Day 16 - Jun 29 -Chena Hot Springs

Today we left early for Chena Hot Springs - a somewhat local trip to a day spa. Chena has several attractions, including hot mineral baths, reindeer, camping sites, hotel rooms, massages, a restaurant, horseback riding, and other attractions located about 50 miles NE of Fairbanks. The ride there was along a beautiful, forested highway, and included numerous river/creek/stream crossings. All was very picturesque and awe-inspiring leading up to the facility. Along the way, we saw and photographed several moose in streams having breakfast. When we arrived at the hot springs, we drove around the site getting the lay of the land, and at one point we came car-to-muzzle with a young bull moose. I quickly snapped his portrait as he ambled into the woods. 

We did not partake of any activities at the hot springs, but did walk the grounds. It's a fully self-contained facility, generating their own electricity, water, and growing all the vegetation and florals that make their place so beautiful. The young people working there are hired for the summer and reside on site for the duration of their hire. 

Our return trip was mildly eventful. Not one to pass up the opportunity to look for wildlife, Keith decided to take a side-trip down a mostly-unused dirt road. Pot holes, ditches, rocks and dust were in abundance. The forested area he picked  had burned a year or so earlier, so the larger vegetation was charred. The undergrowth was green and brown. We traveled at less than a snails pace because Einstein sits so low to the ground he bottomed-out periodically. So, guess who got elected to move rocks and logs from the road, as necessary. What seemed like forever was only  0.7 mile ride in and out. And on the way out we met a truck coming in. The road was only big enough for Einstein!. The other driver politely pulled off the road and let us pass. (He and his family were going to their cabin six miles in on this unbelievable road!)

Sadly, as we approached Fairbanks, the smoke from the now 115 fires throughout the state had settled thickly over the city and surrounding hills, obliterating the mountains, and irritating eyes and throats. Apparently this is no big deal for the locals. They don't even report it on the news. And, it's almost impossible to find it on the intranet. We considered passing up Denali, because of the smoke in the area down there, but have decided to give it another day. Perhaps the winds will pick up overnight, or maybe it'll rain, which will help dissipate the smoke. If it's as smoky in Denali as it is here, there will be no seeing Mt. McKinley or most of the McKinley range because we can't see any mountains in Fairbanks. Heck, we can't even see down the road very far.

Pray for rain to put out the fires. 

Day 15 - Jun 28 - Fairbanks

Today we started out with a visit to the Diocese of Fairbanks. Keith had been in contact with them before we left MI, and had always intended on meeting the ladies he's spoke with on the phone. What a delightful group. They presented us with additional pins to commemorate our trip, and spent a long time checking out Einstein and listening too about our travels. 

Tom & Chris @ Alyeska Tire

After we left the diocese, our itinerary for the balance of the day was abruptly revised to include a trip to the auto shop to have the front tires flipped. The wear on one of the tires was significant enough that Keith decided to have both fronts taken off and turned over. The mechanics, Keith, and a call to Brent, concurred that it was probably something to do with towing and that there is no adjustment on the Smart car for the cause of the problem. So we'll add more air to the tires and try to compensate for the difficulty. All of this took 3 hours out of our day. Not a great loss; I got a lot of reading done.

36,000 yr old Muskox

After the car was "fixed", we headed to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to visit the art museum on campus. It's more of a natural history museum with lots of artifacts, but also includes fine art as well … all related to Alaska's history. Points of interest are the petrified remains of an entire 36,000 year old baby muskox killed by an American lion. Very fascinating. There were mastodon &  mammoth bones, as well. All discovered in AK. There was a large collection of various Indian tribes' daily utensils, religious artifacts, modes of dress, etc. from the late 1600's, and plenty of artifacts from the gold rush era as well. Of course, there was also plenty of modern-day art, both realistic and abstract styles. Altho we only had a few hours to see it all, it was very much worth the time.

I'm bringing this one home . . .

"Modern" Indian quilting

Again, for the you quilters - the UAF museum had an example of Indian quilting, which is included for your viewing pleasure and inspiration. It is only a small section of the entire quilt. I enjoyed this piece because it's different from most other items made by the Indians. 

And, there was some scrimshaw work that was incredibly beautiful, both large and miniature pieces. These pieces are done on whale ivory as well as animal antlers. The carving materials are all "found" items. There were carved masks made of whale bone which is very porous and lightweight, almost like a bird's bone. Oh so delicate.

Tomorrow we are planning a drive up the Chena River, maybe all the way to the Chena Hot Springs. We'll see.

Day 14 - Jun 27

We had a lovely morning in the campground at North Pole AK swatting 10,000 mosquitos. (Keith's six cans of bug spray are a blessing.) The surrounding area is densely forested with birch and poplar trees, and an undergrowth solid with ferns. But, no animals.

Then, as promised, we delivered letters to Santa's Workshop - a miniature Bronner's. We had a lot of fun looking at holiday decorations that you don't see in the lower 48. Keith even sat on Santa's lap for a picture.  Ho Ho Ho. (So did Chris.) From there we moved on to Fairbanks and are currently camped at the Chena River RV Park for the next two days. 

The fires are still very evident - lots of haze and smoke smell. But this afternoon the skies cleared somewhat and we could see that there are mountains in the far distance. So we surmise that Fairbanks sits in a large valley. We've heard that there are detours, currently, on the way to Denali because of the fires. We'll be in Fairbanks, however, until July 1st when we have reservations at Denali. Hopefully, the fires will be contained by then.

We've also spoken to a fellow camper who came from Denali, and he said all the animals had taken to the hills because it's too hot (because of the weather, not the fires) to be down where visitors can see them. Some of the 8 and 12 hour bus tours saw no animals at all. (Pray for animal viewings. Thanks)

Mid-morning we found our way to the Visitors' Information Bureau in Fairbanks and took pictures of the largest antler arch in the world (?). It consists of caribou, elk, and moose antlers collected for a number of years from all over Alaska. Most impressive.

For you quilters, we saw a Athabascan Indian quilt of Alaskan scenes. Absolutely impressive. It was to be raffled off. Thought you'd enjoy seeing a section of it. The background quilting has many items worked in:

a bear head, flowers, trees, fish, etc. It is all machine quilted, and intricately detailed.

We were going to look up an Indian craft shop that sells muskox yarn. We drove around downtown Fairbanks for about 30 minutes trying to locate 6th Avenue @ H Street. Finally, we called the shop and, very embarrassed, discovered it's in Anchorage. We had a great laugh with the proprietor. 

This afternoon we visited to the botanical gardens at the Univ of Alaska Fairbanks. We had a pleasant walk among the flowers and trees, testing our knowledge of the various species. UAF has been running scientific experiments on all kinds of plants to find the most hearty to survive the winter in Alaska's interior. They've been doing this since 1979. It's interesting to know that even cross-breading some of the hardiest species does not make them tolerant of the climate up here. They might get a heartier plant but the fruit (like berries on bushes) are not as big or sweet as the originals which aren't tolerant of the climate. The gardens, however, were many and beautiful to look at.

Tomorrow we plan a visit to the UAF Museum of Art, which has a large exhibit of Indian artifacts and art from the area and some petrified 35,000 year old animals retrieved from the frozen tundra. Looking forward to it.

DAY 13 - Jun 26:  ALASKA - HERE WE ARE !!

Another example of Canadian  permafrost. When we
reached Alaska, we could drive 65 mph instead of 35.

The roads are so much better here than in Michigan. You couldn't get much more freezing, thawing, and extreme condition than here, and yet the roads are in great shape. Permafrost is still an issue, but we've been told that the roads will continue to improve the further we go. What's been a delight is the way that Einstein handles even the most challenging mountainous terrains. There's been plenty of long ascents (6% grade or better), and equally long descents; twisting, winding roadways. No matter the course, Einstein forges ahead with no complaints. As long as we feed him periodically. And even the tires are fairing well.

We discovered why Larry Rejniak's friend gave us octane boost for our gas. After Whitecourt AB there is virtually no premium gasoline available at all. Fortunately, Larry, we had your friend's gift and have been able to continue our trip with ease. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Not exactly a "friend", but certainly a part
of our travels. And, they seem to be larger
in Alaska.

There are "comrades-in-travel" that we see at least once a day, and others who must be on our same refueling schedule. There's lots of "how ya doin'", "good to see you again", and almost always a "be safe".  We met a couple from Grand Rapids today, Dusty & has wife, who have volunteered for a couple weeks each summer at a different Alaska fish and game site for the last 13 years. Today we met them at the Tetlin Wild Bird Refuge. (Rhonda, you gotta see this one. Enough said!) Many bird species that were near to extinction, like the Trumpeter Swans, have been rejuvenated and can be observed on their migratory flights to and from Western Alaska and Russia, due to the efforts of about 1000+ Important Bird Areas (IBA's) worldwide.

We touched our first moose hide, cross fox, beaver, wolverine, and wolf hides at the refuge center. And we made animal tracks in sand - wolf, lynx, bear, human, buffalo. The Athabasca Indians had several of their crafts displayed, including double needle beading. I got the instructions; we'll see if I can make something .

When we emerged from the car at Tetlin we could smell smoke, and the distant mountains were shrouded in haze. Turns out there was a wildfire about 15 mile south of the bird refuge visitor's center. When we left the center we drove through about five miles of haze and the smoky air before we got beyond it. But by the time we reached Delta Junction the air was polluted again and the mountains could not be seen. We washed Einstein in a self-service car wash (the diesel truck bay) and a local cop stopped by to wash his vehicle as well. We talked about the fires and he said there were 90+ fires in the vicinity. Because of the winds, the entire area was choked with haze. 

This evening we are camped at the Cheny River Recreation Area, North Pole, Alaska in a densely forested birch and poplar campsite, where you can't see more than about 20 feet into the woods. We were told bears are not a problem, but there are moose in the area. Tonight (after dark, ha ha) we're going spotting for wildlife since we haven't seen any in two days. Dark, however, doesn't happen here this time of year. It does, however, get dusky around 4 AM. We're going out long before that. And, I, for one, plan to be asleep at 4 AM.

Cotton from the cottonwood trees. They are larger
in Alaska, too, and the shed from the trees is all over.

DAY 12: 

Yesterday we met  several nice folks at the Whitehorse campground: two retired ladies from Michigan, one of whom was moving to Alaska and they were towing a 20' RV trailer; a man who was leading a caravan of 24 RV's heading for Alaska; and several others we had met earlier in the week. All wanted pictures of the car and to know our story.

Another animal sign.

Today we hit the road early (9AM - early for us) and expected to see lots of animals as we were led to believe this section of the highway from Whitehorse to Laird River were abundant with type and variety; however, it was not to be. Even the ravens that we've continually seen on the road the last several days were all absent. The actual traveling was really desolate. There were times along the way we were the only vehicle on the road for hours.

There were other things that held our attention along the way (besides seeing animals). The wildflowers along the roadside were a continual display of variety and abundance as they changed from intermittent purple clusters to long meadow-like expanses of the same flower.

Later, the purple transitioned to soft, light blue , and then yellow and white wildflowers growing in the sand.  

 The scenery was magnificent. It held our attention because it changed over the day from deep pine and cedar forest, snow covered mountains, relatively smooth roads, and stunning lakes and rivers to sparse, almost desert like sandy soil expanses. The Rockies, however, were the constant backdrop. 

The adventure (read "test") of the day was the road. Permafrost is a condition where the earth remains frozen about 2-3 feet below the surface year-around; it happens in those more northern locales like the Yukon and Alaska, and areas at that same latitude. One of the side-effects of this freezing is that the paved roads buckle, creating a bulge or a sinkhole in the asphalt. To drive over it is like riding in an old wooden roller coaster at a break-neck speed. (Oh, not a Keith was driving that fast.) When we first came upon the permafrost road it was a jolting experience, but Keith readily adjusted to reading the terrain and dodging the potholes and heaving road. However, after 100 miles of dodging and jostling, our backs and necks began to feel like we'd been driving in a monster truck rally. 

Bed will be more than welcome tonight. In the morning, we will cross the Alaska border, if all goes well. 

DAYS 9-11 - What can I say. There's only so many places the internet and cell phones reach, and the Rockies of upper BC and the Yukon are not included. Wasn't expecting to be incommunicado, so we couldn't warn you. Anyway, we've make it to Teslin, YK and I'll let the pictures from the last three days tell the story:

At the start of the Alaska Highway, Dawson Creek BC

Campsite at Pink Mountain BC - edge of a cedar forest. First night Keith took his shotgun to bed. It just looked too
much like bear country for his nerves.

The days have been filled with
spectacular vistas,

each more striking than the last.

And the upper ranges with snow.

Flowing, brilliant streams. 

   

and raging white-water,

Placid lakes

Signs of wildlife, everywhere . . .

Look what we found on the side of the road.

I couldn't talk Keith into bringing it home. 

 And, last but not least, we hung the White Lake Twp sign in Watson Lake.