Alaska Part 3 – Fairbanks to Denali National Park

The River’s Edge Resort in Fairbanks is located on the Chena River.  Fairbanks is Alaska’s largest interior city, with a population of 32,000.  Including suburbs, Fairbanks is said to be around 100,000.  We never did get to see the downtown.  There is a great museum of the north on the University of Alaska, Fairbanks campus.  Have to do that on another trip.  Urban planning was not the source of the location choice for the city.  A riverboat ran aground here in 1901 and a Captain Barnette decided to put a trading post here.  The rest is history. 

We were located near a Fred Meyer’s grocery store.  The first major store that we had seen in Alaska.  We restocked our provisions with wine and other necessities.  I was wearing one of my many Kearney, Nebraska shirts while shopping.  A fellow shopper asked if I was from Kearney.  I said yes, I now live there.   This man was a former coach at Wayne State College in Nebraska, but had been living in Fairbanks for many years.  Had a good visit and he asked me to extend a hello to some Kearney people that he knew.  Small world – note, try to wear your hometown of home state apparel while travelling; you may meet some interesting people.

A friend from South Dakota has a daughter who lives in North Pole, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks.  A lunch meet up was arranged with Laura.  Elaine and I had a nice lunch at Pike’s Landing, a restaurant favored by locals.

 Laura dropped us off at the Riverboat Discovery, where we met up with the rest of our group and enjoyed a riverboat cruise on the Cheena River right to where it meets up with the Tanana River.  I always thought that Fairbanks was on the Yukon River, but it isn’t.  The day was cloudy,  as it was most of the time we were in Alaska.  However, the rains held off and the cruise was good.  As you can see from the photos, the boat is pretty big and holds many tourists on its 3 decks.  Complementary non-alcoholic drinks and salmon pate was available.  I usually know the cost of things, but since we had a travel agent make all of the arrangements, I have no idea of the cost of all of the various things like hotels, side trips, ferry, plane trips, etc.

 

 

 Tourism is a big part of the economic life of Alaska other than the petroleum part of their economy.   The riverboat cruise was a great example of arranging events just for the tourists.   A float plane just happened to be taking off on the Chena River as we approached it.  The captain just happened to have the pilot of the plane on the on board communication system.  He touched down and took off twice, just so we could have a photo opportunity. 

 

The Binkley family owns and operates the Discovery.  The family came to the frozen north in 1898 over the Chilkoot Pass; not to search for gold, but to operate a cargo boat on the Yukon and Tanana Rivers.  Each generation has had a riverboat captain.  In the 1950s, the Binkley’s began the tourist tours with a 25 passenger riverboat, Discovery 1.  The boat we were on holds 900 passengers and is named Discovery 3.

As we moved downriver, we pass the home of Susan Butcher, the first woman to win the Iditarod sled dog race.  She went on to win 6 times.  Sadly, Susan passed away from cancer in 2006.  Her family continues her legacy by breeding and training sled dogs.

 

The Iditarod Race has a very interesting history behind it.  During a the very cold winter of 1925, an outbreak of diphtheria hit Nome Alaska, an isolated coastal village on the Bering Strait between USA and Russia.  The weather was so cold that the Arctic Ice prevented ships from reaching Nome and the fuel for airplanes turned to gel.  Remember planes had pretty primitive fueling systems back then.  The Governor arranged for a canister of serum to be brought to Nenana, Alaska, where in January, 100 sled dogs and several teams of mushers (those are the drivers of the sled) raced the serum 674 miles overland to Nome.  Thus saving many native children, who had little or no immunity to this disease.  Since 1973, the race has been run by competing teams in honor of those mushers and dogs of 1925.  Who won in 1925?  The children of Nome won.

The Discovery then paddled to the confluence of the Tanana and Cheena Rivers.  Where we turn around and begin the upstream voyage.

 

The Discovery stops for a two-hour visit at an Athabasca Indian Village, where several displays have been constructed to educate we from warmer climes how these sturdy people have survived for thousands of years without central heating and snowmobiles, which they do enjoy today.  Like the grizzly bear, much of their diet consisted of salmon and wild berries.  At each of the displays, a Alaskan native American speaks and answers questions about their particular topic.  Nearly all of them are university students at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.  They major in all the topics familiar to the lower 48.  However, they are rightly proud of their culture and heritage.  The first stop is at a display that tells how they caught and preserved salmon.  They invented a “fish wheel” that lowers a basket on a wheel, which dumps the catch into a box.  During salmon run season (about 6 months of the year), the amount caught was high enough to meet their winter needs, plus having enough for summer meals also.

 

The Athabasca did not live in igloos, as they had the forest  to provide both permanent and temporary shelters.  The permanent homes were log cabins, with animal hide serving as windows and doors.

 

The temporary shelters were used by their hunters and were made of animal hides or tree branches.  They were not meant for long term or deep winter use, obviously.  As a child in Connecticut, I had made similar shelters out of hemlock boughs in the forest behind our family home.

 

The hunters bravely hunted bears, moose, and other furry creatures plus birds, such as the ptarmigan.  Bullwinkle how you have grown.

 

In later years, they domesticated reindeer, which was used for meat, skins, tools and, of course, to pull Santa's sleigh. 

 One of the guides put on her winter clothes for us.  Toasty warm and she was sweating in no time, as it was in the 60s.  Today, these coats are valued at over $25,000 each.  They have fur from several animals in their make-up.  Each type of fur is used for a particular purpose.  Sure are pretty.

 

All-in-all, a very educational two-hours.  Back on the riverboat, we are treated to hot cider and smoked salmon.  Alcohol was available for purchase, as were cans of salmon.  We pass on the alcohol, but did purchase some of the salmon – of which we have not yet opened.  Probably will wait until Anne comes home for Christmas.

Elaine lost cell phone use after she dropped it in a toilet – not intentionally.  We later learn from many people, that if you should drop your cell phone into water, immediately dry it out as best as you can and then pack it in uncooked rice.  Sometimes this works.  I suppose it might work with other electronic items.

Early the next day, we are delivered to the Fairbanks Railroad station where we board the Alaska Railroad bound for Denali National Park, 133 miles away by rail.  I would like a return visit to Fairbanks, as we never did get to the university museum or see downtown Fairbanks.  The new Fairbanks depot opened in 2005.  Fairbanks itself is at an elevation of only 436 feet above sea level and much of the land is in permafrost.

 

The Alaska Railroad had its first rail laid in 1904.  The idea was to open up the interior to settlement by providing a reliable way in an out of the vast interior.  The line was to traverse 470 miles from near Seward to Fairbanks.  By 1912 it had changed hands and gone through 2 bankruptcies, with only 71 miles of track being laid.  After proving that there was no economic way to privately build the line, the territorial government stepped in with funding from the federal government in Washington, D.C.  Bit by bit the rails were laid and by July  15, 1923 it was finally completed.  You ask why did it take so long?  We saw only part of the terrain that it had to go through; there was permafrost, raging rivers that eroded the banks and the rails, forests to clear and mountains to blast out of the way.  By 1954, due to airplane travel, passenger service was dropped.  In 1964, the Good Friday earthquake destroyed many miles of rails between Seward and Anchorage.  The state of Alaska bought the line and its property from the U.S. government in 1985.  Since then, passenger service has resumed and today this is a very good way to see some of the scenic beauty of our 49^th state.

The railcars are modern and very comfortable.  Many of the cars have plexi-glass sides and ceilings which enable the happy tourists to glimpse the wilderness as they pass through while the railroad staff provide a narrative to let you know where you are and what you are seeing.

 

Our travel agent arranged for us to have the deluxe coach, where you get a special lapel pin, which entitles you to meals on the train.  We were entitled to breakfast in the dining car.  The car has linen table cloths, waiters and several delicious selections on its menu.  Oh, you are entitled to free beverages, including up to two alcohol drinks.  It was only morning, but our no-alcohol in the morning practice was set aside on this day.

Unfortunately, it was another rainy day, so the views were often less than spectacular.  The Mears Bridge was the last link of the railroad, completed in 1923.  President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike, which is now in the Smithsonian Institution.  The bridge itself is 702 feet long.

 As one passes through the village of Nenana (seems there are many local words that end in “-nana” – no idea what that means in local lingo) the Nenana Ice Classic tripod comes into view.  Each year a lottery is held to guess when the ice will break up on the river (lottery started in 1917).  The tower is put on the river and when it moves 100 feet downriver, the clock stops and the winner is declared.  The payoff is more than $300,000 now.  I think they said that tickets are $50 – take a chance?

 

After reaching Nenana, the train rails follow the Nenana River and its Gorge for many miles.  This photo was taken near Clear, Alaska.  Beyond the aspen forest you can see part of the detection array that made up one of the USAs early warning ballistic missile sites.  The soils here are bogs and are home of the many mosquitoes that make life in the wild less than pleasant during season.

 

Should you find yourself on the Alaska Railroad on July 4^th, keep watch when you pass through the village of Ferry at mile marker 371.  Seems the locals have a unique way of expressing their independence.  As the train passes by, the 60 or so residents of the town all drop their pants and moon the train.  Would love to see that.

Every now and then a lone house can be seen.  You have to be nearly self-sufficient for your needs during the winter months.  You can see the solar panels and windmill that provide electrical power to the home site.  The train will stop at these remote places to provide supplies and transport if the residents so arrange it.

 

Near the town of Lignite, the source of the town’s name is apparent in the cliff side, as large seams of black coal show themselves.

 

Healy is the center of the Nenana coalfield and sited here is a large coal-fired power plant.  The coal has been mined since 1916.  Hauling coal accounts for 20% of the freight revenue of the Alaska Railroad. A good portion of the coal is shipped to Japan, Korea and Chile.

 

What we see between these points of interest is forest, forest, forest and the Nenana River is always on our left side.

 

A few miles before we reach the Denali station, we observe some conglomerate rock formations near Moody.  A conglomerate is rock that has been compressed and is made up of sand, gravel and cobble stones.

 

Our elevation at the Denali Park station is 1,732 feet, about 1300 feet higher than that of Fairbanks.  All of the built up area is on private land and reflects the large influx of tourists who come to see the wonders of Denali National Park.  Especially the tall mountains and the wildlife.

 

In 1917, then President Wilson created the 2,000,000 acre Mt. McKinley National Park.  In 1980, then President Carter changed the name of the park to Denali National Park and enlarged the park by 4,000,000 acres.  Three days after we left the park President Obama changed Mt. McKinley’s name to Denali during his visit to Anchorage.  Since it was Mt. McKinley at the time of our stay, I will use that name.

Like most National Parks, the visitor centers should be your first stop in order to get a feel for the history and features to see during your stay.  Some of the features you may wish to avoid getting too close to, unless it is a sculpture, of course. Nice grizzly wizzly.

 

There was talk about the mosquitoes at several places during our time in Alaska,  but had not seen even one, except on this sign.  Apparently, they are not to be ignored.

Two nights are spent at the Denali Park Village, where our tours leave from.  I guess I forgot to take a picture of the Hotel.  It consists of ten two-storey buildings with a main restaurant and concierge.  The food is very high priced, but that’s Alaska.

What we came to see were the mountains, vegetation and wildlife.  Our travel agent has booked us on the tour bus that takes the only road into the interior of the park.  It is 92 miles long and the tour takes 12 hours, if everything goes well.  For the most part, the road is unpaved.  The knowledgeable guide provides a narration of the history of the park and explains what you are seeing as you travel along.  Whenever wildlife is spotted, the bus stops and the cameras come out.  Click, click, click.  In order not to scare the wildlife away and not to become a meal for same wildlife, we stay on the bus to do the viewing.  However, we are allowed off the bus when it is safe to do so.

The wildlife that we saw included, grizzly bears.

 

The carpets of red seen in the later photos are made up of these berry-laden bushes.  The bears especially enjoy munching on the berries, which make up a majority of their diet during the month or so when they bear fruit.  I did not get to sample these delicious looking berries out of personal safety considerations, but they do look scrumptious.

 

Moose also seem to enjoy the berries.  Only the males have antlers.  Moose can be up to 9 foot tall at their shoulders and can be very aggressive.  So avoid bears, moose and mosquitoes.

 A gentler animal and more shy than the above are the caribou.  I suppose they are here for the berries too.

 

Dall sheep are found here too.  I think they eat mainly mosses and lichens.  If you look real closely at the photo, the 2 white dots on the upper reaches of the mountain are the Dall sheep.  That’s about as close as you will get to these critters unless you  are extremely lucky.  You will have to click on the photo and enlarge it to see the dots.

 

Right on the roadside were some Alaska chickens, otherwise known as ptarmigan.  You can see that they are beginning to take on their winter color.

 

The stellar’s jay also makes its home all the way up here during the summer.  I suppose they eat the mosquitoes.  We last saw the stellar’s jay at Lake Tahoe (see slutigram on Lake Tahoe in 2014).

Besides the main visitor center, there are two along the way on this road.  Each is different and deserves a stop.  Besides, they have modern bathrooms. 

 

The day was cloudy and we had little hope of seeing Mt. McKinley, but a short period of sunshine revealed part of its north face.  Shortly thereafter, the clouds hid the mountain from view.

 

After the 92 miles on the road, we arrive at Kantishna Lodge where we enjoy lunch and a demonstration and talk on what else, dog sledding.  You can stay overnight here for only $500 per night.

 

Our bus loads us up and we begin the return trip to our lodgings.

More wildlife is seen - the scenery is awesome.

 

This is the Toklat River, a braided river pattern shows clearly in the photo.  We are many hundreds of feet above the river in this shot.  At one point we cross this river and it is quite a torrential flow of glacial melt.  The river appears grey in color, as it is carrying many tons of ground up stone.

 

Our driver receives some disconcerting news, it seems that the rain has caused a landslide which was blocking the road ahead of us.  No word on how bad the slide was or when the road would re-open.  The bus pulled into a rest area where one of the national park rangers entertained us with stories of his encounters with grizzly bears in the park.  He is a young guy and likes to hike and camp in remote areas of the park.  The stories were good and kept our minds off of the road problem.

After a couple of hours, the ranger advises us that the road is now open.  Back on the bus we approach the landslide area and are informed that the road is again blocked.  Eventually the slide is cleared so that one very narrow lane is open and we are able to get back to the lodge several hours later than planned.

The next day, we board a bus to Anchorage, where we have a goodbye meal with our fellow travelers and then onto our flight home.  Hope you enjoyed this tour of part of our 49th State.