Part 7 ~ Anchorage to Dawson
Downtown Chicken, Alaska. Don't go there we heard, but we went anyway. This photo is taken after the 2 busloads of cruise tourists left town. Had a buffalo burger here (was not very good, too dry). Following is a quote from a sign on the wall of the restaurant.
"CHICKEN FACTS
Chicken is called Chicken because of the original settlers, actually gold miners,
couldn't spell ptarmigan. They wanted to call the town ptarmigan,
because the plentiful local birds filled many a pot in their camps.
Ptarmigan were also called CHICKENS and that's how the town got its name.
Winter population is around 15. Summer numbers soar to 30 to 50.
NO, we don't have a telephone or a flush toilet.
We close in the winter-so does the road. No plows 'til April.
Snow varies in depth. Some years just a bit. Some years quite a bit.
Yes, it can get really cold. We've seen 80 to 85 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.
OK don't believe us. It's true, though.
Mail comes by plane every Tuesday and Friday, weather permitting.
Most of us got here by truck. Some hitchhiked in. A few by plane.
We are a self-entertaining bunch, not too many TVs.
Kids to correspondence for school and we medivac to Fairbanks in medical emergencies.
Satellite phones can be found. Cell phones don't work 'til mile 32,
and then you've got to park to truck just right.
We have heard rumor about cellular service here, we'll believe it when we see it.
The outhouses are down by the gift shop.
The three-legged dog is named Tucker. He lost a fight with a GMC truck.
He's about 9 years old and is originally from Edmonton,
where he was found dodging props at the airport.
He has always liked living dangerously. He's half-collie and half-husky.
We've got lots of wild animals in the area, not counting the bar patrons.
Black bear, grizzlies, caribou, moose, weasels, snowshoe hares, lynx, wolves and many more.
The list is long. Lots of birds too.
Bears occasionally walk right through town. Moose are a common sight.
Yes, this is pretty much all of Chicken.
It's a small town. People really to gold-mine here.
They either use big bulldozers or suction dredge in the river,
kind of vacuuming in the bottom for the gold.
Some actually do dig holes and pound rocks. Life's a gamble right?
You can gold-pan down the street, if you want to try your luck.
Dawson is about 100 miles, a three-hour drive a pickup. Tok is 78,
Eagle about 100 and the border is 42 miles away. It closes at 8 PM.
The old grump left. We don't have sales tax
and we haven't counted the hats in the bar for years."