Cruising The Cassiar...

When we left Dawson City, we traveled a part of the Yukon we had not seen on the way north to Alaska; then we had traveled to Tok. But on the return trip we braved the Top of the World Highway from Chicken to Dawson City, as already reported. The scenery along the new route, as nearly all the scenery in this part of the country was sensational. If a body stopped to take a picture at each spot that made him drop his jaw in awe, the road would never get traveled. So just a few shots to give you the jist. Besides, with roads like these there are few shoulders and even fewer places to stop for a photo opportunity. Most amazing spots you just cruise on by, saying, oh, I wish everyone could see this!!!
One thing in particular that caught my fancy was the white layer just below the thin layer of top soil along this part of the run. It's actually a very thin layer of volcanic ash put out an awfully long time ago, but still everywhere to see. The rounded mounds of the hills along the road represent the leading edge of a lava flow that stopped right at the point where the highway now runs. It's all very strange to drive past until you read about what took place and then it all makes sense. It's hard to think of such a cold place with so much ice and snow and sub freezing temperatures formerly being an area of intense volcanic activity- as Walter Cronkite always used to say "And that's the way it is..." Of course if you'll click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll see the ash layer much easier.
Back at Whitehorse, we again stopped by the salmon fish ladder, which was closed when we passed this way in the Spring. This time it was closed for the season, but the water level was near flood stages and God help any salmon who still needed to get up stream a bit late- tough going to say the least! From Whitehorse on to the Cassiar Highway, we traveled the same section of road we had taken north earlier in the year.
At the final junction in our overlap return run, we stayed at the head of the Cassiar Highway at a place called the Bay Nugget Campground. The wifi center was in an unheated building called the "Best Little Ore House." Cute...but cold. Really cold. No I mean really, really cold. Almost froze my little nuggets!
Oh, those girls and their burls!
The Cassiar Highway (who ever named it a highway, anyhow???) is beautiful, but it's a whole lot more like a trail than it is a highway. Isn't it implied that on a highway you can go at least 50 mph? That would be an act of suicide on this highway. Either the vehicle you are driving would launch off the road or it would fall to pieces in the middle of the road. As there is nothing and no one to help along the way- neither of these would seem to be a very good option. We thought we would tackle the biggest challenge of the trip by driving the Top of the World Highway. Seems like the Cassiar is the evil twin sister. Don't get me wrong! The drive is beautiful and loaded with historical importance. It's just that it is a dangerous road to drive unless you go slow and be careful. It seems like it takes a road from Hell to give you a glimpse of Heaven on Earth. So be it.
There are Dry Creeks everywhere. They aren't! For the most part, dry, that is, but they look the part.
We pulled in at Jade City. Here they mine the jade, design the jade, carve the jade, slice the jade, and sell the jade any way you want it- token, piece, slab, ton. A full 75% of the world's quality jade comes from right here in the Cassiar Mountains. Same is true of high grade Asbestos. And the largest gold nugget ever found here weighed in at 73 ounces. (I'm pretty sure I would only need one like that!)
Yes, the scenery was magnificent, but what made it even better was the fact that we had the roadway pretty much to ourselves. I stopped right in the middle of the road to take this picture. Our whole experience here in the north country has been like an RV ad in a magazine. Us, the road, the mountains, the lakes- just us! Not relishing the idea of going back to non stop traffic.
We pulled over for lunch by one of the hundreds of lakes along the road. Sure enough, Mrs. Moose was dining at the same lake. You'll see her in the back of the lake in the tall grass. There was an arctic fox playing along the road as well. Beautiful!
So, yes, there are large and nasty gravel sections of the highway. Pot holes. Washboards. No shoulders. Soft shoulders. A detour you say? Well shut my mouth and hold my breath! What you can't see is that this temporary go around is very very soft and the downhill experience, should it give out, would have been, shall we say, exhilarating. You can see the workers taking bets on whether any big rigs would make it without collapsing the detour. Places like this were the only spots where traffic backed up at all and you knew there were others using the road.
This is the view to the lake out my side window at the computer desk at the end of the day at Shadow Mountain Camp. There are a whopping three campers in the whole camp tonight. It's late in the season by north standards. Most people head home after the 4th of July it seems. Not us. We're ringing every drop out of this trip. This is the only road I have ever been on where the road conditions (and terms of passage) are posted every so many miles. On the sign: Road (open or closed) Times closed. Time Open. Avalanche? Rock Slide? Etc. I have no idea what happens if the road closes when we are smack dab in the middle. We'll just have to see.

Down at Dawson City

Yukon City was a fun place to visit for us. The history of mining and the Yukon Gold Rush era was a very interesting time. The tell tale signs of that era are everywhere around the city, much as they were in Fairbanks- although Dawson City had more of the old west-wild reputation for its time. The city is true to the era to this day; lots of restored original buildings and an economy that is built around those times and not away from them.


There weren't a lot of shots that I thought needed to help tell the story though. These "locked antlers" tell the story of two moose who did battle over and woman without a victor- it's a classic tale in that the tangled antlers lead to the death of both bulls- one from battle death and the other from the starvation that results in not being able to dislodge the rival. They were donated to the information house by a local outfitter. Diamond Tooth Gertie's is the talk of the town. It's a saloon, gambling joint, and night club. We went to the show because it's the one thing everone says you have to do in Dawson City. So we did. Still not sure why, though. The Can Can dancers were OK I guess, but not all that great. The food was mediocre at best and the gambling end of things intimidated us to the point where we didn't even give it a try. Twenty bucks to pull the lever on a slot machine? Not on my dime brother. Now a quarter I would have been willing to wager, but a twenty? Not after what I'm laying out for fuel in this part of the country!

Inside, Old Gertie (who is not very old it seems) was teasing the old boys in the front row. While I did sing along with Gertie on one of her numbers (at her request) it all seemed pretty tame. I'm quite sure the stage show of old had a lot more kick and a lot less costume!

Travel By The Top Of The World

There is another way out of Alaska than through Tok. It's a "highway", and I use the term loosely, that winds its way from Chicken to Dawson City, Yukon, Canada through the Ogilvie and Tintina Mountain Range. It is not a route for the faint of heart. It is 108 miles of mostly gravel roadway. There are no shoulders, although the tour book describes the road as having "soft shoulders." The truth is that if you put your outside wheels on what they are calling a shoulder you will roll over.....and over and over and over, as some of the fall aways are steep and long- a few are straight down and can drop hundreds of feet if you happen to pick the wrong spot to have a problem. Most people would never have a problem, excepting to say that from time to time you must pass vehicles going in the opposite direction...and some of those vehicles are oil tankers that have little regard for their own vehicles, the speed limits, and the fact that in many places the road is only wide enough for one and a half vehicles. Something's got to give! The best driving advice I can give to any of you who will make the attempt: STOP in the face of all BIG vehicles traveling straight at you and wait til they have passed. Let them be the ones who are moving when the pass takes place and the ones who are at risk of launching themselves off the side of the mountain. There are a few, very few, sections of the highway that are paved. You would think that a paved section is a good section. No! It's not. In fact it can be far worse than the gravel and when you look at the photos you will see such a location.
Now I know I just made this road seem dangerous, perilous, difficult. It is all of those things. But like many things in life, you take the good with the bad. You see the road happens to carry you across the tops of the mountain range for nearly it's entire length of existence. The view is awesomely breathtaking and if there is a better view mile after mile after mile anywhere in the world, I cannot tell you where that would be. Before getting to Chicken, we were chicken to take that route out of state. But because our nerve, our experience and our confidence all peaked at the same time, we decided we would attempt to make that run. What a great confluence of factors, what a great ride, what a great day, what an amazing experience. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is the moral of the story of this trip. Without doing this run, our Alaskan experience would have been seriously lacking. It was an "oh my God" day from start to finish. I described reaching Dawson City in an e mail to family and friends this way:

"The road pretty much sets the speed you can travel- about 12 miles an hour, but as you drive along the peaks of amazing mountains for mile after mile (There a reason they call it Top of the World) you can seemingly see for thousands of miles in any direction you care to look. Everything was dark red, bright yellow and shades of green- never saw anything like it. A mistake on this highway would be a big one! But today there were none and we can claim the summit of an RV adventure challenge second to none."

Oh, and one more thing...even after you have made the run, you cannot reach Dawson City by land route, you must traverse the mighty Yukon River by ferry boat. That's what they call it. I call it an open ended barge. You be the judge. I'll attempt to tell the story with the photos and let them speak pretty much for themselves.

I'm only one day out of Alaska. But I'm ready to go back!

Let's start the photos from Top of the World Highway with a couple photos of the only man made thing of interest on the whole trip- the Jack Wade Dredge. As cool as the dredges are, this one looks like it recovered its last ounce of gold and then just gave up the ghost and died right there. There is an eerie beauty in the passing of man made objects that are slowly being reclaimed into the natural world into which they were previously super-imposed.


The vista is large enough to see many weather patterns at work across the area. On a clear day, yes, you can see forever...
Check out the edge of the road (Oh, and once again, if you are a new reader, click on the photos to enlarge and back arrow to return to blog). If you want to call that a shoulder, be my guest. But one tire on that edge and you will be in the river in the valley a mile below- just as soon as you stop rolling. IF you stop rolling.
The topography gives you glimpses of the road ahead. Take advantage of that to scout for on coming vehicles. Take appropriate action when you spot one. You can't get there fast anyway. You can get there alive and well, however slowly.


There is ONE way station along the route. This one and only one station advertised "emergency tire repair." You want your tires fixed here? Me? I'll drive on the rim.
There is just so much space out here. The weather changed around almost every bend. As we left the border crossing around 40 miles into the trip, the perfectly clear, sunny day gave way instantly to a line of snow squalls that plagued us for a short while. The road ahead, a sharp downhill decline, became a sheet of ice in 60 seconds or less. I slowed the coach as much as possible- there is no place to stop, if in fact you could stop. It's a good time for prayer, yes? Ice on the road. No pull off. No flat place to stop. No guard rails. No shoulder on the road. Nothing to stop you until you hit bottom should you go off the road. No option but to proceed with caution. That is the story of this entire 108 mile piece of roadway.
Instant ice ahead with no warning what-so-ever. At this moment in time I was paying for gravel, not paved surface with an ice slick on it.
A short time later, the weather was nice again. But not all rigs make it across the rough road without some trouble. We stopped to help by loaning some much needed wrenches to replace two belts that this rig had thrown. It's not a place you want to be stopped in the middle of the road!
Finally, below the highway in the distance and across the mighty Yukon River- Dawson City.
Ferry? You call that a ferry?
OK. Two vans maybe, but a 43' coach and a van. I'm not so sure...
Terminal. Hello! Where's the terminal? You don't need no stinking terminal? Just beach that little sucker? Then drive it off on the other side?
OK, if you say so. Off with the old, on with the new. "Yes, Greg, the emergency brake IS ON!"
"Boat ride? What boat ride? Nobody told me there was gonna be a boat ride? Hey This is cool!"
All ashore that's going ashore!
Welcome to Dawson City, Yukon! Alaska is in the rear view mirror for now.

Gold That Tastes Like Chicken?

You've all heard it said before. What does that taste like? Well, it tastes like chicken. Everything we can't describe otherwise "tastes like chicken." So when we announced a change in plans that would take us to the Original Gold Camp" at Chicken, Alaska, of course the question came in from son Derek: "Hey, Dad, does everything up there taste like chicken?" And while it was a question asked with tongue in cheek, I suppose the answer should really be, "Yes, it does." The town, you see, all five or so businesses that call the place home, play on the theme to the fullest extent. You can get a t-shirt with a chick hatching out of an egg that says, "I got laid in Chicken." You can take your picture behind a cutout of an Iditarod sled being pulled by chickens; you can even attend the annual music festival patterned after Woodstock, called, what else, Chickenstock...and on and on.

The town takes it's name from the fact that it was a thriving place during the gold rush days but few if any people who frequented the place could remember how to spell the name of the grouse like bird that was common prey in the area- the Ptarmigan. So rather than try to remember that name and that spelling, they simply referred to them as Chickens and the rest, as they say, is history.

Chicken is clearly one of the premier gold prospecting places left in Alaska. There IS gold in them there hills and you can and will find it if you come to Chicken. That's what we decided we needed to do- take our last best shot at finding our first ever nugget at the place where we figured we would be most likely to do just that, before heading out of Alaska to end our first visit to a truly great and amazing state. We pulled in to the Original Chicken Gold Camp upon arrival.
We had expected the isolated road to Chicken. We knew not to expect much if anything in the way of services once we got there. We knew power was generator driven and was limited to certain times a day. We knew water would be at a premium. We knew there would be no "full hookup" RV connections in that region of the state. We had expected and prepared for a bare necessities kind of week while in pursuit of the nugget. So imagine our pleasant surprise to find one of the most well laid out (sorry, chickens, no pun intended), attractive, well run camping and activity operations we have come across anywhere in the state. The water is priceless; the power is limited, etc. but in compensation for that, the staff is knowledgeable, openly friendly and helpful. The place is whistle clean, the firewood is available for the taking (none of this 5 bucks for 5 sticks like many other campgrounds have). Access to everything you need is easy. The gift shop is superb. The kitchen cafe is offering daily gourmet treats that bring Chicken up to the level of sophisticated dining that you can enjoy in coveralls and a flannel shirt at the end of a day at the mine. Want to see the wine list??? I am going to follow all this with a few of my photos, but please note the link to the Chicken Gold site above as that will provide much more info and photo gallery than I will do for this post.

And I'm putting my final comments ahead of the the add on stuff because I think it's the thing to do. We went to Chicken looking for gold. You know, that yellow ore that so many value so highly. We found lots of gold. We found flour gold, fine gold, flakes of gold and, yes, Chicken delivered up our first nugget- actually we got more than a few of them following our week there. But somewhere along about mid week, the whole value of this monumental trip we have undertaken came into focus for me. I realized that you spend your whole life prospecting for things that matter to you- happiness, love, friendship, comfort, experience, maybe even a little real gold. Some things you find along life's trail are but small tokens of these great values, so you pick them up and gather them up, dust them off, and put them in your little vial. Occasionally, there are nuggets to be found, in a friend who would share your Hope for gold, in the sun bouncing off Denali on the clearest of days, in the glistening chards of ice as the lake opens to the Spring, in the twinkle of the eye of the bear who knows you are there but will pretend, at least for now, that you are not bothering him all that much. Soon you discover that all those tiny particles of gold you have gathered, when combined with the larger pieces and maybe even a few nuggets life has provided you, has given you that full vial of gold you have been looking for all along. Your treasure is complete and satisfying when you realize you have already found it...and not before. So to everyone along the way, thanks for helping us find our treasure in you and with your help. To the super team at the Little Chicken That Thought He Could Gold Camp that helped to put the final pieces to the puzzle together- salutations one and all. Like all the others who made contributions before you, you will always travel with us in our hearts.

It was quick and easy to get comfortable here. Plenty of space, great vistas, a warm campfire...
You can pan all day without ever leaving camp if that is what you want to do. The pay dirt from the camp owned mining operation is very rich. This is the view out the front of the coach from our campsite.
The dredge that owners Mike and Lou Busby bought and restored to amazing condition is also right in the heart of the campground for all to inspect.
Outhouses for Roosters and Hens and Handicapped. Hey! This is Chicken ____!
It's a two mile drive or so to the off premises gold claim if you want to make a mini claim of your own while you are there. Then make a 1/4 mile hike in, toting your gear. Wow! What a place!
Here's your first ever look at Gundy Mountain- our claim for a week, working a hole with a floor of basalt (fractured bedrock) about 20 feet up the bank and 100 feet or so from where we operated our sluice box.
Those 5 gallon buckets full of rock and gravel are darn heavy. Down the hill as far as possible by rope, then hand lugged to the sluice. We finished the week in much better physical shape than we started out, believe me. Now that's what a call a high banker!
The tons of tailings from our screening (called "classifying") eventually made such a pile that I could walk up and down the hill to the claim.
Gold Guy Gary stopped by to check on us regularly, as did Bob and Lynn. They are a wealth of knowledge and do their utmost to ensure that every one has two things: fun and success. Gary's named his gun: American Express. Never leaves home without it. I asked him if it was for protection from bears or claim jumpers. His answer: "I don't much worry about bears!"
Whisker week at Chicken Creek. Gotta try and fit in ya know.
Lynn and Gary check out our gold finds as Marilyn does some more clean up in the background. Note grill- used for drying the gold in the metal pan to get ready for weighing.
What the gold wheel can't separate- the finest gold and the black sand, must be done by hand. Every little bit counts. You worked hard for it!
Lynn shows off his best take ever- 9 hours shoveling time into his high banker over a three day period. Someday I hope to have a day like that myself!
Here it is again. Can you lip read? "Greg, honey, why didn't we have a day like this? Do you think we can do this tomorrow?"
This family worked a claim just a little further down Chicken Creek from our claim. This a great family place! And a great family activity. When mom and dad weren't driving the 4 wheeler, the girls were. "Not too fast, dad, gotta keep the hair lookin' good!"
Owner, hostess, chef, bottle washer, buyer, sales clerk, server, bookkeeper, guide and minister of information, Lou Busby smiles from behind the kitchen window. Like the successful small business owners she and her husband Mike are, they open early, close late, and keep close tabs on everything that gets done in between...then goes on call for after hours issues. Their energy, their expertise, their effervescent personalities, combined with a like minded support staff, make this a first class, not-to-be-missed operation.
The staff and some close friends dine together at the end of the day and nearing the end of the season. We were honored to get to join them. They made us feel like part of the crew, and that my friends, is the way it ought to be.
Mike prepares to make the official weigh in from the Gundy Mountain Gold Claim weekly operation. 1/4 OZ! And some nuggets to go with it. That's Marilyn and Garry watching the scale and Judy and Lou in the background.
Take for the week. Note nice nugget lower left portion of tray. What a week it was!!!!