Dawson City to Fairbanks
Day 7
So now, checking out the map, we decided to cross the Yukon River and take the ferry to The Top of the World Highway. The map showed this was a paved road to the boarder and then gravel to the big town of Chicken.
Another of those roads that are closed in the winter, so it becomes a must ride road. The road was being worked on so was mostly gravel–not so bad now that we’ve been on a lot construction roads by now. But still gives one a little concerned if you had to stop going downhill for a picture or animals of which we never saw. The road is well named because you have a feeling of being on top of the world with wide open scenery and the road runs along the top of mountains. This area was green with lots of short shrubby trees.
The customs guy was easygoing. The back trunk of my bike has my name and wife Linda’s name on it, so after the customs guy walked around the bike, he says to me, "Well, where is Linda?" He then warred us about a soft spot in the road were a few bikes had gone down mostly when it's wet because this road was of a red clay base, spars gravel and the red clay becomes like grease when wet.
The next stop was the town of Chicken.
Next, a gas station and tourist stop, then to the upper part which is the original town with a population of about 5 in the winter months. From here to the Alcan Highway was paved. This part of the road was by a river. Here we paused for a break at an abandoned mining slough. While stopped, we discovered that the radiator reservoir on the bottom of Paul’s bike was cracked and water was running out. Not having much choice, we carried on to Fairbanks for our night stop. At one point, we crossed a long bridge and stopped for a picture of all the ice and snow on the river.
Nearing Fairbanks, riding along past the air force base, suddenly, out of nowhere, diving right at us were two F14s, one behind the other, playing top gun and with a bank left and climb they were gone. What a pleasant rush to see this first hand up close and personal. Thanks for that.
Now this being the longest day in the year, the city closed off a portion of the town to traffic and had an open air bazaar. So, with no night approaching and lots of outdoor eats & drinks and without a watch you wouldn’t know when to call it a night.