Top of the World – Alaska

Dempster Run to Inuvik (part 1)

Jaz’s bike wouldn’t start this morning in Dawson. Apparently it was unhappy, and some damn thing about FOB or electronic key ignition? At any rate, the little thingy needed a battery. We walked down to the gift shop/hardware store and they had one in stock! We were on the ferry and soon headed towards amerika. The rain poured and poured. I had all my heated gear on. Since the roads were mush, even motorhomes were passing us. One particular motorhome (aka BUS) passed us at high speed with ineffective mud flaps. We ended up completely drenched in mud. Jaz shook her fist and yelled and flipped them off. Her efforts had no effect as they didn’t even tap a brake. We had to stop so Jaz could recover her goggles. We have traveled this road three times in three weeks. This particular crossing was the worst. The potholes have become deep and Jaz was, of course, hitting every one of them. Frost heave type trenches across the road have filled with water, making the mud very soft. Trailers and motorhomes were tearing these areas up and they were a real challenge to go through with the motorcycle.

As we continued to wind through the county side, higher and higher (they call this Top of The World because of the view), the soft shoulders became softer and softer – apparently too soft for motorhomes!

We rounded a corner and Jaz’s motorhome buddies were teetering on the edge. They had lost control and slipped off the road. They were dangling precariously on the ledge, very close to the tipping point. If they tipped the slop below would have sent them rolling down at least a couple of thousand feet. However, help was already on the scene, so we kept on going.

Later in Chicken, we couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of the motorhomers being scared shitless and then having to climb out of the driver’s side window. This is what movies are made of! I know it is poor taste to laugh at other peoples’ misfortune. But, since they almost caused us to crash, and they seemed to be okay, we couldn’t help it. Jaz imagined a small yippie dog on the dash (as these types of travelers inevitably have), yipping and shitting as the big rig slid. We passed one more big rig in a similar predicament before we got to Chicken. This one was not as dramatic, but pretty messed up. This camper had on a yellow slicker and was sitting on a lawn chair while waiting for help to arrive. We figured with a big semi type tow truck needed for both of them, it was going to be a long wait. It was nice to see something other than motorbikes crashed on the road. It looked like over half a million dollars worth of rigs.

AND THEN… there were no chicken pot pies in Chicken! Dammit! Apparently the motorhome traffic was high and they were sold out!

We rolled into Tok and we are currently celebrating the presence of tarmac… (as Ewin would say)…

Tok has a liquor store that is open 24 hours – 7 days a week. No massage therapist though.

Tok Liquor