Top of the World Highway

We set out from Dawson on a beautiful sunny day for a white-knuckled trip on the Top of the World Highway. We had been warned in Whitehorse by a couple who had just been over it not to even consider  trying it. The woman was four inches from my face when she looked me straight in the eye and said “DON'T GO!” three times. Since then, we talked to many people who had gone over it and we were just told that the Canadian side was fine but once you hit the border into Alaska, the road was indeed terrible - under construction - with only  rough road base (see picture!) for 20 km. 

So, we travelled at a average speed of 15 - 20 km but got out without having to use either of our two spares. At the bottom we talked to people in a truck who were adding air to their tire after their second flat and to another couple we had talked to at the top. They had a huge trailer and were about to change a tire that had wrapped around the axle on the way down. They didn’t notice until they stopped at the bottom! 

The four of us agree it had been worth the risk. The road was amazing following the ridge of a number of mountains. We were above the tree line and could see on either side for miles and miles. We crossed the highest border crossing in North America  and had to provide passports and give up New Zealand apples (not Canadian) We stopped on the Canadian side and I had a chance to take closeups of an amazing variety of lichens (main staple of Caribou) and minute alpine flowers. It felt like we should all break out with “The hills are alive…)