Enroute from Fairbanks to Delta Junction is a place called Rika’s Roadhouse. The roadhouses were a vital part of Alaska’s infrastructure. They were built about every 20 or 30 miles – about a days travel by foot. The roadhouses were places to eat, stay, and get warm while passing the news with other travelers.
Salcha River AK is the site of a ferry crossing before the bridge was built. Ongoing battles between government toll collectors and independent minded Alaskan travelers escalated when travelers commandeered the ferry, holding the toll collectors at gunpoint. The trans-alaska pipeline also crosses the river near this point.
The pipeline also crosses the Tanana river here. The bends ad twists in the pipeline are intentional, both to control the pressures of the oil, and to mitigate the impact of earthquakes by allowing the pipeline room to flex as needed.
All the old buildings have been kept and restored.
What a great sense of humor!
The interior furnishings are all original.
It’s fun to imagine travelers sitting down to a meal in the roadhouse!
Progress!
We loved the sense of humor about bears!
Rustic.
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Fairbanks AK-Pipeline, Yukon Quest, Russian/US history
There’s a lot of history in Alaska, besides all the gold rush stuff. There’s the new gold (oil and the pipeline), Russia and the modes of transportation (dog-sledding).
The pipeline is an engineering marvel. It turns out that one of the key aspects of building the pipeline was to ensure that the oil flowing through the pipe didn’t heat up the ground too much and melt the permanent-frost. We saw lots of examples of building that sank into the ground when the permafrost melted so it was a real concern. Much of the pipeline is above ground, some underground. But the decision was usually based on the state of permafrost.
Pigs are devices used to clean the pipe. The original pigs were metal and were designed to be used before the pipe was fully up to temperature. The newer ones are a type of very stiff plastic that scours the insides of the pipe to clean off the wax buildup.
We were camped at a place called Cleary Summit for the opening weekend of caribou season. Seems like every other vehicle going by was a truck with either antlers or hooves sticking out. Note that it was motorized season – all the trucks had 4 wheelers along. Much better than field dressing and hiking out of the woods with the caribou.
Another of the red berries. More bear food! Bears love them. More about that later.
During WWII, the US transported squadrons of planes across to Russia to help support the second front in the European theater. What’s less well known is that many, if not most of those planes were ferried to Russia via Alaska and flow by women pilots.
The 1967 flood that devastated much of Fairbanks. Note the high water mark above our heads.
The other major dog sled race in Alaska is the Yukon Quest. It’s a very different format than the Iditarod. We got to meet a junior musher and a couple of her dogs. She has competed in a couple of junior events already and is gearing up for the Willow 100 race this year.
We also spent some time talking with the mom of one of the Yukon Quest mushers. Interesting to get mom’s perspective on such a daunting challenge. We’ll be following and cheering for Deke in this years race!
The AlCan highway officially ends at mile 1422 in Delta Junction, but it was extended to Fairbanks and mile 1523.
Antler Arch – interesting sculpture!
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One of the must stops on any trip to Alaska, we were told, is at North Pole, where they “take Christmas very seriously.” So we stopped. And we shopped. Just a little.
Very cool murals on the sides of the building.
Santa’s reindeer farm!
Even the street names…
Late August and the days are still long!
Had a great conversation with this gal who runs the local North Pole visitors center. Located in an old log cabin with a sod roof.
In 1967, much of Fairbanks was flooded due to heavy rains that fell in mid August causing the Chena river to overflow its banks. So they undertook a massive flood control project to build a several mile long flood plain up stream to control any future overflows of the river.
On top of the dike. Interesting that it was August and raining like crazy and we were visiting a flood control project built as a result of an August flood.
This map shows the extent of the dike and the flood control system. One side benefit is that several large recreation areas and campgrounds were created during the dike construction effort.
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There are 2 major state fairs in Alaska each summer, one in Tanana just north of Fairbanks and the other, larger one, in Palmer. We wanted to go to one of them to see the giant vegetables that grow in the 24 hr Alaska sunshine, so we went to the Tanana fair while we were up in Fairbanks.
Fairbanks has a great bus system, free to seniors, that goes from Pioneer Park where we were parked and the fairgrounds. Even better, the fair had senior day on Wed so we got into the fair free and then enjoyed a free lunch sponsored by the Fred Myer grocery store.
A wolverine! One of the few animals we never saw in the wild.
Local cooler!
Serving up the free lunch. Turkey and all the trimmings!
Some of the huge veggies.
The winning cabbage: 58.4 pounds!!
Wonder what people will think about what they find in the capsule?
Interesting booths at the fair.
Some of the kids artwork was amazing – tons of talent!
The usual assortment of fair rides.
Hunters have booths, too.
Hot dogs, reindeer sausage, it’s all the same…
We saw this camper food truck down in Talkeetna!
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One of the spots we had on our ‘must-visit’ list was Chena Hot springs. Heading northeast from Fairbanks about 50 miles, we crossed latitude 65 North, the farthest north we’ve ever been.
Lots of professional dog sled mushers live along the Chena River and run their teams up and down the river and alongside the road.
We found a couple of remote spots along the river where we could pull off the road and set up camp. Amazing scenery, total quiet and way off the grid.
Not a bad view out the window!
Some of the roads are better than others. Our tolerance for what conditions we were willing to drive on definitely changed during our trip.
Most of the signs along the roads, especially the ones that saying “No shooting” seem to have the same problem, lots of bullet holes in them. Some sort of statement about the rebellious nature of Alaskans?
The hot springs in the north are pretty spectacular. Cold air, cold water everywhere and then a hot spring with water well over 100 deg F. We met a local couple who run a lodge down the road from the hot spring. The only reason they were there was because the weather was unusually cold for the summer. But they said they are there almost every winter weekend. Something about taking a dip in the hot spring when it’s 30 or 40 below 0. They said it’s the only way to warm up their bones!
We ended up going to 3 different hot springs during our trip: Chena, Takhini, and Liard. Only Chena was in Alaska.
While we were camped, an environmental researcher stopped by the river to collect samples. He’s studying the food supply that salmon eat. They spent about an hour setting up their equipment and then about an hour taking the sample. Talking to them was very interesting.
A few people stopped by our campsite to fish. This guy was the only one successful.
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The University of Alaska at Fairbanks hosts the Museum of the North, well worth a visit. Lots of artifacts, information about wildlife and an exhibit about the earthquakes that hit Alaska. Turns out there is an earthquake about every 15 minutes somewhere in the state! We felt one of the larger ones while we were camped on the Homer spit.
Interesting to think about the college students walking between buildings when the temps hit 50 below during the school year.
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When visiting Alaska, you have to choose between a counter-clockwise or clockwise trip around the major stops. We chose clockwise which meant Fairbanks was towards the end of our journey.
Fairbanks was the site of many of the big stern-wheelers taking people to the gold fields. A couple are still around and are amazing vessels – less than a 4 foot draft for over a hundred feet in length!
Pioneer Park hosts a collection of the original buildings and artifacts from the gold rush days. And they let RVs stay in the parking lot for $10/night.
Some of the equipment is enormous. Think about moving this on a barge or stern wheeler in the 1890’s.
Free libraries are always worth a look!
The car President Harding used to visit Alaska.
Some of the old buildings. Most are original with some restoration.
A beautiful old church building. Services are still held in it.
Old world craftsmanship…
Forty five days after the longest day, daylight hours are still pretty long!
Some of the locals we met have amazing stories, and they love to tell them!
What would it have been like to drive up the river?
It’s a long way from everywhere.
We saw more rain while we were in Fairbanks than anywhere else in the state. Might have been the season, might be Fairbanks.
Brick oven pizza in a trailer!
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The region between Anchorage and Denali is a fairly populous part of the state. Not as crowded as the city, but not as remote as other areas.
All red berries in Alaska are poisonous to humans and loved by bears, making them doubly bad!
The middle of Denali…
Alaska public libraries are the best, proababy something to do with the long dark winters.
Lucille Lake, a very pretty spot!
One of the few actual RV parks we stayed at. Needed internet and power for a couple of days.
Cute but may be a lure?
A young bull moose
The top of Denali.
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Most days on our trip are some combination of seeing and doing things, traveling to the next place and figuring out where to go next. Occasionally we throw in a down day or so to catch up on reading and planning.
So much to see and so little time…
The Alaska railway tracks run right alongside the road stretching from Seward up to Denali.
The Turnagain Arm, south of Anchorage, was one of our favorite spots. The tidal range is about 30 feet and the tide often rushes into the narrow and shallow (initially) area forming a wave big enough for surfboards to ride.
Not far from Anchorage. Just a reminder to always be bear aware.
The Crow Creek gold mine is a restored small mining operation that still has some gold. The owners use dredges but they have some areas set aside for panning.
The master gold panner demonstrating the proper technique.
Eureka! It’s paydirt!
Actually, not recommended as a retirement plan. Hard on the knees and the back and very little return for a lot of effort. And, according to the book Klondike, by Pierre Berton, not very many of the original gold rushers had any better success.
Fascinating to see the living conditions.
Delphinium growing tall and beautiful.
A short hike from the gold mine was a small hand tram for crossing a river gorge. Small means 2 people. Hand means that’s the only source of power to cross the river. Fortunately, people on either side of the river could help so the folks riding the tram could mostly enjoy the view and take pictures.
Needs just a little work…
Kincaid Park is actually in Anchorage and is apparently a great place to see wildlife.
This moose was standing alongside the walking trail pretty much ignoring the people walking by. We were thankful to be ignored.
The worlds busiest seaplane port is adjacent to the Anchorage airport. Seaplanes come in lots of sizes shapes and colors.
Denali!
During the summer, Alyeska ski resort is turned into a downhill mountain biking area.
Put the bikes in one special car and the riders catch the next car. We didn’t go to the top, so we’re not sure how the offloading worked.
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Talkeetna, Alaska seems to have a reputation. For some, it’s a good one and they say things like cute place or fun town. Others say things like hippieville, or touristy. Either way, it was an interesting little stop.
Signage, Alaska style.
Fishing in the river alongside the jet boats. The river was too shallow for props, but jet boats were everywhere.
The day we arrived there was free concert in the park. The park wasn’t hard to find – the town was pretty much one circular street around the town park. The best thing about the concert actually was meeting several locals and spending time talking with them about the area and things to see and do.
Interesting use of an airstream trailer. We saw these folks again at the Tanana Valley state fair in Fairbanks.
Sharing a meal with great friends. Notice the short sleeves. It was a brief summer interlude.
Dog sledding is an ever-present part of Alaska. There are 2 major and lots of smaller dog sled races. The most well known is the Iditarod. The Iditarod trail headquarters is just outside Wasilla and was a great stop.
Joe Reddington Jr is the son of the man who spearheaded the effort to make the Iditarod a big annual event.
New puppies! Actually about 5 weeks old. But they were being socialized so the folks who run the kennel asked us if we would take them out and play with them. They didn’t have to ask twice!
Now we can say we hiked part of the Iditarod trail!
Phil cooking salmon and some tuna.
Sometimes the campground hosts are real characters, good for lots of stories and more than a few laughs.
The Talkeetna boat launch and campground combo.
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