Chicken and Eagle... Alaska style!

Chicken, Alaska

On Tuesday, we drove back to Tok at took the Top of the World highway.  The last time we took this road (2010) it had washed out from heavy rains.  We were only able to drive it by following the last convoy before road crews closed it to repair the damage.  Because of the washout, we had to bypass the towns of Chicken and Eagle, Alaska.  This trip, these towns were high on our list of things to do.

Our first stop was Chicken.  The story goes that miners wanted to name the town Ptarmigan after the little bird that often filled their pots here.  But they couldn't spell Ptarmigan... and the bird tasted like chicken... well, you get the reason that the town is named Chicken.

With only about eight people who live here year-round, there wasn't much to see or do in Chicken other than take a photo, so off we drove to Eagle, hoping for more.  We weren't disappointed!  Eagle is a wonderful little town at the top of the Taylor Highway, about 70 miles north of Chicken.

We spent two wonderful days and nights in Eagle.  We arrived late Tuesday afternoon and were surprised to see this sign as we entered the campground...

The next day, we learned why... the campground entrance is right on the runway!

Eagle boasts a population of about 180 folks and rests on the edge of the mighty Yukon River.  It is also the entrance point to the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.  While only accessible by plane or boat, we watched a video on the preserve at the visitors center.... looks like a wonderful and wild place to visit!

Entrance sign to Eagle, Alaska

While at our campsite, we noticed a plethora of all kinds of mushrooms growing the everywhere.  I decided to take some photos and discovered the weirdest mushroom ever... we have since identified it as a bleeding tooth mushroom.  It literally oozes a red liquid.  I think you'll agree that you've never seen anything quite like it!

Bleeding tooth mushroom

We took a tour of the town with guide and BLM ranger, Steve.  We had a great time learning about Eagle.  Their historical society has done a fantastic job cataloging and preserving the town's history.  We visited the town hall museum and Fort Egbert.  Here are a few photos from the town...

Original Eagle church

Eagle City Hall

Fort Egbert Mule Barn

Fort Egbert Noncommissioned Officer Quarters

Eagle's early version of a four-wheel drive truck

We felt rested and welcomed after visiting the town of Eagle and look forward to returning one day soon.  For now, I'll leave you with a few more photos of the fantastic mushrooms that we saw.  Guide Steve said that he hasn't seen so many in at least five years... but then, the entire area has seen more rain that they have in ages.

Hawk wing mushroom

So goodbye to Eagle and on to our favorite road in North America... the Dempster Highway!!!

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