How do you spell Ptarmigan? Uhh, let’s just call it Chicken!

Chicken Gold Camp, Chicken, Alaska – June 7, 2014

As the story goes, the folks living in Chicken originally wanted to name their community Ptarmigan, after the Alaska state bird. But nobody could agree on how to spell it. So they decided to name it Chicken.

So this is the destination for today and it will become our jumping off point for our excursion to Dawson City, Yukon Territories, Canada.

But first things first. Our 78 mile journey must begin with a hearty breakfast and we choose Fast Eddy’s. There are several places to eat in town, but this is the largest and most popular restaurant.

We chose the “Mushers Omelette”. Then we have to choose between Toast, biscuits and gravy or pancakes as our side. We can’t believe one person can eat all this. Fortunately we’re sharing.

The omelet (with the sausage gravy in the bowl) was so big we could only eat a half of one pancake. We took the rest with us to eat another day.

Then it was off to Chicken. They call the road the Taylor Highway. It’s a chip seal road interspersed with lots of loose gravel sections.

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We cruise along at about 45 MPH and once again folks are flying past us. We’re more interested in minimizing the stress on Big Guy (and us) than we are on rushing to our destination.

Speaking of which, here are the signs announcing the booming megaopolis of Chicken and the camp that will be our home for a few days.

The road has been pretty dusty today so Frank gets out the air hose and attempts to blow off some of the accumulation.

Notice the campground seems pretty much deserted. That is all going to change in a few days. Chickenstock is coming. This is Woodstock Alaska style. Bands will play all night long and the lineup contains about 15 bands. Here is the stage they’ll be using. Remember, out in the wilds of Alaska everything gets repurposed.

We wander around a bit to see the local sights.

And Frank just had to help himself to a little Chicken Gold.

In Tok we picked up an excellent steak for a cookout along with some veggies. Even in the backcountry you can still eat like a King.

And then, finally, EJ gets a moose sighting. There were two just grazing and walking around. If we didn’t know better, we’d swear the first picture is from Cicely, Alaska (Northern Exposure Days).

Later as we are getting ready to close things up for the night, EJ looks out the front window and this guy comes walking by. She grabbed the camera and caught him going through our site and up the hill.

Now  EJ’s the Happy Camper.