Stuff around Fairbanks, Alaska

From June 1-15 we camped outside Fairbanks, Alaska. While there we took a tour to the arctic circle along the infamous Dalton Highway. The Dalton is a 415 mile long gravel road that runs from just north of Fairbanks up to the oil fields on the north slope of Alaska at Prudhoe Bay. It's mostly used by heavy trucks delivering equipment and supplies to the oil field. We didn't want to beat-up our car on the road so we went on a small bus tour. We also didn't want to go all the way to the oil field, we just went to the arctic circle and back. It was still a 16 hour trip (6AM-10PM).

The only other memorable thing we did in Fairbanks was an afternoon cruise on the China River. I've posted pictures from both events below.

This is an Alaskan style trading post, very rustic. Actually, this one is more rustic than most. It's on the road to the north slope of Alaska where the oil fields are. It's off the electric grid so they generate their own power with a small generator. They store the power in a bank of batteries so they don't have to run the generator 24 hours a day. They have no running water so they use an outhouse (see photo below). It was really nasty!! The people that ran this place had adopted something like 18 kids (over many years) and they had 5 kids of their own. They home-schooled them all. The youngest was still at home and a grandson of the oldest kid was working in the store. Even though they didn't have electricity or water, they still had an Internet connection (satellite). This place is called the "Arctic Circle Trading Post" but it's not actually above the arctic circle. See the sign below.




This sign was in front of the trading post. I guess we hadn't crossed the arctic circle yet. Gotta keep heading north.







This is the "rest room" facility (aka outhouse) at the trading post. I don't know if you can see or not but the boards on the sides have big gaps between them. This is definitely not a place for a modest person. It was really ripe in there too. On the wall was a sign "Imagine using this when it's 50 below outside".
Did any of your kids ever have a lemonade stand?? I bet it didn't look like this one. Keep in mind that this stand is in the middle of nowhere along the Dalton Highway on the way to the north slope oil fields. I suspect that they don't get much business.
















Here's the world famous Alaska pipeline. It runs from Prudhoe Bay on the north slope of Alaska to the oil terminal in Valdez, Alaska. That's about 900 miles long. It's 48" in diameter. Over half the pipeline runs above the ground to protect the permafrost from melting. If you look closely at this picture you'll notice tall fins at the top of the orange columns. Those are heat radiators that keep the columns from getting too hot in the sun. This also protects the permafrost. If you look very close you'll see that the pipeline is not rigidly bolted to the supports. It floats on bearing plates to allow movement in an earthquake. The pipeline is bolted to about every 5th support.



This is a motel/restaurant along the Dalton Highway. I like the way the color of the building matches the mud on the side of the car parked out front. I think it's a nice artistic touch. Basically everything along the Dalton Highway is covered with mud since the road is dirt and every parking area and business parking lot is also dirt. Actually, the food here was pretty good.

This was taken on a small hill just south of the arctic circle. That's all arctic tundra in the distance. The tundra is a thin (several inches to feet) layer of organic material in which some grasses and sedges grow. Below the tundra is permafrost. This is permanently frozen dirt that can be several thousand feet thick!!

Here are Mr. and Mrs. tourist at the arctic circle. Yippee, we made it. Too bad it was almost 80 degrees there. It kind of ruined the moment. We were wearing long sleeves and long pants to keep the mosquitoes from biting.They are really nasty up here. They only have a couple months to do their biting each year so they have to make the best of it.

I thought this was cool. It's a float plane taking off from the China River. This is just outside the city of Fairbanks, AK. Something like 60% of Alaskans are licensed pilots. Bush planes like this are a primary form of transportation since there are so few roads up here.

This is world famous Trail Breaker Kennel and that's Dave Monson in the foreground. Alright, I know, "who's Dave Monson". This kennel belongs to Dave and his late wife Susan Butcher. Susan won the famous Iditarod dog sled race (Anchorage to Nome - 1049 miles) 4 times. She also drove a dog sled to the top of Mt. McKinley (20, 320 ft.). She died from cancer a few years ago. Her husband, Dave, continues to run the kennel. He won the Yukon Quest dog sled race (Fairbanks, AK to Whitehorse, Yukon - 1000 miles across 3 mountain ranges). If you ever get a chance to watch sled dogs at work, do it. They are absolutely amazing. They are bred to run and they love to do it. No whips needed here. The biggest problem is getting them to stop running.

This is truly an Alaska special. Someone stuck a small mobile home on top of a dumpy old barge and used it as a political campaign bus. No, not Sarah Palin!! I think they said it was some guy who ran for governor years ago. If you look real close you can see several large wooden wire reels used as tables on deck. If you look really, really close you can read the candidates name painted on the hull of the barge ("Wright for governor"). Real classy....

I don't normally photograph women's jackets but this was special. An Athabaskan Indian girl was modeling it at a recreated Indian village. It's made from the skins of several animals like fox, caribou, wolverine and a couple others. The various furs were used in different parts of the jacket for color, style and to give additional warmth where needed. They used wolverine fur around the inside of the hood where it touches the persons face. That fur contains a natural oil that keeps it from sticking to the skin in extreme cold when your breath freezes. Clever, isn't it??

Here's the same coat from the back. It's a beautiful piece of work. They refused to let anyone else try it on. It's completely authentic and they don't want anyone to mess it up.

This is the trophy given to the winner of the annual Iditarod dog sled race. This one belonged to Susan Butcher. She won it in 1988. She had a total of 4 wins in the Iditarod.

How's this for a tourist shot?? That's me standing with one of the sleds that Susan Butcher used to win the Iditarod (not sure which year). They called this her "finishing sled". Obviously that's her picture with 2 of her dogs.