Two RV Gypsies: Full-Time RVers
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 learn about Karen and Lee Duquette email the two RV Gypsies sign the guestbook of the Two RV Gypsies
Alaska visits by the two RV Gypsies
places in Canada the two RV Gypsies visited
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learn about Brian Duquette and his tragedy events before 2008 Links to other RV sites RV help for travelers vidoes by the Two RV Gypsies
Chicken Alaska
The two RV Gypsies in Chicken, Alaskalaughing clipart dude
Scenery on the road from Tok, Alaska to Chicken, Alaska - the curvy dirt/gravel road extended for miles up the hill and around corners. Fun, Fun, Fun-& more dirt on the car.
a windy gravel road extending for miles
history book clipartThe Fortymile Caribou Herd: Imagine the sight and sound of 500,000 caribou moving across the tundra as they did in this area in the 1920's before over-hunting, severe winters, and high predation caused a dramatic decline, changing the landscape completely. By 1973, the herd numbered only 6,500 caribou. The entire ecosystem was dependent of the massive Fortymile herd, the center of the food chain. When the herd declined, the entire ecosystem suffered. Caribou was the mainstay of the wolf's diet with each wolf eating at least 25 caribou a year. With fewer caribou, wolves killed more moose so the moose and wolf populations also declined, as did wolverines, coyotes, foxes, common ravens, gray jays and black-billed magpies. Now caribou are seldom seen here.
fire destroyed area
fire destroyed area
Much of the road to Chicken had forestry areas that were destroyed by major fires.
fire destroyed area
fire destroyed area
Airport Road in Commercial downtown Chicken consists of only three (3) businesses.
sign - Chicken Community
Commercial downtown Chicken
a chicken tower
chickens on the shed
The door to Chicken Creek Cafe and the service call button
door to the Chicken Creek Cafe
laughing clipart dudethe service call button for Chicken Creek Cafe
Chicken, Alaska - According to the 2008 Milepost book, there is no city water, sewer, or electric service in Chicken; it has wells, generators and outhouses. Chicken was supposedly named by early miners who wanted to name their camp ptarmigan, but were unable to spell it and settled instead for chicken, the common name in the north for the ptarmigan bird. Chicken is perhaps best known as the home of the late Ann Purdy, whose book, Tisha, was based on her experiences as a young schoolteacher in the Bush.
 
The Pedro Dredge No. 4 operated on Chicken Creek between 1959 and 1967, after mining Pedro Creek outside Fairbanks from 1938 until 1959. It was then purchased and moved with other mining equipment down to Chicken in 1998 as a tourist attraction and was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Tours are available.
The Pedro Dredge No. 4
The Pedro Dredge No. 4
the digging ladder
history bookMining dredges were used in Alaska and Yukon from the turn-of-the-century to the 1950's. The dredges were land-locked floating machines, digging ponds that allowed them to float across the area to be mined. They operated 24 hours a day from late April or early may and ending in November. The bucket-line dredge used a continuous line of buckets called the "digging ladder" (shown above) to scrape the bottom and edge of the pond. The buckets carried the mud and rock to a screening area, where the heavier metal particles were separated from the rest of the material. After the metal was captured, the waste rock - "tailings" - would be deposited out the back.
 
There is a post office in Chicken with twice weekly mail service. Cell phone service was sporadic. There is even a small airport. A big attraction in Chicken is looking for gold.
the goldpanner
sign for the Goldpanenr
Above: The Goldpanner is the RV Park office and gift shop. It provides free coffee, and has a regular washroom with flush toilets.

go to the next adventure of the two RV Gypsies in AlaskaNext, the two RV Gypsies returned to Tok and drove their motorhome through the Mount Wrangell area on their way to Valdez.
Click here to continue on the journey.