Smoke On The Water

Fairbanks

We’ve enjoyed Fairbanks, but I have to confess that the two reasons we are still in town are that (A. Forest fires have blocked both routes south (leaving open only the Dalton Highway which goes north to the Artic Ocean) and (B. We are really tired of traveling.  So we’ve enjoyed a week off, and got to see more of the “Alaskan Interior,” than most tourists.

Thursday we visited Fairbanks Pioneer Park, where they have a collection of museums and shops.  But they were repaving the place and most shops were closed.  

We also checked out the airport where more planes have floats than wheels.  Which is ok, since the middle runway is paved with water.

Chena River and Hot Springs

Friday we drove out 60 miles along the Chena River (pronounced Chee-nah) to Chena Hot Springs.  The hot springs has some interesting features, including a building that is kept below freezing temperatures to house a collection of ice sculptures and a very chilly bar.  The bar offers martinis served in glasses made from ice.  You are encouraged to take them home with you, but they melt in about 30 minutes. The Hot Springs itself has a nice outdoor pond with 100-degree water and lots of mosquitoes. We decided very hot water didn’t sound as good on a 90-degree day as it might have during winter.

We had lunch in their main lodge, and then ran into a bull moose eating a TREE between the buildings of the lodge. Heading back towards Fairbanks along the river we also saw two other moose and a pair of meese (baby moose) in a slough by the road.

We found some interesting gravel bars along the stream that seemed perfect for fishing (no  trees behind you to grab your backcast), but the swarms of mosquitoes didn’t make fishing sound like such a good idea.  We finally found a nice site where the mosquitoes were not quite so bad, so I got out my fly rod and tried fishing for the famous Artic Graylings that inhabit this stream.

Using barbless-hook flies I had tied myself, I managed a number or bites and one good hook-up. But I never managed to bring a fish to shore.  I think they were spitting the fly out.  But trying to set the hook quickly didn’t work either. I need some lessons. 

Finally, about seven RVs showed up and asked us to move the Jeep so they could line  the entire gravel bar along the river.  Then they disgorged a flock of kids who began a contest to see who could throw the most rocks into the water.  The fish moved out even quicker we did.

Riverboat Discovery III

Saturday we took the Discovery Riverboat for a smoky trip down the Chena River to the Tanana.  Does that name sound familiar?  Tanana? If you are a music fan and love Paul Simon’s Graceland album there is a line that goes, “Tanana, Tanana, She has diamonds on the soles of her shoes.”  Probably not the same Tanana, but the song runs through my mind ever time I see the name on signs.

The boat leaves at 2:00 pm but we were told to be there an hour early.  That must be because they have the world’s biggest gift shop and you need at least an hour to see it.  Or two. This photo shows a small part of it.

We bought about 10 shirts.  No kidding.  They had nice shirts and hats at reasonable prices.  And I got a photo made with Lance Mackey, who won the famous Iditarod dogsled races in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. That’s an 1100-mile race from Anchorage to Nome.  Dogsledding is sort of like ATVing, but it runs on fish instead of gas.  And they do it in winter when it is really cold.  Lance also won the Yukon Quest 1000-mile race four consecutive years.  That is a lot of mushing.  His dogs helped a lot.  I met one of them.  Amp was there to join in the photos and bark at anyone who walked by with an ice cream cone. No kidding.  This dog alerts on ice cream! The border patrol needs Amp’s help to stop ice cream smuggling across the border in southern Arizona. That's me, Lance and Amp below. He's the one in the fur coat.

There was an actual boat trip, too.  Discovery 3 is a big paddle wheeler, captained by the great-grandson of one of the first riverboat captains in Alaska.  It’s still a family business.

As we started off down the smoke-filled river—the same one I’d fished the day before—they had a 1951 Piper Super Cub on floats do a takeoff from the river just ahead and circle the boat before landing.  He made it look easy.  It isn’t. And the smoke made it even harder.

Then we pulled up alongside a dog training facility where they had hooked up a team of dogs to an ATV (I told you earlier it was like ATVing). They had this quad tied down to start with, and the dogs were going crazy trying to pull it (below left).  When they finally cut the ATV loose, the dogs took off like a dragster.  I didn’t know an ATV could go that fast.  Especially with the engine off.

We continued all the way downriver to where the clear Chena meets the muddy Tanana.  This riverboat doesn’t go further because the ever-changing Tanana is too muddy to see sandbars or other underwater obstacles.  Heading back upstream we stopped at a replica of an Athabascan village.  There we trooped ashore to learn about the Indian culture. 

It seems there are two separate periods, before Europeans, and after the tribes met Europeans. At that point, we were told, they went from living in skin huts and following herds of caribou, to building log cabins and raising domestic caribou--called reindeer. But lots of their original culture has continued.  We saw beautiful coats and other clothing made in villages north of here.  The young ladies doing the demos are students who left their home villages to attend the university here (below right).

On the way back the “commentator” on the boat PA system pointed out a home along the riverbank that he said represented the ultimate measure of success for interior Alaskans.  The house wasn’t as opulent as some we’d already passed. But in these parts, he said, success is measured by the number and quality of your toys.  He pointed out the nice log home had two trucks plus a dock with a Cessna on floats, a speedboat, Zodiac, several smaller boats.  Ah.  My kind of people.  I hope the owner had a nice gun collection inside.

Then we cruised on back to the dock.  Total distance, maybe two miles each way.  But it was a lot of fun for a touristy thing. 

Fires permitting, we will head south Monday to Denali National Park and Mt. McKinley. We have friends there already and they report the smoke won't let you see the mountain.  That reminds us of last summer in the Tetons.

Stay tuned.

John and Marsha

PS: In the last blog edition I said the Fireweed was the state flower.  I apologize to the entire state of Alaska.  It turns out that the Forget-Me-Not is the state flower. I forgot it.

(all photos copyright 2013 John B. Taylor)