The couple in the next campsite from us tried their hand at panning for gold in the creek right behind our campsite. For their efforts they were rewarded with finding two small pieces of gold. It was fun to see.
We got off around 8 am with our first stop at the Post Office, yes Chicken has a Post Office during the summer. The summertime population swells to about 140 people but in the winter there are about a dozen hardy souls living here. The road coming in from the east from Dawson, the Top of the World Highway, is closed in winter as the road coming up from Tok. This place is isolated in the winter. No plows, no mail, not much of anything. The town survives on gold mining and tourists. All of that stops in winter. There is an airfield so it’s possible to get in during winter but it’s not easy.
The Taylor Highway is primary road to Chicken when it’s open. It’s not a road one can travel on with much speed. Sure, it’s paved, but the list of signs we noticed on the 75 mile drive to Tok included bumps, bump, dips, dip, construction, loose gravel, and damaged road. Just don’t expect to make time on this road.
We reached Tok and fuels up and grabbed supplies. Then on the recommendation of Kathe, a friend that lived in Fairbanks, we stopped at Fast Eddie’s. It’s a great stop for a meal. We highly recommend eating there.
We are at a small State Recreation Area camped. Along comes a couple and they ask, “Where in NYS are you from?” I reply, “How well do you know NYS?” The woman says very well. So I tell her Sherburne and her husband responds with, “Not the well.” Turns out they know much of NYS. I asked them where they lived and respond with Long Island on the Nassau/Suffolk border. Then she adds, but I grew up in Greenport. That’s the North Fork where I grew up. She went to Greenport High School and I Southold. It’ a very small world. The guy captained the party boat that took my High School 40th reunion class on a cruise.
Along the Tok Cutoff
Our campsite along the Richardson Highwaty
Seeing North America 