Alaska - Day 4

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Day 4 - Alaska

Around 8:45AM we boarded our bus to take us North to Fairbanks, the location where the Gold Rush started.

It was a 3 hour drive, but we stopped at a place along the route, which was a museum of life in early Alaska, and the creativity of the locals to make and modify things to be able to live and work in the environment.

The journey took 3 hours, and we got to Fairbanks, had lunch on our own, while I hitched a ride to the equivalent of a Wal Mart Supercenter, for syringes, to hold me until the pump arrived.

After lunch, we went to Gold Dredge No. 8, heard how they mined gold, why they stopped, and why they started again.

We got to try our hand at panning for gold. It is a good thing I don’t count on that for a living, as Vernell and I together panned about $40 in gold

When I got to the hotel, and could get phone service again, we discovered that the pump was not on the manifest for Fairbanks. But, they did get it on the next flight, which would be delivered at 11PM. So, I should be hooked up again tonight.



We had a leisurely dinner, at the hotel, and repacked some things for our flight out tomorrow, to Dawson City.

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Photos

Mt. Denali
About 200 miles to the South of us, it was a clear day, and we got a view of the mountain we wanted to see yesterday.

Roadside stop
A unique gift stop and museum.

His hanger.
A plane is like a car here. A 14 year-old can get a license to fly, so that he can fly to the big city when he needs to get his drivers license.

A fish wheel.
This is what they used to catch fish.

Snow mobile
He modified his truck, put snow tracks on the back, and skis on the front so he can go tend his things around here in the winter.

We rode this train to go around the property
This train took us to several stops around the property to show how the miners dug for gold.

Comments

[James]

Day 3 & 4
Feels on Wheels. Haha! That's good. I definitely would be on 4 wheels with doors riding through Alaska. I guess the train is pretty safe. Crazy to think of a bear approaching and taking your chances by curling up in a ball. Is that what they say to do? 20 feet. That's a lot of snow. Summer time is definitely the time to visit. Glad you found someone who had needles to get you through. That picture with Denali in the background...I didn't even see the mountain until I read the caption. In those were clouds. Huge! Or YUGE as Trump would say. If you ever do have to pan for gold for a living all you gotta do is set up a shop with supplies and call the tourist in to help out. Ha! I didn't realize there is still a lit of gold mining happening up there. Nice pics of the flowers. I never thought of Alaska as a place with lots of flowers. Riza would like that one by the post. Love that snow mobile.