Our original plan was to spend two nights in the Tok area before heading over the Top of the World highway. Top of the World connects Chicken, Alaska, to Dawson City in the Yukon. Dawson City was to be our staging area for taking the Dempster Highway into the Northwest Territory for (hopefully) viewing the caribou migration.
About the time that we left on our adventure to Alaska, rain washed out several places along Top of the World. Several campers were stuck between the washouts for several days before repairs could be made to get them out. We had read that the road was now open.
When we arrived in Tok, however, we were greeted with the news that the road was still under repair. In fact, the last convoy across Top of the World left in less than two hours. If we did not make this convoy, the earliest we could go over the road would be on Sunday. We hit the road immediately, hoping to make the 67-mile drive from Tok to Chicken in time. If we drove around through Whitehorse, it would take over 700 miles rather than the 90-mile trip over Top of the World.
We made the convoy with only minutes to spare. The pilot car led nearly a hundred cars and rigs across this narrow stretch of road. We passed an enormous number of road crews, gravel trucks, and heavy equipment. At one of the washout sites, we could see where the river had redirected itself to the opposite side of the road, taking the middle with it.
Top of the World highway is aptly named. Our dusty convoy traveled a ridge with breathtaking views into the Yukon and beyond. A lonely border outpost rests at the Canada/US border. The pilot car left us just before the border crossing.
We said a brief goodbye to Alaska and headed to our campground this side of the Yukon River and Dawson City.
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