August 1-3, 2006 (Days 69-71)

Tuesday:
We got up this morning around 6:30 a.m. to get ready for our departure on the Arctic Circle trip. We were ready by 11:15 a.m. and walked up to the campground entrance to wait on the bus. A bus came and took a group of 21 of our caravan to the airport to board planes to Coldfoot, AK. We were broken into three groups for three airplanes. We were with just one other couple on a Cessna 7-passenger, plus pilot and co-pilot. Seating was very cozy. We just had a pilot; he has been flying for 50 years.

We were lucky, because this day when we went was the first that the sun was shining. The other groups rode up in rain. I thought our flight was rough. It was an hour and ten minutes long. I have never been air sick before, but about fifteen minutes before landing I got nauseated and thought I was going to lose it. Luckily, while I was breathing in the barf bag, the nausea went away and when we landed at 2:30 p.m., I was okay. The runway was made of gravel. Coldfoot is about 270 miles north of Fairbanks, and 60 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

At that point we boarded a bus (with the other two groups that had been on the other two planes) and started our return trip south. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center and a couple scenic look outs before getting to the 45th parallel where the Arctic Circle is located. I expected snow on the ground and for it to be very cold. All my expectations were not realized. It was around 60 degrees and no snow. In fact, it looked like many other parts of Alaska: grass, flowers, green trees. We had our pictures taken by the Arctic Circle marker, as did all the others. As we traveled on, there was nothing; no towns, no houses, no businesses, nothing. This went on for 125 miles.

We had a good tour guide. He also drove the bus and narrated all the way. We stopped once at the Alaska pipeline. It is built all along the road, the Dalton Highway. The road was gravel and very rough. At times we wondered what held the bus together as the windows rattled so bad. The driver drove fast and we bounced all over the road. The only traffic we passed was 18-wheelers carrying gas and supplies to the northland. The total time for this trip was over ten hours.

We arrived at a truck stop by the Yukon River which was built halfway between Deadhorse and Fairbanks during the construction of the Alaska Pipeline. There, dinners were awaiting us that we had ordered that morning, then were faxed to the truck stop. My dinner was fresh halibut on a bed of rosoto and a fresh vegetable medley. Dan had ordered a hamburger and fries.

By the edge of the Yukon River at the truck stop was a tent and a couple young women who were selling jewelry and boxes and decorations that they and their mother had made from willow bark. They lived down river and had paddled a canoe 4 ½ miles up river to set up their tent and sell their goods to the bus loads of tourists that stopped there. (I believe ours was the fourth that day). These women and their family live off the land and travel by canoe on the river. They had pictures of their home that they had built and the ice floes from last winter that almost destroyed their home. They had a very interesting story. It is unbelievable how some of these people live in the northland.

Back on the bus and on the rough, gravel road to continue our trip. At one spot we stopped and walked on the tundra. The tundra is made up of mosses and a sponge-like material that is bouncy when you walk on it. Only a few inches down is perma-frost. This has evolved from the ground staying frozen for two years or more. It forms a seal that prevents the ground from draining during the warmer months, causing boggy terrain known as muskeg.

At 10 p.m. we stopped at Joy, Alaska, which is an old mining camp. One family with 8 adopted children run the camp. It has a tourist gift shop and the bathrooms are outhouses decorated with pictures on the walls and oak wooden toilet seats. Quite a place. There we were served chocolate bundt cake with whipped cream on top. Dan bought a shirt that says, “I Crossed the Arctic Circle”.

Back on the bus for the rest of the way back to Fairbanks. There were TV screens on the bus, and we were shown one movie, “Bear”, and three short documentaries on the Pipeline, Native Culture, and Gold Panning. We spotted moose two different times. The driver saw a Linx. Remember, it was still light at midnight.

Our bus returned us to the campground at 12;30 a.m. We sure were tired.

Wednesday:
It felt good to sleep in. We got our breakfast and left to do some shopping, then met up with the Kolley’s and Ed. Together, we toured a Pioneer Village, an animal farm with Muskox, Caribou and reindeer, and the campus of the University of Alaska. Then we went to a salmon bake which was quite an experience. We bought a plate, then could eat as much of anything we wanted. This was all outdoors, except a dining hall where we could eat under cover. There were areas for salads, desserts, and drinks. Then they had an outdoor cooking pit where they were grilling salmon, halibut, cod and prime rib. We feasted.

Thursday:
We got up early to be ready for a full day of activities. We went to the river where we boarded a sternwheeler boat for a three-hour tour of the river. We passed a local’s home on the river bank where she demonstrated cleaning salmon and hanging it to dry. This is how the locals prepare salmon to feed themselves through the winter. Another was watching a seaplane (called float planes) take off and land beside the boat on the river. We also spent an hour in a Chena Indian Village. They are one of the “Tribes” of native Americans in the state called Athabascan. There were several beautiful houses along the river.

After the river boat ride, we had time for lunch and stopped at a combination KFC and A&W. There are several fast food restaurants here, as well as expensive restaurants. We went in one for dinner one night, and after seeing the menus featuring dinners from $28-$32 and up, we walked out.

Our second activity of the day was a ride on a train to a gold mine, with demonstrations on panning for gold. Then we were each given bags of “pay dirt” that we could “pan”. Dan and I both got gold. When we had it weighed, it weighed 13 grams. It was not a lot, but enough to make some jewelry. It was fun.

After a light dinner from a deli in a grocery, we came back to the campground and went to a driver’s meeting for our travels tomorrow.

It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day today. Temp got up to 81 degrees. We had a great day. After three weeks, we have done so much. Half our trip is still before us, and we wonder what lays in store for us. Till later….