We landed in Dawson City amid overcast skies, and established camp at Gold Creek RV Park, which is the only campground downtown. A little pricey for a 15x15ft plot of gravel, such is the way for most everything far north in the Yukon, and we needed to catch up on showers, laundry, and connections back home.

At this point in the trip, we had been fairly lucky with the weather – mostly dry skies with just a few hours of rain on day 2, and we were hearing from riders coming from the north that they were zipping through steady downpours. As the clouds darkened over Dawson, a steady drizzle kicked in and would continue off and on through the next day. While we were prepared for rain conditions, let’s be blunt…camping in the rain dampens the spirit and makes your tent smell. And we were hoping for great conditions for the Top of the World Highway.

Alas, it was not meant to be as you’ll see in the video, which tracks from the Dawson ferry up to the border crossing at Poker Creek.

Top of the World Highway from craig kerwien on Vimeo.

Road conditions were slippery on the US side and along the descent into Chicken – we saw not one but TWO RVs half off the road, right wheels in the gutter, left wheels in the air. The area had received significant rain in prior weeks, and the road had just reopened due to flooding. We lunched in Chicken under a torrential downpour, and then the skies turned blue along the way to Tok and into Delta Junction where we were greeted by the Alaska Air Force…