It Ain't Disneyland

Imagine stepping back to the time of the Klondike Gold Rush, panning for gold, gambling at Diamond Tooth Gertie's, having a drink at the Sour Dough Saloon, or cruising the Yukon River on a paddlewheeler.  Dawson City, YT, offers all these things right now.  Don't expect a sanitized Disney version of those days.  While the town relies on tourism, Dawson City is a real life, gritty mining community.  A walk through town reveals century-old buildings with fancy facades and signs on businesses expressing solidarity with the placer gold miners.  Jack London thought it was a great place.  We do too.

After crossing the Yukon River on a small ferry, we tackled the Top of the World Highway with trepidation.  This 108-mile narrow, winding road, with some steep grades and few guard rails is mostly gravel.  We had visions of our minivan coming home with a broken windshield and pockmarks all over it from rocks kicked up by massive trucks racing by.  The reality:  although the drive was stressful, we suffered no visible damage to the car.

At the end of the highway lies Beautiful Downtown Chicken, consisting of a cafe, gift shop, saloon, salmon bake, fuel, and liquor to go.  As the owner says, "This is the REAL Alaska!"  Enough said.

Last stop:  Delta Junction, the official Northern terminus of the Alaska Highway.  One goal down, more to go.

Scorecard: 

Ahhh...

GAME OVER!