RoadNotes: Top of the World Highway (TOW)

Fifth Avenue B & B, Dawson City, YT – June 8, 2014

For some the name promises mystery and adventure, for others fear of the unknown. The TOW can be both. Highway is a misnomer as what it really means in this case is a seasonally maintained road. It is a mixture of paved sections, gravel stretches and clay parts along the way. If the weather has been dry it can be dusty to the point of zero visibility or if it has been wet, your vehicle will come out covered in a type of mud that if left to dry can require a chisel to remove.

The border crossing is 40 miles from Chicken and 60 miles from Dawson City. In between there is no filling station, tire or auto repair facilities. Phone service is non-existent as is internet access. If you break down, you are on your own. There is no way to call for help. For many, this is enough reason to avoid the TOW. However, there have been many 100 mile stretches along the Alaska Highway where no help was available so this shouldn’t be anything new for Alcan travelers.

Others fear the road because of its condition. Mud, dust, potholes and rocks all must be endured. On top of that, parts of the TOW are under construction. But if your vehicle is in good shape, you have spare tires and or tire repair kits, plus a full tank of fuel before departing either end you should be OK. Once again, prudent driving is a must.

So you ask, “Why do it? Why drive the TOW?” For us it was several reasons. (1) The adventure. (2) Bragging rights. (3) Road conditions. Our experience to date is that the roads are rarely as bad folks say they are. (4) Weather window. Good weather was predicted with minimal chance for rain for the next two days. (5) We thought we were prepared. (6) We were driving the Element, not the RV. (7) We wanted to visit Dawson City.

Decision time. Turn right for the TOW, turn left for Eagle, or turn around and go back. By the way don’t let all those signs fool you. The airport is a grass strip, the eatery is the grocery store, there is a sani-dump at the government campground, I think the motel is closed, there is no cell service, and there is only one place to buy fuel.

We turn right and the adventure begins.

The views are wonderful. You do feel like you are on top of the World!

And in places we see that all the snow has not yet melted.

At one pull out we stop and talk to a trucker who travels this road 5 to 6 times a week. His worst worries were the slow RV and Bus drivers. He wasn’t concerned about the road. He also told us the 12 miles closest to the border on the American side was scheduled to be paved. Which is good, because that 12 miles consisted of fist sized rocks that made driving at any speed an uncomfortable experience.

This stop also held several photo opportunities for EJ.

On the Canadian side the road smooth's out and is intermittent gravel and chip seal.

And we find more snow and views.

The Dawson City welcome sign on the TOW.

First view of Dawson City.

We forgot to mention. There’s only one way into Dawson City from the TOW. Yep, that’s our ride across the Yukon River.

River flooding makes building permanent ramps to load and offload vehicles impractical. So they use bulldozers to push around the sand to build temporary ramps.

Driving into Dawson City. Only one road in Dawson City is paved, the highway. All other roads are gravel and all the sidewalks are built of wood. That’s Moosehide Slide in the background.

This town exists because of the Yukon gold rush. The town government also promotes preserving old buildings where possible and building new buildings to resemble old buildings.

The summer cabin of Robert Service, a poet from around these parts. He wrote all about life in the Yukon. You may have heard one of his poems, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”.

Some of the local residents and a houseboat on the Yukon River.

Permafrost not only affects highways by causing ‘frost heaves’, it also causes problems for buildings. This is what happens when a heated structure is built directly upon the permafrost.

There was still plenty of daylight left so we decided to drive out to Dredge #4 and to the Discovery gold strike site that was part of the Great Yukon Gold Rush.

We come across this individuals enterprise along the way. Notice that no one throws away equipment. It might come in handy one day.

The dredge is huge. From end to end it spans 300 feet. Used to hunt for gold in creeks, it has to be assembled on site, By digging it creates its own pond that moves with the dredge as it hunts for gold.

These are the tailings left behind as the dredges digs and moves.

The Discovery gold site was nicely done. Lots of interpretive panels and displays.

EJ guiding the guide.

Frank helping out the prospector.

There’s old equipment scattered throughout these woods.

Old mine.

A boiler used to thaw permafrost so placer mining could take place. They thawed the permafrost and dug out layers 6 inches at a time moving it into big piles. In the summer, they would dig into the big piles and transfer it to the water sluice, shovel full be shovel full looking for gold. Gold mining is mostly about digging, moving rocks, sifting through dirt and hoping for that lucky find.

To end our explorations for the day, we drove to the top of Dome Rock. It was cold and damp, but EJ braved the elements and got this overall view of the town and the Yukon River.