21st.
Destination Glenallen and the Tok Cutoff road today. We have heard that the Tok Cutoff is a rough road so we will see how we go.
2 1/2 hours to do the road. It was great with very few frost heaves and even less pot holes. In 2000 it was a narrow bouncy goat track of a road, not any more.
One should never believe what is said on social media when travelling. It’s almost never correct
From the Tok Cutoff we turned south and then East as we head towards Chicken. One of the things we wanted to see on this part of the trip was the fall colours. The leaves are just starting to turn yellow in areas and the further we travel the more yellow and gold the hillsides are becoming.
Chicken is just a fuel stop, Rv park and gold dredging area. It sounds good in brochures but in reality is just tacky. We stop for a break but then continue on until we find a gorgeous campground at Walker Fork on the Forty-mile River. There are only a few RVs here and it’s such a beautiful campground.
22nd
Today we pass through the USA Border into Canada and the Yukon. Travelling along the Top of the World Highway. It’s beautiful with the hillsides dropping away and starting to have a golden tinge. The further north we go the more variety of colours are popping up. There are some great spots of red. The Alaska Range is in the far distance with bare hills and spruce covered hills and steep winding valleys in between. By lunch time we reach the Dawson City ferry over the mighty Yukon River and wait for our turn to load and cross. It’s a glorious day, 72 degrees, and as the weather is suppose to deteriorate later in the week we spend the next couple of hours wandering around the town checking out the old buildings and visiting the NWT Visitors centre to gather some information on the Dempster Highway which we will be taking this afternoon.
Around 2.30 we head 30 mile out of town and turn onto the Dempster. We now have approximately 900 kilometres (we are now in Canada and using Kilometres again) to reach Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean. What adventures will await us as we travel this road.
(P- one would class this road as Canada’s equivalent to our Cape York Adventure, except no crocodiles, no Tropical Heat and so far no crazy drivers on the road. Judith omitted to say the 900 klms are all Dirt road and once she swims in the almost freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean and camps a night or two it is a 900 klm return drive to Dawson City, oh then another 200 klm of Dirt to Tok. In all about 2200 klm of dirt and gravel road! My type of adventure. And it’s one of the few roads in Canada that go above the Arctic Circle.
I asked again still no Pastry Chef with me again tonight!!- something to be said about cruising!,)
Tassie Travellers 