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Fairbanks, Alaska

Getting off the train in Fairbanks was a little like getting on at Denali — out in the middle of nowhere, some industrial area, no platform. Step off and get on a comfortable bus for the ride to the hotel. The hotel was nice and had a good dining room. The next day's activities were starting early. Some were saying that they thought on a vacation one was to take it easy, sleep in and relax. Not so on these tours. Our tour on the morning of this day to Denali National Park started with a 6:45 a.m. bus loading. Now we are in Fairbanks and tomorrow we board the bus at 7:30 a.m. Our bus trip took us to the riverboat Discovery III which took us on a tour of the Chena and Tanana Rivers. There are some very nice houses along the Chena River.

On this excursion, we made a brief stop at the house of Susan Butcher, four time winner of the Iditarod dog sled race. She gave a talk about her experiences as a racer and resident of Alaska. Her dogs were out and never seemed to stop running around in the yard. A bit farther down the river, we stopped to get a close look at a couple of raindeer. Near the turn around, we stopped and heard a short talk made by Dixie Alexander on the importance of salmon to the Alaskan natives, particularly the Athabasan clan. It was here that we learn that the sled dogs are fed, for the most part, smoked salmon! In the river was a salmon trap. It is turned by the current of the river and scoops the fish out of the water and into a holding box. It can be seen in the last of the photographs immediately below. On the left of this photo is a house on stilts. This is a house for smoking the salmon, set above the ground to keep the bears away from the fish. Dixie gutted and trimmed a large salmon in less than one minute.

We made a stop at the Chena Indian Village. We heard more about sled dogs and saw the strength of these animals when five of them pulled a sled with a man around a gravel path in the Village. Also saw on display some furs used by the native Alaskan for clothing. The most beautiful was the parka seen is the second photograph below.

After a short break for lunch at our hotel, we boarded the bus again for the trip to a gold mine. Along the way we stopped to see the Alyeska Pipeline. On any trip to Alaska one must see the pipeline. Then it was on to the El Dorado Gold Mine. I suspect that their biggest income today is from the tourist. But we learned how the mining was only done in winter and the panning operations done only in the summer. Strange? The gold is deposited in a permafrost zone and the miners did not want it to thaw as it would make digging most difficult. The panning was done in the summer because there was no water in the winter — it was all frozen. We saw the water come down the sluice and then a demonstration on panning. With that knowledge we proceded to a location where we also panned for this precious metal. We recovered 12 grains, I think. A very, very small amount by any measure. Mieko stepped up to the counter with her “take” for weighing.

For more information about the El Dorado Gold Mine

For more information about Fairbanks

Recommended Site #1 for Fairbanks

Recommended Site #2 for Fairbanks

Checking the shop at the hotel on our last night on this trip, we noticed this very unique “dress” made, I think, from bee hives.

We had an early check-in at the airport for a departure of 6:45 a.m.!!! Immediately after getting to cruising altitude we had these views as our last sights of Alaska. I believe that the first photograph has Mount McKinley in the far distance.

This trip to our 49th State was very enjoyable. It is probably considered the last frontier of the United States. The people that took care of all the arrangements and the tours were most kind and in a way, very unique individuals. Thank you, all of you.