Heading to the Top of the World

July 13^th, 2026

Chicken, Alaska

Woke normal time this morning. 

Showered, geared up some, had breakfast, and then loaded the bike.

Once ready, we checked out of the room, put on the final gear and set the GPS and got on the road.

Right away I ignored the GPS as I wanted to go take the northern route vs the southern route out of town.  Would add about 3 miles is all, and I had passed a cool field of yellow flowers several times and kept forgetting to stop and photograph it, so wanted to do that before leaving.

This would then allow me to use the same Circle K to fuel up since they seemed to be the cheapest fuel in the area, and it will only go up in price as I head away from the city.

Road up and stopped at the field.  Took a few photos, but did not think to check the signs for the history of the place, but not really that concerned, was just cool looking.

Back on the road we found the faster highway and headed for the fuel station.

Stopped to fuel up and then used the restroom.

Got onto the highway again and headed south.  This road will then branch off and take me south east, back toward Tok, Alaska, near where I originally entered Alaska.

The road was pretty dull to be honest.  First few miles were just more city, and then crossed the Air Force base, though nothing to see there.

Then just more straight roads, few hills, couple of curves and occasional river views.

Stopped a few times for various reasons before reaching the town of Delta Junction.

This was where the highway heading south connects and where I would have come up if I had decided to take the Denali Highway route, but I chose to not take the extra time and milage.  Oddly I did read online a report from someone who just completed it and the road has been mostly chip sealed, so only about 30 miles of gravel left, so might not have been as slow a day as I thought.

Stopped in Delta Junction to use restroom, and was hungry.  They had a Three Bears store there, which I have stopped at often in Alaska.  Convenience store, grocery, fuel, hot food usually, and sometimes full sporting goods as well.

Went in to use restroom, bought a few things to eat and then stood at the bike to eat.

I had seen a large aircraft flying overhead as I came into town, and now it kept circling over the area.  Large gray military plane.  Guessing another base nearby and someone is flying some kind of training.

Back on the road I reached the highway junction and headed east on the road that will bring me back to Tok.

Again, not much to see along here, few nice views, but a lot of the same as well.

Reached Tok and stopped at the Three Bears there to fuel up the tank.  Also went inside to buy some drinks and snacks since I was not sure there would be anything to buy at my destination.

Left Tok and backtracked on the same highway I came into Alaska on for about 10 miles, then turned north on the Elliot Highway, which heads up to Chicken and Eagle Alaska, as well as links up with the Top of the World Highway which takes you back into Canada.

This road was smaller, and had some rough spots in it.  Several gravel sections as well, but mostly paved up to Chicken.

Saw lots of vehicles heading south, but only had 1 car pass me and some bicyclists heading same direction as me.

Some great views along the way, but did not stop much, mainly as there was not any good place to stop.

Finally pulled into Chicken, which is really just two RV parks, a small row of buildings and some old buildings and junk left from the mining days.  I think about 10 people live here and not sure any of them stay year-round.  (The road is closed in winter).

Found the Goldpanner RV park, right next to the Chicken Creek.

Pulled up and the place was closed!  But I spied a note stuck on the door and when I walked up it had my name on it.

Directions for getting into the room I had booked.  While I should have camped (much cheaper), I was a bit sore still and wanted a more comfortable sleep, so paid the crazy price for a room, though it was a nice room.

Parked outside the room and unloaded the bike.

Once done I checked the area for anything and there were 2 possible food places that appeared to still be open.

Road the bike back to the road, then back over to the other road which lead to the other RV park (and the airport).

Explored the area first as they had more chicken art work around, and one of the old gold mining dredges was left here and had been restored a bit for tourist visits, though it was closed now.

I then stopped at the “Main Street” which was 3 small buildings, some old abandoned fuel pumps and an area of picnic tables.

The buildings had a mercantile (gift shop), saloon, and café (which was closed).  The saloon had listed a few food items, but when I went inside after exploring the gift shop, the place was just a small bar, dirt floor, ceiling hanging full of hats, bras and underwear, some music playing and lots of people standing around drinking.

Left and figured I would try my luck with the bigger place down by the RV park.

This place, the Outpost, was another large gift shop, and had a small seating area and outdoor patio for dining.  The menu was limited, and I only had about 45 minutes left before the kitchen closed, so went ahead and ordered a sandwich and a coke.

Small sandwich, which appeared made from basic stuff, nothing fancy, and it and the small bowl of soup was $24!  Crazy.  But it was actually very good soup and the sandwich really did hit the spot.

I then bought a sticker for the bike, and rode back over to my place.

Parked up the bike across from the room and secured and covered it.

While doing that, some guy pulled up on a German plated bike asking if I knew where the campground was as he has just paid for a camping spot at the kiosk.

I assumed it was back behind where all the RV slots were (which were all empty oddly).

I went in to grab my phone and using the wireless found it was actually across the creek, and had to find a smaller road and only bikes could go back.  Had a small suspension bridge that went over creek to get back to the main building.

I went out to see if he was still looking, but he was already setup in one of the RV spots.  I did show him what I found, but we both agreed that he would just stay put, not like they were busy or anything.

Went back inside to grab camera and then did some photos for me and some stuff for the cat rescue. (I have an image of the rescue mascot, taking photos and videos in interesting places to post for them).

I then worked on converting videos rest of the night since I could not get the wireless to work anymore, so unable to research places to stay in my next stop tomorrow.  Will just have to wing it.

Finally went to bed as I was exhausted.

Catch ya down the road.

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