July 10

Dad took a picture of the ship grave yard. He climbed to the top to get a picture. He fell and buggered up a rib again. This was before we left the camp from the night before.Today we found the Top of the World Highway and the Taylor Highway to be somewhat anticlimactic based on our expectations. It was pretty but nothing more than rolling hills and a long, bumpy drive of about one hundred and ten miles of dirt and gravel roads. For those who have been with us on the “hundred-mile ride” in the Stanley area the road and scenery was very similar with the road being two lanes for the most part. There were places off and on for many miles in one stretch where a fire burned in 2004. Fireweed fills in large hillsides of fire-burned areas to help restore the beauty as it is truly spectacular. We also took a walk across some tundra and photographed a number of tiny wildflowers that we found. Walking on the tundra was like walking on an eight to ten inch deep sponge everywhere except where there was rock. It was a strange experience. The border crossing was also interesting but uneventful because it was so small and isolated on a mountain top. Mom mailed some post cards in Chicken, Alaska at a tiny post office where they said the plane would take the mail out next Tuesday. We then passed through Tok and went on down highway #1 to find a camp site at the Eagle Trail State Recreation Site.