Fairbanks, Alaska to Denali National Park

August 9, 2013

Mike and I were excited to start the journey to Denali.  This was the primary thing we wanted to see on our trip.  We left Fairbanks early aboard the McKinley Explorer Chena rail car.  We ate a late breakfast while on the train, which was an okay breakfast, but nothing special. By the time we were served they had run out of many things.  The train car was a domed car with the dining room on the bottom and the passenger seats above.  We had very good views of the trip.  The only bad part of the trip was the Hispanic group that was in the same car with us.  They were loud and rude and Mike and I were in the seats just in front of them.  They needed to learn to use their "indoor" voices as we say in school.

Random views from the train

More random views

Nenana River.  Gray from glacial silt

McKinley Explorer Train

Another view of the train

Nenana Canyon

Rafters on the Nenana River

Another view of the river

Bridge we will be crossing

McKinley Chalet village where we stayed for 2 nights

Overall this trip was very scenic and enjoyable.  Now we are ready to see the sights of Denali.

Fairbanks, Alaska

August 8, 2013

Today we journeyed from Tok, Alaska to Fairbanks, Alaska.  Fairbanks is a fairly large city with both an Air Force base and an Army base.  It grew to a large city during WWII because supplies for the lend lease program with Russia could be transported through there.

The primary road we traveled between Tok and Fairbanks was the Alaska Highway which was built quickly at the beginning of WWII. On the way to Fairbanks we stopped at Rika's Roadhouse.  In previous years, roadhouses were built along the roads so that travelers had somewhere to stop for the night and for food.  Rika's Roadhouse was one of the larger ones and is now a historical place to stop.  While there we were able to view the Alaskan Pipeline.

River next to Rika's Roadhouse

Rika's Roadhouse

Section of the Alaska Pipeline

We got to Fairbanks about noon and ate a Miner's stew for lunch at Steamboat Landing before cruising down the Chena River aboard the Riverboat Discovery.  While on the riverboat we saw a demonstration of a float plane landing and taking off, Susan Butcher and Dave Monsen's sled dog kennel, traditional fish cutting, and stopped at a traditional Athabaskan village.  At the village young Native people gave tours explaining about their lives now and in the past.  This was a village set up for educational purposes and was very interesting.

Mike with some of our tour group on the riverboat.

Float plane taking off

Old, abandoned riverboat

Sled dog demonstration

Athabaskan fish wheel

After the riverboat ride we were transported to our hotel - The Pike's Landing.  This is by far the best hotel we have stayed in since leaving Vancouver.  We even had a view of the Chena River from our balcony.  

View of river from our balcony.

Overall, we enjoyed our short time in Fairbanks.  However, I would not plan a trip to Fairbanks.  There is not much there other than the cruise we did on the river.  So tomorrow, trip to Denali.

Dawson City, Yukon Territory to Tok, Alaska

August 7, 2013

At noon today we left Dawson City on a tour bus to travel to Tok, Alaska by way of the "Top of the World" highway.  This day's journey started when our big tour bus was driven on to the ferry to cross the Yukon River.  Our driver was a 26 year old, looked like 16 year old, female who was a very, very good driver and guide for this part of our trip. The highway is a dirt road because the permafrost breaks down making the pavement come apart.  A dirt road is easier to maintain at these latitudes and elevations than a paved road.  At some points in the mountains it is barely wide enough for two tour buses to pass. While on this road we saw our first caribou, 10 in all.  I also saw a couple of female moose by the road.  It was on this day that our fellow tour persons decided that Mike and I were the wildlife spotters.

View out of the bus window while on the ferry.

View from the Top of the World Highway

There are caribou in the picture, they are just really small.

US Customs - the furthest north US customs.  Two people
live here at a time.

Close up of the customs house

First view of Alaska on the highway

Picture of our tour group with tour director Amanda (left)
and driver April (right) in the center of the picture

This section of the road was very pretty.  We have been told that Holland America is not doing this particular tour next year, because of the many times during tour season that the road had to be closed.  It's a shame because this was one of our favorite traveling days.

Old miner's cabin

Small gold mining business

Large gold mining business

 Two different gold mining businesses on the same stream.  The small business actually did more damage to the stream because the large business had a pool to catch the silt.  The stream below the small one was muddy for miles and the stream below the large one was hardly muddy even just below the mine.

Stream by the road.

Chicken, Alaska 

 Chicken, Alaska - Got its name because the residents wanted to name the town after the Alaskan state bird and they couldn't spell ptarmigan.  Everything in the town which is for sale has some type of chicken theme.

View from the bus while on the road.

This day was very interesting.  It was nice except when we stopped in Chicken where it was pouring rain.  Tok, Alaska where we spent the night is such a small town that I didn't even take any pictures of the place.  It is primarily a stopping place when people travel the road we were on today.

Dawson City, Yukon Territory

August 5 and 6, 2013

On Monday we traveled from Whitehorse to Dawson City where we spent two nights. It was nice to get a break from the traveling.  Dawson City was the site of the gold discovery that caused the Klondike Gold Rush.  Once again we stayed in a Westmark Motel.  All of them are very similar.  Nothing special, but clean and adequate.  We enjoyed our short stay in Dawson City.  We explored the town, which is made of many historical buildings managed by the Canadian National Park system.  You could go into the buildings and a guide would tell you about the history of the place.  Very interesting.  We also took a three mile hike on the dike by the Yukon River and the Ninth Avenue Trail system above the town.  We saw lots of pretty plants but no wildlife.

Five Fingers Rapids on the Yukon River.

By the Yukon where we stopped for lunch.

Yukon River lunch stop.

Sunset our first night there.  Sun is red because of a forest fire which is just over the mountain.

View of Dawson City

Tilted buildings.  Early buildings were built on the ground and the
heat from the home would melt the permafrost causing the
buildings to tilt.

Old newspaper building

Where the Klondike River and Yukon River meet

View of town from the Ninth Avenue Trail

Moosehide Slide on the mountain
above town

A Presbyterian Church built in 1890's.  It is closed because
of the tilt of the buildings

Old business building

The ferry that takes vehicles across the Yukon River.  This is
the only way to cross the river to get to Alaska.

Before leaving Dawson City on Wednesday, we rode the paddle wheeler down the river to the town of Moosehide that is still used occassionally by the native people of the area.  We saw an area where old sternwheelers were abandoned after the gold rush was over and then traveled up the river to the point where the Klondike and Yukon Rivers run together.

Ship Graveyard with one of the abandoned boats

The community of Moosehide

Mike on the paddlewheeler enjoying the view

View from the boat

Mary at the front of the boat.  It was
cold and windy, but worth the view.

Where the two rivers mix.  The Klondike is the clearer one
and the Yukon is the gray, silty one.

View of Dawson City from the boat.

Overall, Dawson City was one of the most interesting places we visited.  It still relies on mining as its main source of money with tourism coming in second.  It is not as much a tourist town as the other couple of places we have stayed since leaving Vancouver.  The town is an authentic old town still occupied by local miners and others making money from something other than tourists.  It was a very interesting place to visit.