June 4-5, 2024 Back to Tok - Fun with Pancakes

June 4th, 2024 

We woke to a semi-cloudy day and we were on our way south:

Very interesting road:

What a joy to see this creature:

He even posed!:

Sights along the way:

It truly is a desolate road!:

We landed at Sourdough Campground.  We spent time here in 2007 and 2009 (in fact, our pictures are still on the wall from 2007).  They are famous for their pancake toss - Fun.

In 2007, Ken and Anne owned the park and it was entertainment every night.  In 2008, Ken passed from a snowmobile accident and Anne and her sons took over.  In April 2009 when we came thru, it was not open but we stopped to see Anne (God bless her!).  We did stop on the way back in 2009 and the kids were doing a good job in keeping it going.

Since then, it has been sold and they are trying to keep the tradition up.

Penny and Mike came by once they set up and we had a nice afternoon.

Andy and I went to supper in the restaurant for their Sourdough Bread Bowl Chile - it was okay.  Then we met up with Penny and Mike for the campfire and pancake toss.

Tim, the new owner and chef:

Pancake Toss - you have a pancake and toss it in the bucket.  If you win, you get $10.00 off for breakfast.  (The rules have changed from 2009 but that is ok.)

We each got a practice shot and then the real shot.  No one made it on the real shot but these folks made it on the practice shot so they got the coupons.  Penny and Mike made it!

The rest of us were losers - LOL!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled: 79 (Very Bumpy) Miles

Routes Traveled:

Alaska:AK-5 (Taylor Highway);  AK-1 (Alaskan Highway); AK-1 (Tok Cutoff Highway)

June 5th, 2024

We met Penny and Mike for breakfast (Rhubarb Pie was AWESOME!) and then said our "see you laters".  They are off on their next adventure and hopefully we will see them along the way.

Today was a take it easy, planning day, get some stuff done day and just hang out.  And that is what we did!

Tomorrow we head towards Valdez so stay tuned and enjoy today.

June 3rd, 2024 - Chicken and Gold and the Dredge

First thing this morning I went to sign up for the Dredge Tour.  We were the first ones on the list but they needed six people.  So I decided to walk around Chicken.

Here are some interesting links about Chicken and the area:

https://www.alaska.org/destination/chttps://www.alaska.org/deshicken#:~:text=Chicken%20is%20located%20in%20a,rush%20towns%20in%20the%20state.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken,_Alaska

https://www.valisemag.com/visit-chicken-alaska/

The history of the Gold Camp where we are staying - yes, there are still active mines:

https://chickengold.com/index.html

"How did it come to be named Chicken? The story goes that Ptarmigan (now the Alaska State Bird) were prevalent in the area, and supplied a crucial food source for miners in the early days. When the town got its post office and was incorporated in 1902 the name Ptarmigan was proposed. However, there were concerns that it was too difficult to spell. Luckily, the Ptarmigan has a strong resemblance to Chicken, and everyone knows how to spell Chicken."

Pictures from my Walk-about:

This is one BIG Chicken:

Cool signpost:

The Dredge:

Barn Swallows under the chute of the dredge:

These buckets were attached to the arm on the next picture.  They scooped the creek and dumped the soil on a conveyer belt:

Miscellaneous parts for the dredge operation:

One of the original cabins:

From there I continued my walk towards "Old Town Chicken" only to find out that there are many "No Trespassing Signs".  I did find out later that they are no longer doing tours. Bummer.  We missed the tours in 2007 and 2009.

So I decided to head to the other campground and gift shop.  Each of these campgrounds have unique items on their grounds - many collected from the area.  

The blue spot in the middle of the road is Andy riding his bike:

Swinging Bridge over the creek - Yep, we walked across:

Chicken Creek - they still do gold panning on the creek and still find gold:

Old Town Chicken:

We are staying right behind that building:

As I was heading back, Andy caught up with me to tell me that the tour is on.  I headed directly to the shop where I found out others were looking for me.  It all went well and away we went.

Now I do not remember a lot of the details of the tour so I will do my best here.  Sadly, there is very little information on this dredge and its operations.

The chute on the right is where the tailings came out - the larger pieces.  The dredge moved so they were distributed in a fan like pattern.  (Yes, this huge piece of equipment "floated"!

The smaller tailings came out this chute:

When the dredge was shipped from California, it was taken apart and the pieces labeled:

The buckets were attached to this arm:

When it moved to the Chicken area, it was powered by these huge generators:

The buckets would scoop up the dirt into a conveyor belt that feed into a tube.  The tube was always turning. The dirt would fall into these long troughs.  Since gold is heavier that water, the gold would drop to the bottom of the trough and be picked out later.

Our tour guide is standing in the trough.  Those slats are what the gold falls thru:

And there are smaller screens to make sure it is all caught:

One of the interesting things our guide told us was that this dredge was used for placer gold - small sizes.  If there was a gold nugget, it went with the tailings.  He told us that folks have found some nuggets in those tailings over the years.

The inside of the tube and conveyer belt:

The inside of the larger tailing chute:

The cables that connect to the arm with the buckets:

The captain's office:

Because it was so noisy, there were a series of signals to communicate:

Topside:

When they shut down, they just left - everything:

There were many mines in the area and many times they found bones - like mammoth bones or other extinct animals.  Here are some that have been collected:

We were told that many of the fossils and bones that are now in the Fairbanks Museum are from this area.

The dredge was shut down for many years and then moved to its current location.  That also include the whole camp.

The cabins were already on pipes or tubes so the whole camp could move as the dredge moved down the creek.  So they used the same when moving to its present location:

Original dishware and pots:

Original Food Cache - These are used in many areas in Alaska so the bears or other animals cannot get to the food:

A better picture of those rollers:

The current owners - you will need to enlarge  - it is a great story:

What a great tour!   More information can be found here:

https://www.chickengold.com/pedro_dredge.html

https://www.explorenorth.com/library/mining/pedro_dredge.html

https://chickengold.com/

https://www.alaska.org/detail/pedro-dredge-no-4

https://gildartphoto.com/weblog/2009/10/05/chicken-gold-camp-and-mike-busbys-historic-pedro-dredge

https://chickengold.com/mine.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._E._Company_Dredge_No._4

Tisha and old Town Chicken

https://www.amazon.com/Tisha-Wonderful-Teacher-Alaskan-Wilderness/dp/0553265962

The rain held off until the tour was finished.  Later that day, I stopped by to see Penny and Mike.  We are all heading back to Tok tomorrow so stay tuned and enjoy today.