Page 3. Chicken or bust, mad storms, bike friends, border crossings and feeling the strain.
The typical road route out of Alaska is the Alaska highway through the Alcan Border into Yukon, Canada. However, I had spotted a road on google maps called “Top of the World Highway”. It’s a proper border road that crosses into Yukon further north to a place called Dawson City.
The clue is in the name really, it’s pretty high up and remote so closed most of the year but I’d have it open. Some more big views to enjoy, very little traffic since the road is mostly unpaved and it goes through a place called Chicken!? I fancied it. It interested me more than the main road even though I’d have to ride in the ‘wrong’ direction for a few more days. Also, Dawson was getting raving reviews from the folks I was meeting so It was feeling like the right call.
The trouble was, there was big news in the area that the only road after Dawson City south through the Yukon was strictly closed due to forest fires. I’d seen some photos and it was clearly well out of hand. Of course I had to take this literally and needed to expect that It could still be closed after spending five days or so getting there. I’m thinking I might have to travel all the way back to the Tok junction which would suck.
Since there was some rain forecast and it had been closed for nearly a week already I reckoned it would be alright by the time I got there. Could always hang around in Dawson, or hitch a ride back. Dad was back home tracking me and checking the forecast too which was cool, he messaged me that morning saying go for it! So I made the call, it was on.
Leaving Tok I got chatting to a lady called Robyn, on a big cycle tour too and she’d not long finished riding down the Dalton Highway which is hardcore. It’s the most northern road you can take in Alaska and a lot of people plan to start or end their travels in the place called Deadhorse for that reason.
She was cool and we were riding the same road that day so it was a nice change to have someone to pedal with, especially with it being mostly uphill. I’d be on the Taylor highway for two days before connecting to the Top of the World road. Robyn was from Maine, US, an experienced bike tourer and fascinating person all round really.
After a little afternoon roadside snack the storm hit us. The rain was crazy heavy, like tropical quantities, and the lightning was striking right above us. I’ve honestly never pedalled in that much rain before, it was relentless and just a wild experience.
My nice new storm jacket was doing the job though and the road was getting more and more scenic as we climbed. I was also thinking here this could help the road closure issue so I remember being quite happy with the situation really.
After a few hours the rain eased off and we were ready for a break, stopping at the only campsite on that road. Robyn was looking cold so I fired up the Whisperlite and put a hot chocolate in her hands. It did the trick. She wanted to camp there that evening but the sky was clearing and it would only be another few more hours to the town Chicken. We said goodbyes, exchanged contact details and I did some more riding, thinking I might make town in time for a beer somewhere.
The rest of the road was stunning in the moody evening light. As per, it took longer than anticipated and it was nearly 11pm when I rolled into Chicken Alaska. What a place, a strange old gold mining village, mostly a tourist attraction but there’s a lot of people still panning for gold there seriously. Hoping for that life changing nugget.
Thankfully the locals where fun in Chicken as the bar was open as long as someone wanted a beer. This was a very Alaskan bar and apparently famous for a panty cannon, people can donate their undies to be blasted, why not.
It’s dangerous being at a bar when it doesn’t get dark and the one drink turned into several. Chap called Colin was the nicest and he loved us tourists so around one 1am he took me out for a late ride on his quad for fun. Only a short drive to Chicken Airport so we went there and he let me bomb it down the runway and back.
The next morning was border day, it would be a tough ride as there was well over a 1000m of climbing to deal with and a lot of it on rough gravel. For some reason I had it in my head that the border gates closed at 6pm, Yukon time. So, I needed to get there before 5pm Alaska time. With a bit of a hangover I left Chicken later than I wanted so it wasn’t an ideal start.
Locals had told me there was hundreds of Caribou moving around the hills too which was exciting, unfortunately I was only looking at their tracks in places and somehow didn’t spot any.
The road up to the Top of the World highway was tough, big climb and a drag on the rough gravel. It then turned to this beautiful flowing paved road and the views opened out to the valleys of trees below. There was still some haze from smoke in the air but I was doing well for weather really on this day.
Riding this highway was surreal, for around an hour or so on rolling fresh tarmac I counted just three vehicles and some motorbikes that went past me. It felt like one huge scenic cycle track it was amazing. It was kind of like a famous mountain pass in the alps where you’d usually get all sorts of drivers and riders enjoying it but it was just empty. Genuinely epic road.
The last 10km to the border was actually a bit of a stress as time had ran by again and it was all uphill. I was pushing hard to try and make this crossing before close, out the saddle, grinding away and looking at the clock but when I was 1km away there was a sign saying it closes at 9pm!? Awesome, fully burned myself out for no reason, I did end up in a top 10 on the Strava upload though.
Crossing was easy breezy into Canada, filling out my digital ArriveCAN form at the office there was no problem. After a cheeky photo at the big blue Yukon sign I could relax and ride on towards Dawson City. The nice paved stuff was done now and it’s back to loose gravel all the way. Some motorbikers had told me it was horribly rough on this section and be prepared to walk, it was slow going ups and downs but nothing too challenging.
I wasn’t too far past the border when I needed to stop for dinner time. Found a scenic viewpoint that did the job but as I was sat, there were clear signs in the sky that something brutal was coming. Another thunder storm was passing through and I had all my stuff out and had not set the tent up.
I planned to ride a little further to make the next day a tad easier but decided to call it and sit this storm out. Quickly set the tent up and packed everything away just in time, zipped myself in and all hell broke loose outside. Hail stones where bouncing down, the wind was shaking everything and the thunder was properly booming overhead, alone in my little tent up there I was feeling the isolation. Rain kept on most of the night but I woke up early the next morning to everything nice and calm.
Less than 80km to Dawson should have been a breeze of a ride considering but when I got going the legs were done, the short and frequent loose gravel climbs were relentless. I’d not stopped over the last 10 days really and after the border climb top ten it had caught up with me. I was knackered, not fully appreciating the ride and just looking forward to a day off.
It was kind of only 60km as the last 20km was a dreamy long downhill to the Yukon River at Dawson. Big epic descent and it was tad scary handling the loaded bike at speeds on gravel so that perked me right up.
I expected a bridge over the river but not here. A small ferry boat works 24h crossing a few vehicles at a time. Possibly why the road was so quiet but It was fun crossing the famous Yukon river this way. I had a roll around the place to vibe it out, picked up some food and checked into the RV park in town to setup camp.
This is where I met Pete and Larry, other bike tourers. I got waved down by Pete near the site and he kindly offered to share their pitch since the $30/night was steep. Sound chaps and we cooked and chatted into the evening about our trips. Unfortunately Larry had knee issues and Pete had major bike problems from the recent expedition so were having a good break in Dawson.
They had both just independently rode the Demster highway, hardcore ride. And it’s the most northern road you can take in Canada to a place called Tuktoyaktuk. It’s a big one and they had some mad experiences up there, I was kind of inspired to ride it after hearing about it. Thought about fitting it in but going an extra 1000km north and back again is not a minor detour…another life.
Day off in Dawson to wash clothes, float around and eat food was bliss. Lots more rain came too so it felt good being off the hill for that but I was thinking of Robyn back there on the same road having to deal with it all. She managed to get a message back to me after a few days and made it through ok just very wet!
Dawson City gets a fair bit of tourist attention. It developed from the gold rush and it’s exactly like I imagined with the old wooden frontier style buildings, saloon bars and a bit of a lawless feel. Fun place too but the winters are long and I believe the summer tourist buzz is short lived.
I said taa raa to Larry and Pete the next morning and got going again. I was feeling much better after my day off chilling and eating Larry’s abundance of leftover dry food he over prepped with. We were all going the same way but on different schedules. The road ahead was still suggesting closed but locals had confirmed that pilot cars had been working to keep traffic going so I was all good to crack on! Wahoo.
The next leg of the route was through the Yukon down to Whitehorse. Only 530km on mostly flat road didn’t sound too taxing. What I didn’t realise at this point was how much of a grind it was going to be, things got tough. I’ll share those bits in another post.
Some photos in the gallery below from this part of the trip.
Thanks,
CW
My One Year Bike Tour 