Sept 4 - Sept 8 Driving Trip: Anchorage to Fairbanks

Wednesday September 4 Anchorage to Healy:Today was the start of our second adventure on this trip. Instead of heading home we are going to rent a car and explore some on our own. Our plan is to drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks, then drive to Tok, then to Chitina and back to Anchorage. We have a week before our flight and we plan to stay 4 nights in Fairbanks. So today is Anchorage to Healy, a town just north of Denali National Park.

We don’t set an alarm but are up by 7:30. We head down to breakfast to try to beat the cruise ship crowd. They are all staying in the hotel and will be eating before their transfer to the airport. The restaurant is almost empty so we get seated and get breakfast in record time. We get cleaned up and packed up and take a cab to the airport to rent our car. We tried Uber but it was going to be over $30 because it is a peak time. The cab from the Westmark Hotel to Avis rental counter was $19.25. A bargain!

We have reserved a Chevy Impala or similar and for the whole trip Barry has been teasing me that it will be a Hyundai. It was a Hyundai Sonata. We are convinced that Avis no longer has American cars. We depart Anchorage about 10 A.M. The GPS estimates we will be in Healy about 3 P.M.

Our Avis "Chevrolet Impala or Similar" (Hyundai Sonata)

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We were a bit concerned that much of today’s trip will retrace our trip up to Denali (exact same road) or our train trip back (runs along the road for much of the way). But it was a very pleasant drive. The leaves had turned even brighter colors and we could stop whenever we wanted. The scenery is still breathtaking.

We stopped for lunch in Wasilla at Taco Bell and did some grocery shopping at Fred Meyer. The food was a little more expensive than Atlanta but not exorbitantly so.

We each drove about an hour before we switched off. My first hour went through the fire ravaged town of Willow. Traffic was slowed along the highway and fire and logging crews were cleaning up the devastation. It was incredibly sad to see the burned-out community, the blackened trees and the huge signs of thanks to the firemen at the entrances to driveways.

While we had been through all of this area in the bus we still enjoyed the very scenic views of the mountains, trees, rivers and tundra. This time we could take our time at Broad Pass and look at the beautiful tundra landscape.

We finally got a good picture of the fireweed. Although it isn't as bright as in the peak of summer it is still quite lovely as the leaves have now turned red.

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At the end of Broad Pass was Panorama Peak, the highest mountain in the area and one scarred by glacial activity.

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Soon we got to the little village of Denali and stopped to get ice cream and fabric at the quilt store I had briefly looked in on Monday. While we were checking out we chatted with another couple and the proprietress about heading for Fairbanks. The customers had just come from there and had taken the trip to the arctic circle. Barry asked if they would recommend it and they said not really. Fourteen hours on a bus on a very rough unpaved road. We are pretty much "bussed-out" so will likely not do that.

We left the fabric store and started into unknown territory. The first part was a very scenic gorge which paralleled the Nenana River. We reached the town of Healy in twelve short miles, found our turnoff and soon checked into the EarthSong Lodge.

EarthSong Lodge is a wonderful place made up of handbuilt 1 bed room cabins and their big business is dog sledding in the winter. Our hostess, Courtney, invited us to meet the dog sled teams at 9:30 the next morning.

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We had dinner at Rose’s back in Healy. Nothing fancy but filling. After dinner our hosts offered a half hour slide show of “The Colors of Denali” which we attended. It was a collection of their best photos of 30 years in Denali. It was very enjoyable to see the National Park through all of its seasons. They also had some wonderful photos of the auroras and of dog sledding in winter. Then Courtney answered questions. Once we got her on the subject of dogs, you could see the enthusiasm and love for her animals shine through!

There is promise of an aurora sighting tonight if it clears. We set our alarm for midnight to check for it but it was heavily clouded over. So we went back to bed.

Thursday September 5 Healy to Fairbanks:About 7:00 A.M. we heard the unmistakeable sound of a pack of excited dogs. The sled dogs were up and were very animated about something. They were all barking and baying joyfully. It was a very happy sound.

We got up, took showers and headed to Henri’s the limited-hours on-site coffee shop for breakfast. We had a tasty egg, bacon and cheese bagels and some really great coffee. Then we headed back to finish packing and await the dog tour at 9:30 A.M.

Everyone assembled at about 9:15 eager to see the dogs. We watched Courtney clean the kennels, chain up the dogs and put out fresh water. There were half a dozen dogs left to roam free and all the dogs were really excited about Courtney being there. She told us that her and her husband had been caring for the dogs for the owners for 5 years.

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At 9:30 with some words about what to expect from the dogs and how to behave, the group of us (8 in all) were let into the kennel area. The free roaming dogs were friendly and definitely wanted pets. Courtney (in the green shirt) talked about the dogs and their business as the only private contractor licensed to do dog sled tours in Denali National Park.

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I noticed that the dogs who were chained up seemed interested in the goings on but were feeling left out. So I wandered over and offered the back of my hand for one to sniff and he did indeed want pets. So Barry and I made the rounds of all of them and gave them all pets and I also handed out a few belly rubs. Their fur is extremely thick - and this is their summer coat. Some had the blue eyes of the Siberian Huskies others had marbled blue/brown eyes which were very unique. A few had one brown and one blue eye. The dogs were all uniformly friendly and there was no snarling, growling or snappiness.

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Alaskan huskies are mutts and as a result have very strong bloodlines with no diseases common in pure bred dogs like Siberian huskies. They have a working life of 10-12 years and will live 16-18 years.

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Their fur is remarkably insulative and they have reverse circulation to their extremities so that their paws can’t freeze. They live to run and look so very joyous when they are running. This guy had blue eyes with brown flecks, but I could never get a picture of them.

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Courtney told us they are bred for cold weather - they will run in -30 degree weather and when they curl up and tuck their nose under their tail they can sleep down to -60 degrees F. If you put a thermometer in next to their body when they are curled up it will measure 75 degrees

We had a great deal of fun hearing about the dogs, meeting them and petting them! We said our good-byes and headed for Fairbanks.

We arrived in Fairbanks around lunchtime, ate lunch and then went and made a well needed visit to a laundromat. We had hoped to do some laundry on the ship that last day at sea, but the Westerdam didn't have any self-serve machines.

Then we drove north on the Steese Highway (Alaska 6) to find the Mount Aurora Lodge. When we arrived, all was quiet inside and out and we weren't sure whether anyone was home. We found a check-in slip in the common area downstairs and proceded to our room. Along the way, we ran into the owner/proprietor Jeff who welcomed us and showed us around.

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Later in the evening we met the owner's son Max, who was our evening host and his dog Nana. About 11 pm, Max came into the common area and announced that the aurora was visible.

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Everyone grabbed their cameras and we headed outside. He pointed it out to us and we didn't believe him. It was a low ribbon cloud in the Northern sky. But we took a photo and it was green. It stayed only green but it was beautiful. It started out as a low arch in the northern sky not too far above the horizon. It widened, it split, it moved upward, and then it started dancing around. It was not colorful to (our) naked eye but with a camera, you could see the green. Sometimes muted and sometimes quite vivid. At its peak it dominated the sky above us with multiple strands, some blooms, some rain (where it streaks down to the horizon) and large swirls. It was magnificent.

We later learned that different people see it differently. The other family that was there could see the green color. Our son saw the colors from the airplane. Very interesting.

Early evening aurora

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Aurora framing the Big Dipper

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Aurora at its brightest that evening

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An aurora "flame"

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Aurora behind the Mount Aurora Lodge

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Aurora with different intensities

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Friday September 6th: Fairbanks: We woke up late and breakfasted. Max cooked and he made a wonderful and hearty pancake/eggs and bacon breakfast. We left and headed north on the Steese Highway to Chatanika where we saw an abandoned gold dredge. It sat back off the highway on private property but there was an overlook on the highway.

A depiction of how early mining was done.

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A water cannon for removing the overburden. It is not running at full pressure! We saw this at the Pump House in Fairbanks. It was a pumping station that supplied the high pressure water. Now it has been turned into an excellent seafood restaurant.

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These dredges had something akin to a large chainsaw but with buckets instead of teeth mounted on the front. It would chew up the ground by scooping up buckets full of earth and carry it to the back of the dredge where it was dumped out onto a conveyer belt which separated out the gold and spit the waste out the back.

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The drive is gorgeous. Here is one area where the hills are covered in the gold of the changing seasons.

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Then we retraced our route and found the trans-Alaskan pipeline above ground near Fox. This was a small park on the side of the road where the pipeline came out of the ground and continued on elevated pylons. That was a fun treat. We saw some pipe pigs - devices used to clean out the pipes. Initially they are made of iron which removed the wax from the pipe but once the warm (about 100 degrees F) oil started flowing they switch to plastic pigs which are much lighter and more flexible. Some pigs are instrumented to use nondestructive inspection techniques to look for cracks and other defects in the pipeline.

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After this we continued into Fairbanks. We decided to do the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. This is a wonderful place with cars from the earliest models to mid-1930s. Most of them are lovingly restored and shine like they never left the showroom. But as a special delight the cars are interspersed with gorgeous antique ladies fashions appropriate for the car. These are beautiful gowns, dresses and beach wear and many of them are hand beaded or have other intricate decorative stitching. Around the perimeter of the museum there are enlarged photos depicting the early transportation challenges in Alaska and Alaskan life in general. This is a wonderful museum and we thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent here.

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This dress was spectacular. It was so incredibly intricate and you know it was all done by hand. It was not for a special occasion, like a wedding, but an "afternoon dress" for, perhaps, tea.

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This is one of the photos on the walls surrounding the museum. We were intrigued, because it showed the same street scene and welcome sign as we had seen in Ketchikan.

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Then it was time for lunch and then off to the Discovery Paddleboat Tour on the Chena River. This had come highly recommended by several folks we had met on our journey. The boat is a triple deck paddleboat painted a classic white with a green paddle wheel with seating both inside and outside. While it seemed warm enough, we opted to sit inside and out of the wind.

We boarded the boat which on this sunny day was only about half full. As we turned around to head downriver the host gave a short history of the boat company and the founder Charles M. Binkley. His son, Captain Jim and wife Mary continued operating the company to carry supplies and people up and down the Yukon and Tanana rivers to native Alaskans, trappers, fur traders and gold miners using steam powered paddleboats. This went on until the late 1950s when other modes of transportation took on that role. They then designed and opened the first paddleboat for toursts. Mary still lives on the river and as we pass by her house she comes out into the back yard and gives the passing boat a wave.

Shortly after we leave the dock they do a sea plane demonstration when a plane takes off from the river, flies around the boat and lands back on the water. Sea planes are used to supply the more remote regions where they can land on one of Alaska’s 3 million lakes on floats in the summer, skis in the winter or even large tires. They are very versatile aircraft.

As we continue down the river, the host tells us about Susan Butcher, an eastern socialite who came to Alaska and became a four time Iditarod dog sled race winner. The Iditarod is a very grueling 1100 mile race from Nome to Anchorage that is run by dog sledders every year in the middle of February. She is apparently legend in this area. She also took a dog sled team to the top of Mt. Mckinley (Denali), the highest point in North America where the high in Summer is 16 degrees F. She died of cancer in 2007 but her husband, Dave Monson, continues to train dogs and race himself.

We pull to the side of the river adjacent to their dog training area where there is a 4-wheeler with the engine removed and a partial team of dogs harnessed. As the host talks with Dave Monson some handlers harness up the remaining dogs. They are exceedingly excited and dance around. Only the lead dog is placidly waiting.

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Dave also talks about the next generation of dogs and how they are trained. As he does a couple of pups are climbing around on some logs that have been placed along the river.

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Dave finishes his conversation and goes over and climbs on the 4 wheeler and only then do you notice it is restrained by a large rope as the dogs start pulling against it. He releases the rope, gives the command and they go flying out of the yard and around the back side of the property. You can see them in the distance and they have remote cameras which broadcast to tvs on the boat to allow the passengers to watch these animals run. The dogs loop around a track and then come running back into the yard and stop on a dime just before they hit the river. The dogs are unharnessed, given lots of pets by the handlers and run down to the river and jump into the 40 degree water and splash around. These are really happy dogs!

Dog Sledding Demo

The boat moves on down the river and we pass a shallow area with a recreated Indian fish camp. In the water is a fish wheel and clever mechanism for catching salmon consisting of slowly rotating baskets. A young Athabaskan woman explained that each family had a fish camp which was occupied when the salmon were running. Every member of the family helped in catching and preserving the salmon during this period.

Then she demonstrated preparing a salmon for smoking. They cut off the head and filet it leaving the two filet halves attached together by the tail. They then hang the fish on poles with one filet on each side of the pole. She said they leave them there until they have dried and glazed over. If not, when they are put in the smokehouse they might mold. Then they are put into the smokehouse and cured. Each family has its own secret recipe of spices and marinade used for smoking. Along the Chena this is done three times of the year as three different salmon types make their runs.

The river boat proceeded downstream to where the Chena river meets the Tanana River. The Tanana River is glacier fed and is wide and rocky with little water and multiple channels. At this time of year it is not navigable. We turn around and head back. The boat stops at a recreated Athabascan village for talks by some of the native Alaskans. We opt to not get off the boat as it seems too Disneyesque. After about an hour we head back up stream to disembark.

We enjoyed parts of the riverboat cruise but parts were very contrived and seemed very artificial and commercial. It was also expensive. In hindsight, we probably wouldn’t have taken it if we had known what the tour encompassed. However the dog sled demonstration was amazing and it was interesting to hear about fish camp.

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Gallo’s which was pretty good, got a few groceries and headed up to our lodge. The aurora viewing was not as good this night.

Sunset from the Mount Aurora Lodge. While the skies cleared later, the aurora was weaker than the night before and we went to bed early.

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Saturday September 7 Fairbanks: We slept late, ate a leisurely breakfast and hung around the lodge until after lunch. We drove up to the top of Mt Aurora and visited SkiLand, a ski resort unlike anything in the lower 48. It had one lift and one run - straight down the side of the mountain.

The lift at SkiLand: It looks pretty steep, fast, and dangerous. I told Barry that I thought downhill skiing was not very popular here and cross country was probably more common.

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Also at SkiLand is Wedding Rock. According to our hosts at Mt Aurora Lodge, it is a popular place to hold wedding ceremonies. I bet it makes for some spectacular wedding photos!

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We left to go up to the Pedro Dome, another taller mountain we could see from the lodge. It had antennas located on top. Before we reached the summit we came across a sign which indicated it was restricted access and trespassing was forbidden.

So we drove back down and decided to go into Fairbanks and visit Creamers Field State Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary and then have dinner at the Pump House. So we made reservations at the Pump House and drove down.

Creamers Field is the site of an old dairy which has walking trails and has been reclaimed into a marshland.

We saw a flock of Canada geese as we entered the walking trails and took the trail to the boreal forest. There were not many animals or birds about but it was a pretty walk.

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We entered a very wet area with lots of dead vegetation and standing water. We followed the walkway and ran into a man carrying a rather large-lensed professional camera. Barry asked about the lens and one thing led to another and he told us that this area was an abandoned sluice of the Tanana River. It had been dry for many years and, thus the abundance of birch trees and other vegetation. But recent increase in rain and melting of the underlying ice wedges caused the area to fill with water and kill off the trees. In addition, thermokarsts are formed so the trees can no longer be supported by the ground and collapse in like a sinkhole.

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While we were talking with the photographer, we met the famed Alaskan mosquitos who seemed to want to dine on us. We hurried on to get away from them!

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We passed another couple that alerted us to a moose up ahead and soon, through the trees, we saw a moose cow eating tree leaves. We watched her for a while and Barry got some great pictures.

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Moose Cow eating leaves at Creamers Field State Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary Fairbanks, AK

As we were leaving, some folks were setting up for a wedding. It looked like lovely weather and a lovely setting to get married.

We went to dinner and really enjoyed the seafood at the Pump House. We had a Bulgarian waiter named Dmitri who spoke with a very thick accent. We found out he was visiting and working on an exchange program for his university. He grew very animated talking about his studies which were marketing and food service.

Sunday September 8 Last Day in Fairbanks: When we got up, I told Barry I was tired of doing the tourist thing and wanted a a day with lots of down time to recover from aurora viewing and away from lots of touristy activities. He agreed and we lounged around the lodge most of the morning.

It was mostly clear and from the lodge, we could see the elusive Mt Denali (Mt McKinley) framed by the trees on the property.

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Late in the morning, we decided to drive up the Steese Highway toward the arctic circle until the pavement ended. We packed a picnic lunch and took a gorgeous drive into the mountains to road’s end.

A lovely view of the mountains and river

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It is a beautifully clear day with deep blue Alaskan skies

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We passed a turnout for the Davidson Ditch and, intrigued, we pulled in to investigate. This is not the Alaska pipeline but predates it by at least 50 years. In the 1920's this was built to supply water to mining operations for the removal of the overburden and melting the permafrost. This system of pipes and sluices delivered 81 million gallons of water a day at its peak!

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When we got to the end of the pavement there was a very scenic pullout and we had a very relaxing and romantic picnic lunch about forty miles south of the arctic circle.

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On the way back we stopped at the entrance to Poker Flats and took this photo. Poker Flats is operated by the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska. It is the largest land based rocket research range in the world and the only high latitude rocket range in the U.S. It launches scientific sounding rockets and performs satellite tracking.

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We returned to the lodge, took a nap and then Barry decided to climb Blueberry Hill which was a rise across from the lodge. Here is a view of Mount Aurora Lodge from the top of Blueberry Hill.

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We decided to go to the Chatanika Lodge for dinner. It boasted of a true Alaska experience and only a few miles up Steese Highway. Well it was an experience!

As we walked in to this wonderfully kitschy restaurant with dollar bills stapled all over the walls and ceiling and Christmas lights hung but not turned on (only near Christmas), the lady cleaning tables informed us they were out of “chicken, porkies and fish”. That should have raised a red flag....

So we sat down and after a while our waitress came over, pulled out a chair next to Barry and sat down. She seemed to be in no hurry to take our order so we chatted with her for a while. She told us she was taking a break. She said they had been totally slammed since she arrived two hours earlier. She had been in Alaska for 12 years and loved living here. She said it was like “home” (Oregon) used to be like in the 1970’s. A wonderfully personable waitress and exceedingly friendly.

After a few minutes of chatting, she took our order and based on the limitations we both ordered fried catfish (aparently catfish isn't fish) with baked potato and salad. As an aside, Alaskans have not gotten the memo that having an all-deep-fried-food diet isn’t healthy. That seems to be the cooking style of choice. Tasty to be sure but...

We waited and waited and waited. Finally it all came out at once. The food was hot and fresh. The catfish had more of a tempura batter than cornmeal vibe and tasted accordingly. To a finely tuned Southern palate not catfish at all. But the place was fun and, as advertised, a true Alaskan experience!

We headed back to the lodge to mostly clear skies and the promise of aurora viewing. While it was not as colorful as the first evening it was still very visually exciting. Here are some of the pictures from tonight.

In Alaska, in the summer, you are at such a high latitude that the moon never gets very high in the sky. Also it doesn't set perpendicular to the horizon but skims horizontally along the horizon until it eventually disappears. Here is the moon near the horizon from the lodge.

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The aurora was out before it was even completely dark. Here is the first image of very subtle green on the northern horizon.

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Later, after dark, much of the aurora was just a tinting of the sky to a glorious green with occasional brighter green spikes.

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Here, again looking north, we started to see ribbons of green which had more intensity.There are also some clouds to the left which create an interesting overlay.

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As the evening progressed, for a short time the color got very intense.

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Multiple ribbons of the aurora to the north.

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As the evening wore on, the green became more subtle and this image, mixed with clouds, made us think of a spooky Halloween evening.

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Tomorrow we continue on our way to Tok, AK!