Eagle, Alaska

Eagle, Alaska, overlooking the Yukon River

One of our very favorite places in Alaska is the small town of Eagle.  It sits on a Yukon River bend, surrounded by mountains and the enormous Yukon Charlie National Preserve (accessible only by boat or plane).  This is rugged, beautiful country.  About 80 residents make Eagle home throughout the year.

Eagle is the kind of town very few people visit as a tourist destination.  The town rests at the end of the Taylor Highway, up 72 miles of gravel road, north of Chicken, Alaska.  Once the snow flies, the road shuts down and is not maintained.  The only way in and out of Eagle is via airplane, snowmobile, or dog sled.  Eagle has no tourist attractions other than its beautiful scenery and the remains of Fort Egbert.  It also has very few amenities besides a well-kept BLM campground, one motel, and a bed and breakfast.  There is no cell service, and internet is only available when the library is open.

It is the people that continue to draw us back to Eagle.  They are an independent lot, yet there is a tangible commitment to their neighbors and the community.  This is our third trip to Eagle.  Over the years, we have made several friends here.  Never, however, have we come this early in the season.  We found the community very busy, indeed.

There is a saying in Alaska that it is either winter or you are preparing for it.  We discovered all of our friends preparing.  One of the first questions we heard was, "Did you see caribou?"

We had seen caribou near the Taylor junction.  These caribou are but a small portion of the nearly 50,000 members of the Fortymile caribou herd, named after the Fortymile River, a tributary of the Yukon River.  Eagle is a subsistence hunter community, one that relies on the land to provide food.  A single caribou can sustain a family throughout the long winter.  With hunting season only a few weeks away, everyone was interested in the caribou's location.

Members of the Fortymile caribou herd

King salmon had also begun their run up the mighty Yukon.  One of our friends took us on their boat across the Yukon River to see the fish wheel they share with another family.  The fish wheel is believed to be a Chinese invention and was brought to North America in the 1800s.  The contraption revolves in the river's current, scooping salmon swimming upriver, and depositing them in baskets for easy retrieval.  I took this video of the fish wheel in operation...

The families had just harvested 36 fish.  The salmon were filleted, skinned, sliced into long slivers, and soaked in a brine solution.  Each strip of fish was then hung on a rack and smoked for over a week.  David and I were rookies but glad to help place a few of the fish silvers on the racks.  Here's a photo that David took of the inside of the smokehouse.

Salmon smokehouse

We also were privileged to visit the Eagle Bible Chapel for their Sunday worship service again.  This church is unlike any we have ever attended.  The congregation focuses on the Bible, music, and outreach.  The small congregation is made up of many extremely talented musicians, including a keyboardist, flutist, violinist, two guitarists, and a trumpeter.  It is always a delight to worship with these folks.

We left Monday morning.  Our plans were to stop at the Visitor's Center in Dawson City to determine if going up the Dempster Highway was practical.  Rumors about fires shutting down the road continued to swirl.