Going to Eagle

[Clio]

SO... Memorial Day weekend, heading out to Eagle Alaska. We're heading out to look at a cabin and check out this tiny little town. The cabin is on a lake not far from the mighty Yukon River. Eagle, on the banks of the Yukon, is the town to which my ancestor, Roald Amundsen, trekked to let his family know he alive after two years of silence. He came down Eagle creek on a dogsled arriving in Eagle on December 5, 1905.

The town is quite proud of this brush with fame. Amundsen Street is the main road into - and out of - town. On this same dirt thoroughfare, neatly lined with cabins sits Amundsen Cabin and Amundsen Park.

Amundsen Cabin, though over 100 years old, is a neatly painted white structure that appears to be home to something called Yukon Adventures. It is unprepossessing and dwarfed by the elegant, modern Falcon Inn B&B that sits in front of it facing the Yukon River.

Amundsen Park, a little to the south of Amundsen Cabin and across Amundsen Street boasts a gazebo, a half - or maybe a quarter - sized basket ball court and a sculpture monument to Amundsen. It is a postage stamp sized park as parks go, but neat, and of the proper size for this town of 176 hearty souls. About 80 of whom actually "winter-over".

We rented a room from the Eagle Trading Post and Motel. For $70 we had a neat, clean room, a TV with 4 cable channels, a phone that doesn't work, a private bath, a table, two chairs, and two comfortable queen sized beds. Also available at the Trading Post are hot showers (for a fee), groceries of all kinds and the most amazing view of the river which rolls majestically by, literally across the street. A street that is imaginatively named, "Front Street".

There are three comfortable benches, right at the edge of the river and up about 30 feet. We wandered down and sat there, watching the eddies and swirls in the water. The water is deep, silty, and runs swiftly in front of the town. It was so quiet and peaceful.

No engine noises or other city sounds intruded on the birdsongs, the occasional splash from the river and the nearly silent approach of a local character on his blue-and-gold one speed bicycle with fat tires. You know the kind. The ones that stop when pedaled backwards.

David rides his bike everywhere. Preferring that to walking. He hates to drive and flatly refuses to do so. He's ex-military, navy, and has exciting stories of almost being mugged by a gang of Kapi's in Capetown, SA in his younger days. He also has a gentler side, evident in his stories of his Japanese wife, long dead, a beloved war-bride. When he speaks of her his aloneness reaches his eyes.

From David, we learned there is really some dispute about which cabin in town is really Amundsen's cabin. It seems there are two, with the town being about equally divided. One half coming down on the side of the more presentable, and the other coming down for the half-fallen-in version farther from the river. The truth is, according to David, that Amundsen could have stayed in either, or both. And most likely did. Both, that is. We also discovered that the representative of the Norwegian embassy in Anchorage made the trek to Eagle, in winter, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Amundsen's visit. David also directed us to the local Historical Society. It seems a relative of the famous man is a very big deal.

(Oh my... had I only known!!!)

David is firmly of the opinion that in order to live here comfortably, a boat with twin motors, a snowmachine and a four-wheeler are necessities, not luxuries. Oh... and in that order, too. Judging by the go-devil that went by on the river and the ATV that buzzed through town while we talked, he's probably right. It's the wrong season for snowmachines.

There are a number of homes whose owner's have left, never to return. But there is little pressure to rent or sell them as there are no property taxes here. David recommends contacting on of the absentee owners for a potentially better deal than the one we went to look at. Still, he reckons Sally, the real estate agent in Tok, is "all right" and John Bronn, her agent in Eagle is a good fellow.

Although the Yukon is deep and readily navigable, supplies are not barged in. This came a quite a shock as there is an excellent barge system that supplies villages farther downstream. Supplies are not barged in because there is a road to Eagle.

About this road.... No one, NO ONE takes the road to Eagle, unless they are going to Eagle. It takes an entire day to navigate the dirt road, proudly called a highway. It is never more than a lane and a half wide, often at elevations of 3000 feet with no guard rails, and the land dropping steeply away on all sides. Erhm... truly all sides. The road goes from ridge-top to ridge-top, and in places rather than take the road down into the valley and up the other side, the builders simply filled in the cleft between the ridgetops and ran the road along the top... with 1500 foot drops sweeping steeply down to the valley floor on both sides.

Thus, supplies of all kinds are sent over this road in double tractor trailer rigs. Especially fuel. Groceries come courtesy of the US Postal service, delivered by air-freight 4 days a week. And that means by Bush Pilot! Air Mail! This results in ice-cream for $12 a gallon.

For items the postal service won't accept such as ammunition, fuel, canoes, paint, and such, there are two choices. A trip to Fairbanks, a three day affair counting shopping time, or taking up the offer of Holland America lines for a once a year free trip on the MV Yukon Queen to Dawson City in the Yukon Territory. Only during summer though. That trip can be done in two days counting shopping time, although the selection is not as good as in Fairbanks.

Time is of great importance here, but only for the 100 days of summer. From the third week in May, until September 10th or so, is all the time there is to prepare for the next time of not-summer. All woodworking, laying in of supplies, repairs, and any other preparations one is minded to make must be completed before winter begins to exert it's inexorable grip on the far north. The highway from Eagle to the rest of Alaska is closed from September 15th to May 15th and ice begins to appear in the river soon after.

There is a group of about 80 hearty individualists who winter over in Eagle each year. It is not advised if long periods of darkness make you do strange things. Winters are spent trapping, crafting, and hunkering down near the wood-stove to keep warm during -60 degree weather. People who live here are adept at entertaining themselves for long periods of time.

Most residents are older. Retirees for the most part although we did see several teens and younger children around town. Eagle has a school K-12, and two teachers! There are almost no jobs other than working for the state, or the park service. Subsistence syle living is the rule, rather than the exception. Looking to work to provide entertainment in winter is probably not an option.

The town is served by Everts Air, whose telephone number is scratched into the payphone in the center of town.

more later....