Please talk about your Top of the World transit
Coming out of Tok, we had mixed weather with light showers occasionally. we encountered dirt roads the last 30-40 miles into Chicken, our destination for the night.
typical condition of the road when wet
Since it was going to pour that night, we got to camp under the picnic shelter. And it did pour all night.
The only gas in Chicken
The next morning the road was still wet gravel - consistency of decomposed granite with clay mixed in - the clay patches were slippery, most of the ride was at about 30 mph, and keeping a smooth and steady pace with very smooth inputs. It would be very easy to put the bike on its side. I did slide a few times, but no falls, only a couple of foot dabs. Elevations changes could be fairly steep both up and down.
one of the down hills between Chicken and the Yukon border.
the above was a better than average spot, just around the corner got into some soft clay that was wet and slippery. this picture below is just coming to the pavement section (about 5 miles on the US side of the border) is typical of what most of the gravel looked like.
The pavement going down to the river for the ferry crossing to Dawson City. Pavement started about a mile out of town. We had pavement from here south through the Yukon.
If I were to rate the gravel riding on the Top of the World Hwy. I would rate this at a 7 out of 10 for difficulty.
If you are not comfortable with gravel riding then you must do it in the dry. We made it tougher because we were 2up pulling a trailer.
We have a total of a about two thousand of miles on gravel of all conditions riding 2up with a trailer over the years. We did not encounter any gravel roads that were detrimental on either the 2011 trip or the 2016 trips to Alaska. The most difficult gravel road we have done to date is the Burr trail in Utah - look it up -
these are going down the waterfold (yes it is that steep - unpassable if wet)
behind us is Panman
once out on the flats, the road got very soft and silty about 2-4" deep in places which caused the front tire to plow. here is entering a wash and going out. You get one chance to make it, it is slippery and soft and steep in and out.
I expect our next trip which will go up the haul road to Prudoe Bay, we will encounter the worst gravel roads we have ever ridden on. I don't know what the road to Invuk is like maybe some others can post pictures of those roads.
