called the "top of the world" highway. it's actually the kondike loop i believe. took me into canada, the yukon territory for a bit. could have traveled to dawson, which would have been cool. i'd like to get there one of these days, but not this week. i was strangely nervous about this road. i think the milepost really likes to make it sound scarier than it is. not that it isn't a bit of a sweaty palmer at times. the locals gave me tips like, slow way up if rv's or tour buses are about to pass and leave chicken closer to noon to avoid the busier time in the morning.the road is all dirt on the american side and some paved sections on the canadian side. that didn't really mean better though. i think it almost lures you into some sense of security about hte road and then bam...potholes.
it got rainy as i neared dawson and i really thought it best to drive a bit of the road and then head back towards anchorage before the day was done. in the end i drove all the way back to anchorage. i turned back at the signage that said 45 more miles to dawson. i was good with that. couldn't see much anyway at that point. the weather improved as i headed back to alaska. the views above tree line were spectacular and that was the best part for me that day anyway. worth the drive. it would be a beautiful drive in the fall...i guess too the caribou migrate through about then. that could be very cool. 
cairns at the top of the world top...just after the border crossing. i got the girls out of the car...you can walk all over up there. we followed an old road. i love being so high up. easy to spot bears if they are out there. didn't see any the entire trip though. loads of moose, one porcupine, but no bears. the native canadiens have a different name for those cairns...tryig to think what it is. i bought a book about it when i was in churchill canada. this one by blossom looks very similar to the ones in that book. in the movie "snow walker" they show the native girl building these cairns to use as decoys when she went caribou hunting. seems like a pretty reasonable orgin or use. they look cool anyway. 
spent much of the day trying to tame the jungle in the backyard. didn't have much success with my weed whacker thing. the battery seems to die off pretty quick and it took me some trial and error to get the spool re-loaded. the sun came out, which was nice. finally planted 2 of my flower pots for the back deck. have been a slacker. more big excitement i bought a toilet for the upstairs bath. tilers are supposed to come do the flooring on tues-wednesday and then the new toilet will get put in. yippee. the guy at lowes was very helpful and i now know more about toilets than ever before. i think i will spend many happy moments on my new throne! the dogs waited in the car after we'd done the loop at the dog park. tomorrow, hatchers pass.
i think these are some of my favorite pictures from the trek...so beautiful there at the top of the world.
those cairns really stand out above the tree line.
always amazes me in the land how much is out there, still untamed. it's really a sight to behold. great to see that man hasn't yet destroyed all the earth. there are still places that remain wild.
did make it to the pool as well. the toilet thing took some time, but it felt great to get in the water. did 35 laps today. it was family time and pretty packed. lots of fathers out there with kids. the water was a bit rough at times and the balls would nearly hit me on the head as i tried to do my laps, but i had my own lane much of the swim, which is always great. the guy next to me was nice so we chatted a bit and he laughed when i got joined by a lady for the last bit as she was about to whack me...some people don't get the share the lane thing. apparently, when she asked if she could share my lane she was really just telling me she'd be taking it over.
tried to get "family" shots. rio has issues being away from me so it's nearly impossible to get her to sit and stay so i can set up a shot. she immediately starts heading to where she thinks i am.
here is one attempt of many...as good as it gets.
the rocks at the top of the world were covered with various moss and lichens. i always love the look of rocks decorated by the lichens of the earth.
in the distance there you see the border crossing. i think that lady was very suspicious of me. i guess it was odd that i had driven that far and wasn't intending to go all the way to dawson. she asked many questions. funny to me as i was doing border crossings on sept 11 and 12, 2001 and got minimal questioning. maybe everyone was still just so shocked. my friend sandra remembers this lady from another time and she was a bit uptight with her as well. she did seem to like rio, who had shoved her head out to say hello....really she was hoping for some sort of treat. usually when someone comes to her window it's at a fast food joint and they often have dog biscuits.
i did have my proper documentation as did the dogs so we were allowed into canada and were allowed to return to alaska when the time came to return.
just a few scenery shots from the top of the world.
and of course...the official yukon signage.
right before the border is the small community of boundary. so small it consists of a father and son. i met and spoke with george for some time. he apparently bought the community to restore and maintain. the friend he'd purchased it from was happy with the progress. apparently the friends kids had been "running it"...into the ground as they were drug addicts.
the cabin there in boundary was very cool. one of the first roadhouses built in alaska. will soon be on the historic sites listings, according to george. it was moved many years ago, log by log. enjoyed taking some fun pictures there, chatting with george and enjoying a much needed coca cola. of course, while i relaxed rio enjoyed eating the block of cheese and lorna doode cookies i'd gotten out to snack on. i called her a bitch through much of canada.
some kind folks in an rv offered to take my photo in front of the cabin. so there i am.
old car and outhouse...cool caribou racks.
not sure what this was, but liked all the license plates on there.
official signage there...well unofficial really. happy solstice by the way. i guess i should be running around naked having crazy sex with strangers. really i should be in bed about now in prep to get up and walk the beasts. soon enough. still light out there at 2am. not light light, but light enough you could set up a tent. summer solstice is always just a wee bit sad to me as it means the days will soon be getting shorter. i prefer winter solstice with the hope of light coming on.
top of the world road on the american side.
wanted to get a picture of a bus and rv trying to pass each other on the road...that would have been a sight to see. guess i'm happy i missed it though.
the next pictures are back in chicken the night before my top of hte world trek. the old air force trucks were at the other campground. i didn't stay there, but wandered about with the pups and took some pictures.
except this one, which is on the top of the road, but at the bottom which followed a creek. people were gold panning at various points. blossom wasn't the least bit interested in gold though. she just wanted to get in that water. rio also took a wade in as well.
back to old cars and chicken i think.
and a cute little bird in chicken. thought he came out nicely.
the swallows under the dredge were not so easy to capture. they fly very quickly. cute little birds so i did attempt to get a few pictures of them.
they were zipping in/out of these little nests so fast. amazing really.
the chicken sign, over the local cafe, store, liquor joint and bar.
another shot of the dredge i didn't put in yesterday.
will probably toss in a few more pictures from the trip at some point. my movie ended though so i'm off to bed. i watched, "mr hollards opus". hadn't seen it before and it was quite wonderful. always love movies that show that no matter how meaningless your life may seem to you in the day to day, people often have profound impacts on those in thier little corner of the world. kinda the "it's a wonderful life" sort of movie. just a feel good, even though life didn't turn out as you expected...
i think these are some of my favorite pictures from the trek...so beautiful there at the top of the world. 
those cairns really stand out above the tree line. 
always amazes me in the land how much is out there, still untamed. it's really a sight to behold. great to see that man hasn't yet destroyed all the earth. there are still places that remain wild.
did make it to the pool as well. the toilet thing took some time, but it felt great to get in the water. did 35 laps today. it was family time and pretty packed. lots of fathers out there with kids. the water was a bit rough at times and the balls would nearly hit me on the head as i tried to do my laps, but i had my own lane much of the swim, which is always great. the guy next to me was nice so we chatted a bit and he laughed when i got joined by a lady for the last bit as she was about to whack me...some people don't get the share the lane thing. apparently, when she asked if she could share my lane she was really just telling me she'd be taking it over. 
tried to get "family" shots. rio has issues being away from me so it's nearly impossible to get her to sit and stay so i can set up a shot. she immediately starts heading to where she thinks i am. 
here is one attempt of many...as good as it gets. 
the rocks at the top of the world were covered with various moss and lichens. i always love the look of rocks decorated by the lichens of the earth. 
in the distance there you see the border crossing. i think that lady was very suspicious of me. i guess it was odd that i had driven that far and wasn't intending to go all the way to dawson. she asked many questions. funny to me as i was doing border crossings on sept 11 and 12, 2001 and got minimal questioning. maybe everyone was still just so shocked. my friend sandra remembers this lady from another time and she was a bit uptight with her as well. she did seem to like rio, who had shoved her head out to say hello....really she was hoping for some sort of treat. usually when someone comes to her window it's at a fast food joint and they often have dog biscuits. i did have my proper documentation as did the dogs so we were allowed into canada and were allowed to return to alaska when the time came to return.
just a few scenery shots from the top of the world. 
and of course...the official yukon signage. 
right before the border is the small community of boundary. so small it consists of a father and son. i met and spoke with george for some time. he apparently bought the community to restore and maintain. the friend he'd purchased it from was happy with the progress. apparently the friends kids had been "running it"...into the ground as they were drug addicts. 
the cabin there in boundary was very cool. one of the first roadhouses built in alaska. will soon be on the historic sites listings, according to george. it was moved many years ago, log by log. enjoyed taking some fun pictures there, chatting with george and enjoying a much needed coca cola. of course, while i relaxed rio enjoyed eating the block of cheese and lorna doode cookies i'd gotten out to snack on. i called her a bitch through much of canada. 
some kind folks in an rv offered to take my photo in front of the cabin. so there i am.
old car and outhouse...cool caribou racks. 
not sure what this was, but liked all the license plates on there. 
official signage there...well unofficial really. happy solstice by the way. i guess i should be running around naked having crazy sex with strangers. really i should be in bed about now in prep to get up and walk the beasts. soon enough. still light out there at 2am. not light light, but light enough you could set up a tent. summer solstice is always just a wee bit sad to me as it means the days will soon be getting shorter. i prefer winter solstice with the hope of light coming on. 
top of the world road on the american side. 
wanted to get a picture of a bus and rv trying to pass each other on the road...that would have been a sight to see. guess i'm happy i missed it though. 
the next pictures are back in chicken the night before my top of hte world trek. the old air force trucks were at the other campground. i didn't stay there, but wandered about with the pups and took some pictures.
except this one, which is on the top of the road, but at the bottom which followed a creek. people were gold panning at various points. blossom wasn't the least bit interested in gold though. she just wanted to get in that water. rio also took a wade in as well.
back to old cars and chicken i think.
and a cute little bird in chicken. thought he came out nicely.
the swallows under the dredge were not so easy to capture. they fly very quickly. cute little birds so i did attempt to get a few pictures of them. 
they were zipping in/out of these little nests so fast. amazing really.
the chicken sign, over the local cafe, store, liquor joint and bar.
another shot of the dredge i didn't put in yesterday. 
will probably toss in a few more pictures from the trip at some point. my movie ended though so i'm off to bed. i watched, "mr hollards opus". hadn't seen it before and it was quite wonderful. always love movies that show that no matter how meaningless your life may seem to you in the day to day, people often have profound impacts on those in thier little corner of the world. kinda the "it's a wonderful life" sort of movie. just a feel good, even though life didn't turn out as you expected...sometimes when life takes a different path it turns out better than you ever imagined. i feel that way with my life. when i was young i just always assumed i'd grow up, get married and have kids. well it hasn't worked out that way and in the end...i'm grateful that the path i was led down wasn't hte road i expected. i always loved that teasdale poem...? the road not taken. i've always felt that my life took the road less taken and that that has made all the difference. so often in this life i see people who choose the path they want and they force it and end up miserable. it would have been better to just let the path choose you and be grateful for where it leads. as they say...be careful what you ask for, you may get it. good night.
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