Chicken, Alaska

We left our campground and headed back into Dawson City. The road that we took, “The Top of the World Highway”, started across the Yukon River. The only way to get to it was by ferry.

We had been told we might experience a 1 to 2 hour delay, waiting our turn for the ferry. We got there pretty early and were first in line, because the other RV drivers did not read the signs! It was specific that RVs had to be in a certain line. They all had to back up and get in line behind us! Then we waited… and waited… and waited. It turns out, there is an annual inspection of the ferry, procedures, etc. Yup, today was the day for the inspection. It was actually only about a 45 minute wait.

Now we started the iconic highway, heading to Chicken, Alaska. This is a 108 mile trip and about 90 miles of it was on gravel. For the most part, it was not bad traveling. I think the views would be stunning but it was a cloudy day with intermittent showers and also a lot of smoke from wild fires. It was still beautiful.

We found out later that Black Spruce grow where there is permafrost, anywhere in the world. It is the only tree that grows in permafrost.

When we were close to Chicken, we saw some smoke but were not aware of a fire in that area. As soon as we got to Chicken to get fuel, we mentioned it to the attendant. This was a new fire and she did not waste any time running to report it to the proper authorities. We hope it was put out soon.

Chicken is a tiny little town with only 3 businesses in the main part of town. It got its name because the miners wanted to name it after a local bird, the ptarmigan (the p is silent), but no one could spell or pronounce it so they settled on “Chicken”.

After getting our diesel fuel, we decided to head to the local saloon for one beer. We got to see the panty cannon but I did not contribute! We ran into a young guy named Evan, from Indianapolis who was looking for people who knew his dad who had tried his hand at gold mining back in the 1980’s. Evan had a lot of interesting stories. We also met a couple from Las Vegas who are working in the area. What a fun hour.

There was a sign on the bar that mentioned free overnight camping. We asked the bartender and found out it was the back lot, behind the three local businesses. Wow, we could not pass that up so pulled the trailer around the buildings and set up for the evening.

Fairbanks, Alaska

The next morning, I went into the cafe to get some coffee. We had not been setting up the trailer completely so I had not had coffee in a few days. I needed some!! While waiting for coffee and fresh baked bread, Dave and I decided to eat breakfast, to pay back the owners for letting us stay there. We were surprised to see Evan. We thought he was long gone but he had some difficulties the night before and had returned to Chicken.

This was a cloudy, chilly, rainy day so we did not get to see a lot of scenery. However, we saw two moose. The first one was running into the woods as we drove past but there was a turn around area 1/2 mile up the road. Dave asked if I wanted to turn around, so we did and the moose was back in the road ditch. We got a couple of shots before it went back into the woods. I saw it go in two feet and stand there. We had to find a place to turn around again, to get back on our route. Sure enough, the moose was back in the ditch again. We actually saw a second one on the other side of the highway, just before we got back to the first one. They are neat animals.

We drove through Delta Junction, the end of the Alaska Highway and had to stop for a picture at the last mile post. While there, we saw a guy on a motor cycle with his dog in the side car so stopped to chat for a bit. His name is Jack Good and we are supposed to mention him in Fox, Alaska, just north of Fairbanks. A friend of his owns a saloon there.

We decided to stop for the night a few miles from Fairbanks because our reservation starts tomorrow. We pulled into a state park and are the only campers.

On the way in to Fairbanks this morning, a very large moose ran across the highway in front of us. We were both surprised and I did not have time to get my camera ready. Darn!

We stopped at the North Pole for some fun before continuing on to our campground.