Sunday, 14 August, 2011
Hard to believe that a week has passed since our last post, but Internet access is spotty, and we have been rather busy. Here are highlights of our activities.
Today, Sunday, has been alternately cloudy / rainy / sunny. We slept in late; Lin spent most of the day reading and napping, while I’ve worked on organizing my pictures and updating the blog. Later, we drove out to the University and spent a couple of good hours looking through the Botanical Garden and the Large Animal Research area, with its muskoxen. Here are a several images from the day:
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| Georgeson Botanical Gardens, 1 of 3. |
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| Georgeson Botanical Gardens, 2 of 3. |
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| Georgeson Botanical Gardens, 3 of 3. |
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| Muskox at Large Animal Research Farm, 1 of 2. |
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| Muskoxen at Large Animal Reseach Farm, 2 of 2. |
Then Lin reviewed what I’d written; now, I’ve revised the text, done the upload and editing, and have now added some pictures. Tomorrow, we pick up our purchase from Alaska House and head south to Denali; we are looking forward to that part of the trip with anticipation and hope that the weather will cooperate. So far, it has been a great trip despite the chancy weather. I won’t have Internet access until we get to Talkeetna Camper Park, after our stay in Denali. So, it will be toward the end of next week before I can update the blog again. Bye for now.
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Chena River State Recreation Site, Fairbanks, AK, USA
We took time on Saturday to visit the local farmers’ market where we got some nice produce and vegetables. We did some other shopping, and then visited the Alaska House Gallery. Yolanda had done her work and had pricing information for us on the bear, including the missing fish. We settled on terms, including needed repair on the fish, and agreed to pick up everything on Monday. Next, we visited Pioneer Park, a city-sponsored outdoor museum, and spent some time looking over the displays there. It was rainy and cool, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. The most interesting display was the historic stern-wheeler riverboat Nenana. The main deck contains a number of dioramas that depict historical villages in Alaska; very well done.
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| Sternwheeler Nenana - Diorama of Nenana Town, the boat yard. |
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| Sternwheeler Nenana - Diorama of Nenana Town, the town and rail yard. |
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| Sternwheeler Nenana - Diorama of Nenana Town, haul out for boat storage. |
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| The real thing, Sternwheeler Nenana. |
Other areas are mostly off-limits now, being restored. The engine room was restored in the late 90's, and is an interesting area.
After looking through the other exhibits, we walked over to the Alaska Salmon Bake restaurant next to the Park and took a look at their buffet. We decided that wasn’t for us, and elected to try out the Chena Pump House restaurant, which we had seen on our Discovery cruise. That turned out to be a splendid choice; we enjoyed good service, an excellent meal (scallops, halibut), and a nice wine. It was a very good way to end the week.
Friday, 12 August 2011
Marion Creek CG, Dalton Highway, AK, USA
On Friday, I had planned a drive back to the 5 Mile CG to spend the night there, and then, on Saturday, I thought we’d head for Chena Hot Springs Resort, northeast of Fairbanks. Fortunately, the weather continued to provide us with good viewing of the surrounding country, though it was cloudy most of the time. We passed through the same scenery we had seen up close going north, but seeing it from the clear, south-bound perspective made it seem new and exciting. We were awed by the distances visible, and the terrain we passed through.
Even so, the road is a hard drive; by the time we got to 5 Mile, Lin was fed up and finished with bumps, frost heaves, broken pavement, and steep ascents / descents; she suggested (not so gently) that we continue on rather than staying at 5 Mile. I agreed, but stopped by the (free) sani-dump, emptied the tanks, and used the wash hose to hose down the truck and camper, removing as much of the accumulated mud and gravel as I could. It didn’t look quite as muddy after the rinse job, but clearly had been up the road a piece. We then continued south, headed for the Hilltop Truck Stop, and the road to Chena Hot Spring. This time, we were able to see the scenery we had missed in the clouds and rain while we were north-bound. It was awesome, only problem -- we were so focused on the driving and seeing that I didn't stop for any pictures...
Along the way, Lin checked out the campgrounds at the Hot Springs and found that none of them have water or electricity. Since we were both ready for a good shower, we decided to skip Chena Hot Springs and head back to Fairbanks, instead. Good decision; we found a nice spot at the Chena River State Park, in Fairbanks, and set up for the night, just in time to beat the downpour. We found a quiet restaurant nearby and shared a simple dinner; then it was beddy-by time, and we were out for the night.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Riverview RV Park, North Pole, AK, USA
On Thursday, we continued our drive north, the road conditions were marginally better, and the weather had cleared up considerably. Eventually, we reached a paved stretch of highway, beginning at Caribou Mountain, and lasting all the way to Wiseman, north of our destination at Marion Creek Campground. We still had to be careful of frost heaves, potholes, and broken pavement, but we were able to make better time. We drove on, stopping at a number of overlooks where we saw spectacular vistas of the surrounding mountains and valleys.
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| Along the Dalton Highway, north of 5 Mile CG. |
The Dalton highway was originally build in the 1970s to support construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, which was visible for long stretches along the roadway. We stopped for a rest break at Finger Rock, an historic site that has served as a landmark and navigation point for centuries; it provides extensive views over the Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge and the mountains around it. Wonderful scenery, beautiful spot!
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| Finger Rock, an historic and pre-historic landmark. |
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| The Arctic Tundra, with Dalton Highway and Trans-Alaska Pipeline. |
We arrived at the Arctic Circle wayside about noon and took the obligatory pictures, this one made it into the blog, thanks to a passing family who's father snapped the shot for us:
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| Lin & Don at the Arctic Circle Wayside. |
Then we drove up to the camping area above the wayside for a bit of lunch. Later that afternoon, we pulled into Coldfoot, about 10 miles south of Marion Creek, and the last gas station south of Prudhoe Bay (240 miles further North, across the Brooks Range; too far for us). I filled up with gas at $5.39 / gallon (OUCH!), and then we drove on up to Marion Creek. The campground is beautifully sited and well arranged; we wished we could stay there for several days. We got set up, just before the rains came, and discovered that the frost heaves and potholes had done us in again -- the inside of the refrigerator was covered with spilled mustard, and the floor and couch were dusted with more rice, oatmeal, and the books and games. (Sorry, no pictures of this or the campground...) We cleaned up again, repacked and said “better luck next time”.
Then, we went for a short drive further north, through the small settlement of Wiseman.
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| Koyukuk River at Wiseman, AK. |
It was indeed remote and consisted of a number of old log cabins, a small resort, and lots of antique mining equipment on display. That evening we went to a presentation at the Inter-agency Visitors’ Center (BLM, NPS, USF&WS) in Coldfoot. It was all about sharing the environment with bears, information we hope never to use but are glad to have. After returning to our camp, we enjoyed a few quiet moments before bed time. This was our northern-most point in the trip, and we have a real sense of accomplishment in getting here safely; now the challenge is getting back south without any mishaps.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Riverview RV Park, North Pole, AK, USA
Wednesday morning, we packed up and headed north to the Dalton Highway. The route was nicely paved until we left the Elliot Highway (AK 2), west of Livingood. At that point, it became gravel, and since it had been raining the night before and we were passing in and out of showers, it was wet, muddy gravel. We crawled, slithered, and slowly crept up a long and very steep hill, while Lin cringed and asked if there was any way we could turn around and go back to Fairbanks. Since there wasn't a turn-around anywhere in sight, we continued to slowly creep forward and finally crested the top of the hill. At that point, I switched into 4-wheel drive, and we picked our way slowly down the other side. We then repeated this process for the next 45 miles, along with several rather bumpy stretches, up to the bridge over the Yukon River. It was cloudy, foggy, and rained now and then, but along the way Lin got a bit more comfortable with the driving conditions, and we were awed by the scenery we were able to see, despite the clouds and rain. It is truly spectacular country, wild and open to the far ridges; with just the road in front and behind; we were both very glad to be able to see what we could of it.
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| View from the Dalton Highway, south of the Yukon River |
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| Another view from the Dalton Highway, south of the Yukon River |
After crossing the Yukon, we stopped off at the Yukon River Visitors’ Center and got some useful road and campground information from the lady who was in charge there.
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| Dalton Highway Visitors Center at Yukon Crossing. |
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| Our (very dirty) rig and Visitor's Center Information Board, with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the background. |
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| Trans-Alaska Pipeline, just north of Visitor's Center. |
We walked down to the river and I took a couple of pictures; this is the one I picked for the blog:
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| Yukon River Bridge, Dalton Highway |
Then we drove over to the truck stop across the highway and checked it out. Finding nothing of real interest there, we drove up the road a few miles to the Five Mile Campground (so named because it is roughly 5 miles from the Yukon River crossing).
We were one of three rigs set up on a large gravel pad provided with tables, campfire rings, and free firewood.
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| Setting up at 5 Mile Campground, Dalton Highway. |
We settled in and opened up the trailer; oh dear, those bumpy places did us in -- the storage cupboards had opened, along with some of the containers and we had oatmeal and rice mixed in with the games and books, all on the floor. It was somewhat a mess, so we cleaned up and repacked, ready for the next day. Later, we spoke briefly with one of the other couples there. They had kayaks on the top of their SUV and were looking for someone to team up with to float down the Yukon -- we had to tell them that we weren’t the ones they sought. After a good dinner, I built our first camp-fire of the trip, and we enjoyed a quiet evening, complete with ‘smores.
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| Twilight at 10:45PM, 5 Mile CG, Dalton Highway |
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Riverview RV Park, North Pole, AK, USA
On Tuesday, we continued exploring the tourist highlights in downtown Fairbanks, taking in several galleries (nothing special to report). Next, we drove out to the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and spent several good hours viewing the wide range of displays in the Museum of the North. The building itself is a work of art (check out the website at: http://www.uaf.edu/museum/), and the collection is superb, a wide range of artifacts and dioramas, well organized, and of the highest quality. One of the highlights of the visit for me was the material the Museum had on Claire Fejes. They had a large collection of her prints, and in the Alaska history area, a beautiful tribute to her:
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| Display Case with Claire's Bio and Artwork (one of several) |
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| Tribute to Claire |
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| My Favorite Image in the collection |
We truly enjoyed our time at the museum.
By then it was too late for lunch, so we drove a couple of miles south to Discovery Land and boarded the paddle wheel river-boat, Discovery III. The Discovery Land part was pretty tacky, but the riverboat was a worthwhile trip down the Chena River, west of Fairbanks; past some very nice (and some not so nice) homes, the Chena River Pump House (now a very good restaurant), and on to an outdoor museum where we got off the boat and learned some basics of Eskimo history and life, including a demonstration of fish wheel operation and processing the catch (filleting, drying, and smoking over an alder-wood fire). It was an interesting afternoon; here are some pictures of what we saw:
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| Eskimo fish processing demonstration |
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| Discovery II passengers reboarding at Athabascan Fish Camp |
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| Excercising an Iditarod dog team at Trailbreaker Kennels |
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| Lin (and many others) at Discovery Trading Post Landing |
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| Boarding M/V Discovery II |
We had other activities that were on our list, but we had run out of time, so back to the RV Park and the end of another good day, and our time in Fairbanks.
Monday, 8 August 2011
Riverview RV Park, North Pole, AK, USA
On Monday, we started with the Alaska House Art Gallery, and quickly found an interesting family connection; the gallery is operated by Yolanda Fejes, daughter of Claire Fejes, who illustrated a book my cousin Edwin (Pete) Hall wrote and published in the mid-70's, after spending several years in Alaska. We talked of family connections and the art that Claire produced during her lifetime (she died of cancer in 1998), and looked at a number of beautiful pieces in the gallery. A soapstone bear particularly caught our attention, but Yolanda hadn’t been able to get a price from the artist. We asked her to see if she could get the pricing and also get some detail on the fish that was supposed held in its mouth, which was missing. She agreed and said she would be in touch when she had the information. Next, we took a couple of hours to walk through the galleries and shops downtown, and in one of them, found a copy of Pete’s book (The Eskimo Storyteller, Folktales from Noatak, Alaska, 1975, 1999), which I purchased and am now reading.
Later that afternoon, we visited Creamer’s Fields, formerly a dairy farm and now a wildlife refuge that hosts a large flock of sand-hill cranes and many other forms of wild-life. Later, we took care of some shopping needs and then started back toward the RV Park. Along the way, we decided to stop at the Fairbanks Visitors Center, (http://www.explorefairbanks.com/) and check out their exhibits. It turned out to be an excellent decision, as they have a small, but very nice museum area, and were showing a very interesting video of one man's solitary life in Alaska. I wish now that I'd paid more attention to their other programs and that we had more time there. As it was, we spent a very good couple of hours there, and then, finally, headed back to our trailer to fix a simple dinner and collapse into bed.
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Riverview RV Park, North Pole, AK, USA
After arriving in Riverview late afternoon on Sunday, 7 August, Lin did the wash and I caught up on some online activities, but didn’t have time for the blog. Before going to bed we reviewed our Fairbanks tourist guides, and laid out our plans for the next two days.
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