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.