Saturday, August 31, 2019
Healy to Fairbanks
This morning I turned on the TV for the first and only time of the trip and found a cartoon on the local PBS called “Molly of Denali,” depicting the adventures of a 10-year-old Alaska Native and her friends and dog. It was cute, and I assumed it was local programming, until I got home and found it showing on East Tennessee PBS as well!
Two nights ago, we saw the movie replica of Chris McCandless's “magic bus” in front of the 49th State Brewery. This morning, we drove the first five miles of Stampede Road, to the approximate location where he exited his last hitched ride and walked into the wilderness. It wasn't safe to proceed any further, so we returned to the George Parks Highway and headed north toward Fairbanks.
Well, this is different...
At mile 276 we stopped at the Tatlanika Trading Center gift shop and campground for free coffee, sights, and treasures. I'd read they had a stuffed polar bear, but there were dozens of other animal mounts as well.
Great pit stop on the George Parks Highway
Lynx
Polar bear
I bought a key ring at the gift shop that says “Jana.” I've been looking in tourist shops for a doodad with my name on it for as long as I could read! Finally, I came to the right place! (Thanks for nothing, Stuckey's.) Awesome little store.
Just what I always wanted
Tatlanika totem pole
Sourdough Tom
Unrealistic on my part, I suppose, but I thought Alaska would be like one big wildlife park, and we'd see animals everywhere, but even in Denali National Park, it took hours just to spot a ptarmagin. I was a little disillusioned, until this afternoon when we came upon a great big moose right on the side of the George Parks Highway! It was so close that when I stopped the car, I was compelled to pull over on the opposite shoulder of the road so not to crowd it. Yes!
Roadside moose
A few miles past the moose sighting, we stopped at the little town of Nenana, home to the Nenana Ice Classic, an annual betting pool where participants attempt to guess the exact date and time that the winter ice will break up on the Tanana River. For this event, a tripod is set on the ice with a wire strung from the top of the tripod to a clock on shore. When the river ice breaks up, the tripod will tilt, tripping the clock, which marks the official breakup time.
An Alaskan tradition
Tanana River (as seen on "Life Below Zero")
Bridge over the Tanana River
Redneck railroad car
At the midpoint between Nenana and Fairbanks is the hysterically named Skinny Dick's Halfway Inn, a world-famous Alaskan roadhouse and gift shop. Awesome! Naturally, we had to stop.
No caption necessary
A picture is worth a thousand words
It was early enough when we reached Fairbanks that we bypassed town for the moment and headed to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Visitor Center in Fox, Alaska, at Steese Highway mile 8.
The Alaskan pipeline runs 800 miles, from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to the United States' northern-most ice-free port in Valdez, crossing three mountain ranges and more than 500 rivers and streams along the way. Tens of thousands of people worked on the pipeline during its construction from 1974 to 1977, and new techniques had to be developed to deal with problems caused by the permafrost. However you feel about the environmental impact of the thing, it is a marvel of engineering.
About the Alaskan Pipeline
Trans-Alaska Pipeline
Further up the Steese Highway, at mile 28.6, a short trail leads to an old gold dredge that operated from the 1920s to 1962. It is enormous! If you watch the TV show “Gold Rush,” this thing makes Tony Beets's dredges look puny. On this beautiful fall day, the view of the autumn leaves reflected in the tailings pond was gorgeous. We never would have found this without our “Milepost” book, a must-have resource for any road trip in Alaska.
Attractive tailings pond
Gold Dredge No. 3
Tom exploring
Another fine fall day in Alaska
Around 6:00 we checked in to the Borealis Inn on Airport Way in Fairbanks. It's an older hotel with zero curb appeal, but it definitely grew on me, and I'd stay there again. No breakfast, but there was a fridge in the room and a microwave and coffee maker in the hall. It's a small place, with only eight rooms, all with private baths.
We purchased some necessities at Brown Jug Liquor, perhaps the largest liquor store I've ever seen, then enjoyed an excellent Mexican dinner at Gallo's Sports Bar and Cantina, after which we drove downtown to the lively Lavelle's Tap House for a local brew. Fun Saturday night, but it wasn't over by a longshot!
When we returned to the Borealis Inn, the proprietor informed us that the aurora borealis forecast was really good for tonight and told us three good, especially dark places not far out of town to go for the best viewing. He was very enthusiastic! So we went upstairs and started putting on layers, and before we were done, he called the room and told us the lights were visible right now from the parking lot! This was well after 11:00 p.m., and it was just starting to get really dark. We ran outside and could see just a little aurora activity, then we grabbed the car keys and headed outside of town.
We only had to drive a few miles, back to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Visitor Center in Fox, to find a really dark place to park and observe. We got there shortly before midnight and stayed past 1:30 a.m. It was about 45 degrees outside. We'd stand outside till we got chilled, then go warm up in the car, and repeat. The northern lights were SPECTACULAR! We saw every color of the rainbow dancing across the sky. We'd seen the aurora borealis before, on our visit to Iceland, but nothing like this. The pictures don't do it justice, but I took plenty of them anyway. It was incredible! Even the locals told us we saw them on a really good night.
Aurora borealis
A/k/a the northern lights
Amazing!
Tom
Goetz's Homepage
|