Discovery River Cruise, Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, AK

At last we arrive in Fairbanks, second largest city in AK, and the center of support for all the interior activity. We spent the day at Pioneer Park, and took a riverboat cruise on the Discovery.

On the river we enjoyed seeing a float plane take off and land. There are over 1000 private planes registered in Fairbanks, and a metro population of about 100,000, and 13 people out of every thousand in the state is a private pilot, the highest in the nation.

Also stopped to see the dog team of the husband of Susan Butcher, who won the Iditarod 4 times. 

He gave us a little briefing about the dogs, and a demonstration of training methods. Cool.

Next, a visit to Chena Athabascan Indian Village, to see some artifacts and enjoy a briefing from some of the natives about their culture and history.

We learned how a fish wheel scoops salmon from the river and deposits them into a catch basket. Sure easier than a hook and line!

At the mouth of the salmon river, we saw the clear water merge with the milky glacier runoff, and a modern day fishing camp on the gravel flats.

The Chena Village also has a post office, too bad we didn't bring our postcards to mail...

Of course above any self-respecting cabin is a pair of Moose antlers, right? Alaskans love their flowers, and have to enjoy them quickly, as they have such a short summer! 

I had to check out an Athabascan spear, to see how it would look next to my grizzly kill... and looking over the Caribou for a likely meal.

Yes, kids, there really are reindeer! Domesticated Caribou, that is.

Here's Nancy conferring with Arlene, our Wagonmaster, as our tour guests reboard the riverboat. On to a restaurant on our tour bus for a great lunch on the river. There was a golf tee and a hole across the river, so some had to try their luck. Here's Nancy putting one in the water!

Here I am taking a little break with Karen, one of the members of our Fantasy tour group.

Our sightseeing done for the day, we return to the campsite to do some chores. Life goes on, even on an RV tour!

Alan gets a trim from his wife Nancy.

Chicken, AK, population 3

Well, that's the winter population. In the summer, when things are really cooking, there might be 25 or even more! This little town is barely inside Alaska, between Dawson City and Tok. 

One guy and his family basically own/run the whole deal. He has a nice little RV park with electric and water and a dump station which easily swallowed our 23 rigs. He has a restaurant, a nice gift shop, a gold dredge, and gold panning. What more can you ask?

This 8 foot chicken stands next to a milepost sign, too small to read, but fun. Aren't those fireweeds pretty?

This old gold dredge scooped up rocks and gravel from a riverbed, and processed the ore for gold. Sort of a mechanized gold panning method. We also got to try out the original version...

Some had better luck than others.

Legend has it that the original name of this gold rush town was supposed to be Ptarmigan, after the Alaskan state bird. But, folks couldn't agree on the correct spelling, so they decided on Chicken instead!

Hey, why not, we had fun!

Tok, Alaska, entry to the interior

There is one way to drive into Alaska from the lower 48, and that is through Tok. One would not think a community of less than 2000 souls would offer much, but in fact it is quite self-sufficient. I'm giving kudos to one business here that really helped us out, and that is Willard's RV, towing, and electric. If it's broken, they can fix it. If it's stuck, they can pull it out. 

I stole this pic because I forgot to take one, and it's from 2010. Don't worry, it looks the same! By the time we arrived in Tok, we'd driven over 100 miles on muddy dirt roads, and here's what we looked like!

Fortunately for us, the RV park we selected had its own hi pressure wash station, and if you filled up your tank at their gas station, you could wash your rig for free. We lined up as we arrived, and must have spent 4-5 hours washing everybody's motorhome and tow car. Then, off to Fast Eddie's for dinner.

Yes, there is a Fast Eddie's in Tok, sister/cousin to the one in Alton, IL for all you who know of it, and they have great food. Not as cheap as in Alton, though!

Top of the World Highway

This aptly named highway leads from the ferry dock across the Yukon River from Dawson City, to the US-Canada border, through Chicken, AK and on to Tok, AK. Here's the route. We started by crossing the Yukon on a ferry, only big enough for two motor homes.

If you look closely, you can see the nose of the Montaj behind the two cars and beside the wheelhouse of the ferry.

 It was drizzling as we started up the long climb from the ferry dock, and continued to rain all day. Visibility ranged from fair to poor, with sections in the fog. The road is graded dirt. If it's dry, it is dusty. Not today, it was muddy. The view from this ridge route would be gorgeous I'm sure, but not this day.

We made it to the border, figuring maybe oil rich Alaska has more money for roads than the Yukon. If they do, they ain't spending it here!

One of our rigs swerved to avoid a big pothole, and his rig slid off the road into the weeds. Note no shoulders, and barely room for two big vehicles to pass each other. $2000 and 5 hours later, the tow truck from Tok had him out and on the way, no permanent damage.

You can see how this scenic route snakes its way through the wilderness, looking down at the valleys below. Lots of concentration required!

Wandering around pictures

Here are a few snaps I wanted to share, in no particular order...

The cast of the Follies playing classical music with a violin bow on saw blades....

Teslin First Nation artist displaying moose hide mittens and bead work. Very nice!

Yours truly cooking pancakes at Teslin breakfast.

Nancy caught me looking at this little waterfall. The stone island in the middle splits the river in two, each side flowing down and around it to rejoin.

Half the bridge under reconstruction, so that left us about 9', pretty tight for 81/2 foot wide rigs!

One of our Fantasy caravan members gets drafted to assist the magician in a trick on stage at the Follies

Propositioning the streetwalker at the Follies... I'm told that the Follies get more and more risque as we travel further north and west!

Welcome to Whitehorse

Blue seems an appropriate color for this post, as the sky is a brilliant blue, and the mountains a dusky blue, and the rivers a dark blue green. Lots to see. This is the first big town we've seen since Dawson City.

We started our stay with a catered dinner at the nice wood paneled meeting room at our RV park. One of our guests brought some wine to share. Whoopee!

The next morning we took a bus tour of Whitehorse, population about 28 thousand, and the capitol of the Yukon territory. Stopped at a viewpoint over the canyon, enjoying the mountains and clouds.

We spent some time at the Klondike Steam Ship, which was the main mode of transportation to Whitehorse from Dawson City back in the day.

This sternwheeler was designed to carry cargo and passengers on the river, and could carry 300 tons with a draft of only 6 feet! Check out the paddlewheel:

It was turned by a 500+ horsepower two piston steam engine. Check out the size of the pistons:

A friend caught a snap of Nancy and I in the cargo hold. The ship is very well preserved, and a Provincial Historical Site.

The ship has a nice sitting room to play cards or visit while you are steaming on the river. Dawson City to Whitehorse, 3 days; Whitehorse down, 36 hours. Burns 2 cords of wood per hour going upstream.

On the way back to the campground the bus passed the airport. They had this 40's vintage refueling rig for airplanes on display. Cool.

We took in the Frantic Follies in the evening, a slapstick vaudeville type show. Got out at 10:30, still daylight.

Teslin and the First Nation People

Canada is very respectful of their native peoples, often called the First Nation. As we travel further north, it is obvious that these folks deserved respect for being able to survive and prosper in the harsh winter weather here. There was an interpretive center in Teslin, where we visited with a matriarch whose family lives in the traditional ways.

She told of cutting their 10 cords of wood in the fall, of hunting for moose, tanning the hides, and displayed her beadwork and moosehide gloves.

Our campground in Teslin was on the Teslin Lake, which drains in to the Teslin River, running 400 km to join the Yukon River and ultimately drain into the Bering sea in Alaska. We are parked to the right of the bridge, by the tall trees on the far bank.

Here's a picture from the campground looking back at the lake.

Totem poles outside the Teslin interpretive center.
We were hoping for some salmon, but this guy didn't want to share. I caught him at lunch along the river.

Just kidding! This stuffed grizzly was on display inside the nature exhibit in Teslin, very well done, eh?