We were doing good time traveling and thought when going back from Alaska to Whitehorse we could take the northern route to the historic gold mining town Dawson City. In order to do that we had to drive the Top of the World Highway. This should be one of the most beautiful driving experiences as the dirt road was daringly built across uncountable mountain peaks in dizzying heights. What we didn't know was
1) that the day we were to drive there it was the last day vehicles were allowed to pass through there before the summer season starts again.
2) The border crossing to Canada also closed that night, at 9pm. We passed through it at 8pm. Made it by a hair.
3) It snowed the day before.
What shocked us was the condition of the dirt "highway". I'd say this road was comparable to the infamous Alaskan Dalton highway except it was much, much worse and dangerous. The American side had construction which meant we were driving up and down steep hills where wheels were buried half way in mud. We couldn't go slowly because we'd get stuck and there is no saying how long we'd have to wait for rescue as no one was crazy enough to drive there. Thanks God we somehow made it to the Canadian border. The van was completely covered in mud, just like from one of the off road Subaru commercials. We didn't think things could possibly get worse but they did. The road past the border was completely covered in ice and snow. There were numerous steep up and down slopes, curves where on one or the other side (or both) was what seemed like a bottomless cliff. If the vehicle lost traction we would surely plunge to our deaths and someone might find us in the Spring, when the snow thawed. But again, thanks to God (I said many prayers that evening) we somehow made it safely to Dawson City.