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Published: June 10th 2006
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Kluane Lake, Yukon
Oh yes, that is ice covering the lake in June!! Hi Everyone,
Well we made it, we are finally in Alaska. It was such an amazing drive here that it almost seems surreal that we can kick back and relax for a while. Pam is being such a gracious host and letting us stay in her cabin for the next couple of days until we all head down to Denali National Park for a couple days of camping. The drive on the Alaskan highway was an experience to say the least. It is rural country with barely any services or towns along the way. The forest and mountains are your closest companions on the road. One of the experiences that I will take away with us is that New Englanders have absolutely no idea what real frost heaves are at all compared to up here. The road literally resembles a roller coaster with huge rolling hills from the cold winters. My stomach instantly drops in my stomach when we go over them. You have to be careful to not catch any air if one sneaks up on you. There is a little saying about the Alaska Highway, “The Alaska Highway winding in and winding out, One begins to have some
doubts, About the lout who built this route, Was he going to hell or coming out?” I think it describes the condition of the road pretty accurately.
Coming into Alaska was an amazing experience; the first mountain range that we were able to see is the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains. The Wrangell St. Elias National Park is considered to be the most wilderness area in the Americas and is recognized as a vital piece of our eco-system. It is the largest National Park in the country and is much larger than all of New England combined. We plan to visit and learn about it more in depth later on in our trip. The mountains range in size from 15,000 to 19,000, just shy of Mount McKinley’s almost 21,000 feet summit. There is only one access road into the park but two major highways skirt the outside of the mountains. The mountains were covered in snow and looked like clouds in the sky. It was so hard to tell if it was real or just a dream, the scenery is so out of this world. It felt like we were at the ends of the earth and that the road stopped
at the foothills of the mountains.
They say that Alaska is a land of extremes and they were not joking. Everything is unbelievable here, and this is my third visit to the state. We are in the land of the midnight sun and the sun has not set in days. At first in British Colombia it would get dark around 11 pm or 12 am but the further north we headed the light stays out longer. Your body has constant energy and it feels like the afternoon when it's 1 in the morning, it’s crazy. I love the feeling of the sun on your face before you go to bed and then when you wake up. The weather is wonderful here, about 65-70 and sunny. Fairbanks is such a cool town. It is probably comparably to Worcester in population and is the second biggest "city" in Alaska. It feels like more of a big town than a city though but there has been a lot of recent development in the area. The locals are not too pleased that there city is being taken over by Super Wal-Mart’s and Target. I think that Fairbanks will never lose its local charm.
The people are very friendly and interesting. Most of the people that live here are either die hard Alaskan born, hippies, or moved here in search of a more peaceful life. The second you leave the city limits of Fairbanks the country becomes isolated and rural all over again though. The wildlife here is amazing. We have already seen a black bear, moose, and bald eagles.
We arrived in Fairbanks on Wednesday afternoon and our first night in Fairbanks was so much fun. We were able to just kick back and relax and our course hit some of the local drinking establishments. Jen was in her glory as Wednesday night is Karaoke at the Pump House Saloon. We had fun singing cheesy eighties songs, I even got up there to sing Material Girl with Jen, mind you we weren’t very good singing but at least we had the courage to do it. The only problem was that every one that was singing was amazing, it was like American Idol in the bar that night, so we definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. Pam and her friends have been such hosts and showing us such a good time. The
next day on Thursday we spent some time recovering from the night before but then we hit the Chena Hot Springs Resort where they have natural outdoor hot springs at about 100 degrees. We met some other really nice travelers and it was a perfect chance to relax and rejuvenate. Friday we are headed to a beer tasting at the Fairbanks Brewery with Pam and some of her friends. Saturday and Sunday we will be camping in Denali National Park and venturing into the park to see the Alaska range, glaciers, wildlife, and hopefully Mt. McKinley. Unfortunately Mt. McKinley sometimes likes to hide behind the clouds. Let’s hope that we get sunny and dry weather. I will send another update as soon as I can with the pictures from Denali they are bound to be impressive! After Denali is when we are planning our attempt to drive the Dalton Highway up to the Arctic Ocean.
I hope that all is well at home and I miss you guys!
Love,
Laura
PS- Don’t forget to leave comments!!
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mom
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Dalton Highway
Laura, Hope you and all your friends had a great time, but not too great if you know what I mean. I am crossing my fingers for good weather for you at Denali. I went on google and checked out the Dalton Highway. I sounds ??? Advice is to have 2 spare tires with you becasue the road is not paved in many areas and very rough, also many car windshields get cracked because of rocks flying up. Not trying to discourage ;you but I am thinking about your expense of the last tires. CHeck it out on google. Have fun. Be safe. Will talk to you tonite. Love, Mom We all Miss you.