Chicken

We made it to Chicken!  Tired and desperate for a shower, we dragged ourselves off of the Taylor/Top of the World Hwy. and into the community of Chicken at ~10 p.m. Wednesday night.  Our guidebook stated the summer population of Chicken to be about 50 residents (as compared to the winter population of 6).  The entire area is largely focused on gold & gold mining.  Old rusted out mining equipment could be seen on the road and throughout town.  The place where we stayed (The Goldpanner) had it all:  it was an RV park/gift shop/gas station/cafe/ gold mining location/local  ambulance and firetruck station.  Most importantly, we learned  it also had the only showers & flush toilets in town.  Unfortunately, the main building (including the running water) was closed for the evening and could not be accessed until the following morning.  Rain was approaching, so we were instructed to pitch our tent underneath a canopy on a large gravel lot and "square up with the ladies in the morning."

    This morning we woke up eager to take take advantage of a $8 shower with questionably non-potable water.  Hmmm...The excitement continued as we learned that camping was free (typically $14 for tent) if one topped off their gas tank at the on-site gas pump.  The internet at the gift shop proved to be quite slow but we did make use of the free gold panning.  Mike, with the idea of earning back our gas money, intently dove into the pay dirt.  While we did not recover our gas money, we did leave with a few small flakes of the "colored stuff." 

Before leaving town, we had one major task to complete:  mail the official marriage paperwork.  We found the Chicken post office up a gravel road (opens at 11) and got it in the day before the twice-weekly mail-day in Chicken, AK.  We breakfasted on scones at the "downtown" Chicken cafe and then hit the gravel road out of Alaska. 

We entered the Yukon on the Top of the World Hwy.  We traveled some lonely high elevation roads (100+ miles of gravel) for quite some time before coming down, taking a ferry over the Yukon River and into historic Dawson City.  In Dawson City, we met the Yukon Hwy. Finally a paved road!  We traveled on the Yukon Hwy. (largely paved) for a long distance.  We drove hard but stopped for a quick picnic alongside the road at Gravel Lake. 

Along the roads, we did see a moose and a quick peek at a pine martin.  Also, we got to see an arctic fox.  Weather was close to 70 during the day with the night cooling into the upper 40's again.  Some rain throughout the day but not enough to ruin the roads.  Tomorrow-hot springs.