Blogs from Fairbanks, Alaska, United States, North America - page 3

After two days (or nights) of driving long distances in the dark, rain and snow, we made the decision to push on from Denali towards Fairbanks rather than returning to the park. Our first objective was to find somewhere for a hot breakfast, as surviving on cold food in the snow was beginning to lose its appeal. We sped past Healy and made our way to the railway town of Nenana. The whole town seems geared towards tourism, but as we were there out of season, almost everything was closed, from the wood cabin tourist office to almost every diner and restaurant bar one. The Rough Wood Inn was open and serving breakfast, so we headed in out of the cold. There we were treated to the uniquely American experience of listening to the locals deride ... read more

We have four nights in Fairbanks. The roads were good, the distance about 111 miles from Denali ... a short drive on a chilly day. Along the way we made a stop in a small town named Nenana. The story has it that a lady won the entire town in a pool game. It was also the starting point of the 1925 Diphtheria Serum Race to Nome. As we pulled in to the small town, we had a caravan of at least 8-10 motorhomes with tow cars lining the entire length of this town, only to find most of the town closed down since the death of this elderly lady. Nenana also has the Ice Classic yearly, where they place a huge iron piece out on the frozen river and sell chances on the day, hour, ... read more

We woke up this morning rearing to go, albeit slightly hungover after a very social evening! We got into our riding kit and loaded the bike, I jumped up onto my perch and Trev turned the key to the bike and it turned over but wouldn't start! Trev tried it again and then it wouldn't even turn over. We were upset and perplexed as to why it had run so excellently the previous day and then just wouldn't start. Anyhow, we loaded the bike onto the back of the chase truck and jumped in for the drive back to Fairbanks with the hope of having it diagnosed and repaired at The Outpost (a BMW dealership in Fairbanks). We went there first thing the following day and naturally they were VERY busy and could "maybe fit us ... read more

The Parks Highway continues northward from the entrance of Denali to Fairbanks. My past impression of the 2ndlargest city in Alaska was one of a bleak downtown populated with drunks and not much else. To add to the malaise, it averages 13 below in January and the mosquitoes are notoriously vicious in summer heat. Our time in Fairbanks this year gave me an entirely new appreciation for this thriving and vibrant city. We were heading to Fairbanks to see a childhood friend and extended family member, Mark Ross, a naturalist at Creamer’s Field, a migratory waterfowl refuge. He is a marvelous artist who creates Field Notes for the sanctuary. After a tour of Creamer’s Field, Mark shared some local culture with us at the Howling Dog saloon, the North Star Golf Club (the northernmost course in ... read more

Geo: 64.8452, -147.722On Friday our flight to Fairbanks did not leave Gustavus until around 5:30 PM so we did a little more hiking near the lodge on the Tlingit and Bartlett River Trails. These trails combined were only about 6 miles total round trip from the lodge and involved very little elevation gain. The Tlingit trail followed the shore of Bartlett Cove for about a half mile then we followed the paved road to the Bartlett Rive Trailhead. Most of the river trail passed through a very dense old growth rain forest and led to the shore of the Bartlett River. Along the way we saw bear scat in two places so we were alert to the possibility of seeing a bear, but saw none. After our hike we checked out of the lodge and took ... read more