NORTH POLE, ALASKA

From Tok. AK we went to the North Pole, AK with a lunch stop in Delta Junction, AK.

This is  Delta Junction, the end of the 1390 mile Alcan Highway along with a thermometer showing some of the low temperatures there.The last picture is your first view of the 800 mile pipe line crossing Tanana River.

We stayed at Santa Land RV Park, North Pole for 12 days.  While there we visited Chena Hot Springs, Riverboat Discovery III, El Dorado Gold Mine, drove to Joy and  on to the Arctic Circle, the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and many other places to numerous to mention.

The first group of pictures were taken from the Riverboat Discovery III. The bush pilot taking off, young sled dogs and older dogs hooked up to a summer sled.  This is Susan  Butcher’s place now run by her husband and family.  The caribou is behind a fence and was run out for the tourist to see.  The young lady  is modeling a coat that is traditionally worn by the Eskimos. This coat uses many different kinds of fur and is very elaborately beaded.

  

At the El Dorado Gold Mine we rode the old train and were shown some of the things done to mine gold.  Then they dumped a load of gold bearing dirt and washed it down the sluice with a lot of water down across  riffles that catch the gold.  After that we got to pan some gold.  You can see the gold in the pan. The next picture shows Wayne and Diana with no gold in their pans, but look very close and in Diana’s hand is a small container that has the gold.

         I guess Wayne is out of luck.  Diana is holding the gold.        

 This picture is of the 800 mile pipe line near Fairbanks, AK.

                      

Here are some pictures of Chena Hot Springs and the Arctic Circle.  Chena Hot Springs is 50 miles from Fairbanks and on a good road.  We went on a Saturday which was a mistake as all the locals were on the road.  We did see a few moose.  On the 200 mile trip to the Arctic Circle the only wild life was  2 snowshoe hares, but lots of great scenery.  The road to the Arctic Circle is mostly gravel and dirt with some stretches of pavement.  For those of you that are watching the latest TV show of the Ice Roads this is the road that it is filmed on.  We didn’t have any snow or ice on the road, I had to look for some.

The first picture is the moose we saw on the way to Chena Hot Springs. The next 2 are Joy, AK, a small settlement on the way to the Arctic Circle.  There were several of these one holers. On one there was a sign “out of order”. Don’t know what goes wrong with an outhouse!!!   A family from Minnesota moved here back in the late 60’s and raised 5 of their own children and 18 adopted children in the house shown. The addition on the right was added on 4 years ago.  There was no electric or running water.  Once a month they drove 60 miles to Fairbanks to do laundry and take showers.  The kids were all home schooled. 

This is at the Yukon River crossing this is about 140 miles north of Fairbanks,  The pipeline runs along the road and crosses the river here. We had lunch at this information center at this crossing.

 

This next picture is taken from a overlook along the highway and pipe line where we also found some snow. I couldn’t resist driving in it so I could say I had driven thru ice and snow to get to the Arctic Circle.  We arrived at the Arctic Circle and were greeted by the local wild life - a snowshoe hare.  Notice the white feet.  In winter they are all white and summer they turn brown. The feet are the last to turn.

 

We also spent one afternoon at the Museum of the North.  This is the best museum I have been in.  The displays were laid out so you could see and read the information about them.  Also pictures could be taken with out flash.  This big guy greets you as you enter the display area. The next 4 pictures are of the gold display, I couldn’t get any samples.  Several pictures of Eskimo artifacts.

     

  A moose and her calf, The Knotty Shop just south of North Pole, the figures are made from natural burls in the fir trees that grow here. The Knotty Shop also sells ice cream and we had to try it.  The flowers are beautiful here in Alaska.  The last pictures are the ladies looking at jewelry made by Judie Gumm.  Her shop is located in Ester, AK

   

In Fairbanks there is a farm that was made into Creamers Field Wildlife Refuge.  It is on the edge of town and has easy access. These are some of the birds we saw there in June.  In the fall this field has hundreds of  Canada geese, Sand Hill cranes, and many other birds feeding before heading south.  We know we have missed our sign to go south if the birds are gone before we are.