Saturday, June 5, 2010

The car windshield has 2 cracks in it now. It is raining as we are leaving this po'dunk town!!! To leave here you have to ride the George Black Ferry across the Yukon River which has a very strong current. It was amazing to see them put us on the ferry with everyone else. In the winter the Yukon River is frozen and the people just walk across or drive their cars and trucks across. I guess if you live here and see it enough, you will trust the ice!
Now it is a 9% grade for 13 miles up mountains and down mountains. The road is full of frost heaves. We can only drive at 30 mph because the heaves are so bad and so frequent. You don't want to hit one unawares. Since it's raining it isn't dusty. We're up in the clouds, elevation 3692' on highway #9 called "Top of the World" At elevation 3725' it is Alpine Forest and snow; at 3811" no trees are left, it is above the timberline! The road is curvy and scary with no guard rails and extremely tight hairpin turns. At 3992' is the Border between the US and Canada; population is 2! On the Alaska side the road is all mud and washboard. You feel like a milkshake and that is going 20 mph. At mile 89 in Alaska there is a spruce tree laying across almost half of the road. The car and RV are so covered in mud you can't even see the design on the RV.
We stopped at the town of Chicken to get gas. It was expensive- 4.50 a gallon! Now the road is gravelly, winding, sharp turns and narrow roads with no guard rails again. The drop off to the side is very steep at least 1000 feet down. We are headed to Tok, Alaska and Fast Eddy's Restaurant.
Tok began as a construction town in 1942 for the building of the Alcan Highway. It was named after a husky puppy the Army corp had adopted as their mascot. It is now a trade and service center for all transportation. It's the only town in Alaska you have to travel through twice if you visit by car; therefore it's called Main street, Alaska. It is also the sled capital of Alaska.