That is the saying that is usually repeated by a person who has been in Chicken and is bragging that they have been there and survived the experience.
But, first, lets go back to Dawson City.
Getting out of Dawson City is an experience in itself since there is only a road in to Dawson, and none out of Dawson.
The only road is on the other side of the Yukon River, requiring all vehicles, including large motorhomes to ferry across the river.
Don and I reached the ferry around 6am while it was barely light. We have a difficult driving day ahead and needed to get a early start before the rest of the caravan. This is one time that the Tail Gunners start out before of everyone else.
I went across the river in the car before Don came in the motorhome. It is a 12 minute ride across and all went smoothly.
Being early, the sun was just breaking through the clouds…
…providing us with some beautiful sunrise colors painted on the clouds.
Finally the sun is a bit higher in the sky and we get a better look at the landscape.
The road to Chicken is called, “The Top of the World Highway.” It is a beautiful, though not an uneventful drive.
We climb higher and higher, looking down at deep valleys and rolling hills and mountains.
Out here in the middle of nowhere, is the border crossing from Canada into the USA.
We bid farewell to the Yukon Territory and...
…again enter Alaska. (You can see which country is spending more of their taxpayers dollars on welcoming signs.)
The closer to Chicken we got, the more Fall colors we see in the trees.
The road to Chicken is a bad road…no, it is better described as a terrible road. (Although it was in much better condition on this trip than when we took it three years ago when it pretty much defied description.)
There are extreme potholes…
…it is narrow and wind-y…
…did I say, “pot holes?” But, wow, check out the scenery!
This is the road we are taking, at least at the higher elevations.
The road does get narrower as it goes. It was about this point that a double-tanker truck insisted on passing the entire caravan.
There are no shoulders here to move over onto in order to give him room. This guy pretty much freaked out the entire caravan.
Can you image the excitement of driving a 40 foot or larger motorhome down this road? (And we actually have a 45 footer with us.)
One just hopes another 18-wheeler is not coming up hill in our direction…
Finally we look down on the town of Chicken, population, 17. Just a couple more miles, and we will be at our RV park.
Oh, great! A game of Chicken in Chicken and this is just another motorhome…Now you know why the 18-wheeler got so much attention from the caravan.
Chicken is an old gold rush town that is still producing gold.
This sign names almost all the businesses in Chicken.
Eventually the caravan rumbled down the hill, into the town of Chicken…
…where they were greeted by, what else, but a “chicken” to park their rigs. The caravan is not sure what to expect next.
After everyone settled in, they met at the Chicken Creek Café for (big surprise) a chicken dinner.
One of the things that Chicken is known for, is found in the book, Tisha. It is the true story of a 19 year old girl who in the 1920’s or so, came to Chicken to be a school teacher for the native children.
Tisha is a wonderful story that tells in detail the hardship of a young woman living in a very remote, extremely cold area and facing all the hardships that came with it.
Several of the old buildings (including the original school building) that comprised the original Chicken town site are still there. We were given a walking tour of the area.
Well, now that you have been to Chicken (and survived!), you can say you have been to Alaska…
Tomorrow, Tok, Alaska.
No comments:
Post a Comment