Day 339. July 11, 2014. Cluckin' in Chicken

LOCATION:  Chicken, Alaska on southeast border, near the Yukon.

WEATHER:  Nice.  Highs around 70

We started the day with a special breakfast.  I had reserved a few morels.  We had them with scrambled eggs....a great combination.  

Chicken is an old gold-mining town.  At one time, there were about 3000 people here.  Now only 3 residents remain here year long.  The roads close in the winter. 

In its heyday, the settlers wanted to name the town ptarmigan, the bird that is now Alaska's state bird, as these birds were plentiful here.  They couldn't agree on the spelling, and didn't want to look stupid to the outside world if they misspelled it, so named it Chicken instead.

This mine is the oldest wooden dredge in North America

People still come here in search of gold.  Gold panning is popular at our campground, and in the nearby rivers.

 We made a day trip to Eagle.  We back-tracked a little on the Top of the World Highway, then drove north 65 miles to the town.  It used to be a major port, on the Yukon River.  This is an old sod house (still lived in) with a tall food storage building on the side

 

This is a new house with the same type of building to store food, safe from bears and other animals

We drove back to Chicken and had a beer at the Chicken Saloon.  This is the "town"

DINNER:  Leftover steak and rice cooked in the water that reconstituted the morel mushrooms yesterday.  Sautéed zucchini and onions on the side.  George had homemade cranberry apple pie from the Chicken restaurant/bakery.