Wednesday, August 19, 2015

August 19, 2015 at 10:42AM by advodna_dave


Out on the road, we watched in the mirrors as the front of the trailer quickly disappeared under a layer of mud. Each time the rain picked up, spots of silver would again peak through, only to receive a new coating of muck at the next pothole, but otherwise, the rain didn't seem to be affecting us. After 14 miles or so, we passed the junction north to Eagle and officially started the Top of the World Highway. In the same "Suck it, Canada" we saw on the U.S. side of the border near Tok, the next 13 miles to the crossing was suddenly perfect, newly paved highway, but things got interesting on the other side; Several long, steep climbs had already been chewed up by earlier traffic creating ruts with a slippery slurry of mud on either side of the tracks. On the first climb, the slip detection system on the Sequoia flashed its yellow warning light and automatically reduced power. With careful gas, I was able to get enough momentum to get to the top. On the next few, I flipped the knob into 4WD as we approached the hill which helped substantially, but any sudden moves on the accelerator would still trigger the light. Of course, I could have disabled the system, but in fact, it was doing its job to avoid wheel spin, and the truck was performing admirably in the conditions (read: towing a large trailer uphill through the mud!). While there were a few pulse quickening moments - and I now understand the cautions about driving the road in the rain - the Top of the World Highway was a great adventure through some incredibly remote country. Do it again? In a (quickened) heartbeat! #airstream #airstreamtoalaska #airstreamwithmud #getalittlemudonthetires #getalittlemudonthewindows #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #topoftheworldhighway