First Nations have reasserted their right to carry out their traditional activities throughout their territory with the implementation of their land claim.
The Kluskhu First Nations Village offers a glimpse into the life of a First Nations summer fish camp. This village is used by the Kluskhu First Nations to catch salmon and to dry the fish before returning to their permanent village for the winter.

Kluskhu First Nations Village

Our camp for the night was at a private campground along Lake Kluane, as the Provincial campground nearby only accepted RV's because of the bears in the area.

Cottonwood Park Campground 

Yukon - "Larger than life"

'Larger than life" is the Yukon's tourism motto and it refers to the territory's almost pristine nature. Twice the size of the United Kingdom and with only 35,000 inhabitants of which two thirds live in and around the capital Whitehorse, the territory is sparsely inhabited. In addition to the vast wilderness the Yukon is home to 14 different First Nations who make up most of the population, the famous Klondike Gold Rush, iconic drives such as the Dempster Highway and the Yukon Quest, an annual 1000-mile dogsled race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks.

We flew into Whitehorse and it was quite a difference to see the city in the summer as the first time we visited Whitehorse in February 2012, the streets were covered in snow and it was -32oC.

We started to travel along the scenic South Klondike Highway to Carcross, a First Nations settlement and home to the Carcross desert known as the world's smallest desert.

Carcross Desert

Carcross

The border between the US and Canada is bizarre, we first passed Canada Customs and then for a few miles, we were in no-mans land. The official US-Canadian border is on top of the legendary White Pass, known for the famous White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, however, US Customs is another few miles down the road. The immigration officers are definitely more laid back than at the border crossings near Vancouver, the officer was actually friendly and had time for a chat. Our first destination was Skagway on the Alaskan Panhandle.

South Klondike Highway

US/Canadian border - South Klondike Highway

Skagway is a popular stop for cruise ships during the summer months and accordingly, the town is full of tourist shops and cruise ship passengers. However some of the old wooden buildings as well as the now touristy White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad are remnants of the area's mining past. During the Klondike gold rush, many prospectors arrived in Skagway by ship and prepared for their long journey northwards across the White Pass into the Yukon.

Skagway

Skagway is also the southern end of the South Klondike Highway and is also a gateway to the Alaska Marine Highway, Alaska's ferry system that services towns as well as remote areas along the Alaskan coast that are only accessible by sea or by air. We took the ferry to Haines, Alaska, it's an 1 1/2-hour ferry ride but by car, it's a 570km drive that would have taken us about 8 hours.

There isn't much to see in Haines and we used the occasion to stock up on groceries. During a short stop at Chilkoot Lake, we observed a grizzly bear how it turned over a little rowing boat looking for food. To his disappointment, there was nothing in the boat except for an empty plastic bag.

Heading northwards on the Haines Highway towards the Yukon, we were looking for a campground and ended up stopping at the 33 Mile Roadhouse in the middle of nowhere. The owner kindly offered us to set up camp on his land, we had all the space we wanted but we were also at the mercy of thousands of mosquitos!

A weekend in the Yukon

Yukon is one of Canada's federal territories and lies North of British Columbia. Yukon's tourism motto is "Larger than life", which is so very true. The distances are endless and the natur is just breathtaking. Most of the 30'000 inhabitans life in or near Whitehorse, I was amazed at the number of foreigners (Swiss, German, Polish, British, Indian, Japanese, etc) that live there and we were told that the reason for moving there is the lifestyle and the outdoors. 


Whitehorse also hosts many cultural and sport events take place such as the Arctic Games and the famous Yukon Quest (http://yukonquest.com), a 1600km dog sled race. Most people move there for the lifestyle. The Arctic Games include sports such as the one and two-foot high kick, the Alaskan high kick, Airplane and sledge jump: http://www.awg2012.org/en/Home.aspx. 


On Saturday, we drove along the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction, the gateway to Kluane National Park. Although we were tempted for a walk somewhere, we were very quickly deterred by the freezing cold temperatures, it was -35oC! It was like being  in a giant freezer only it was much colder than that. However, we did enjoy the spectacular scenery and occasional wildlife from the warm interior of the car. 

You can drive for hours and are more likely to see a moose or a wild horse than another car or human being. Signs like this one remind you that you are out in the wilderness and that help isn't just around the corner. Forget about your cell phone too, there is no signal out there.

The highlight of the trip was a day of dogsledding through the wilderness. The temperature, in the meantime, had risen to -22oC, still very cold but we were outfitted with warm jackets, pants, gloves and hats, which we wore over several layers of clothing. 

Remco and I had a team of 6 dogs that were all eager to take us for a run. We took turns driving the sled and enjoying the scenery. 

One had to be careful to stay on the break whenever we stopped as Remco's colleague found out the hard way. Their dogs took off with the empty sled and sped away only to be stopped by the tour guide who was following us on his snowmobile. We stopped somewhere for lunch and our guide grilled some hot dogs (the sled dogs are still alive) on the barbecue. My biggest concern was how to go to the toilet in the freezing cold while wearing 5 layers of clothing on top of each other. I somehow managed without having any body parts frozen off. 

Once we got back to the ranch, we warmed up with some hot chocolate and brownies and had a chat with the owner, who has been doing dog sledding for 40 years. He participated 24 times in the Yukon Quest and won the race 12 times. It was very interesting listening to him how they would prepare and how they took care of the dogs before and during the race. The wellbeing of the dogs is their top priority and teamwork is the key to success. 


We'll definitely go back to Yukon for a longer trip to explore the wilderness up to the Arctic Circle and Alaska.