Fairbanks and Rain

( click to view panorama)

Leaving Tok this morning found us driving amid rain and cloud cover. Temperatures are in the low 50s. Despite all of that, we can still say that Alaska is beautiful. Literally driving through clouds, in and out of patches of sun, you just find yourself relaxing. The roads are so sparsely traveled that you almost have the sense that the road belongs to you. See something you want to study or photograph? No, problem. Just pull over and take your time. You probably won’t have another car coming either way for several minutes. Imagine that in a metropolitan area. You know, if you took the state of Alaska and superimposed it on the lower 48 states, it would cover one fifth of the continental U.S. But, it only has 1/100 of the roads found in the lower 48. Not many roads and frankly, not many people. We can see that if you lived here, you would probably want to own a floatplane. There are small lakes everywhere and they become your airstrips. Alaska also has miles and miles of what they call the “Marine Highway”. Ferries take people, vehicles and supplies to towns that lack substantial roads. Some remote locations are visited only once a week. Better make sure you have enough milk before the ferry leaves the dock!

The nights are very short this time of the year. Sunrise was around 5:10 this morning and the sun won’t set until around 10:45. Even after the sun sets, there is a twilight that is quite bright. It is difficult to think of sleeping when the sky still emits enough light to be able to read.

An interesting couple from Vallejo California camped next to us last night. More experienced Alaskan travelers than we are; they gave us some helpful hints. One interesting suggestion was the consideration of taking a mail plane for scenic picture opportunities. There is a mail plane that leaves Tok every morning and flies to other interior locations to the east and southeast. Travel time is two hours, with a fifteen-minute “get out of the plane and stretch your legs” at the destination. Definitely a consideration, if we can take the photos we desire during the flight. Costs associated with flying are also greatly reduced taking a flight like this.

We are in the Eastern Interior of Alaska this morning, heading towards the Western Interior. With Alaska’s enormity, the land is broken into regions. There are eight regions, according to a DK book we have. The city of Anchorage gets its own “region” and then there are seven more. Although the two regions we will explore today lack the water and activity related to it (fishing, whale watching, glaciers, etc.) there are other possibilities. We want to actually see the Alaskan pipeline. We hear so much about oil exploration and the conflict with nature. Up here, it seems so inconsequential. There is so much land that a pipeline is insignificant. It could be compared to a thread running across a city block. As a side note, we paid $3.19 per gallon for diesel. It was $2.75 when we left Port Huron. Doesn’t compute since the gas is up here. I guess they will charge whatever the traffic will bear. When you don’t have a choice, you just pay it.

We’ll also be scouting for a gold mine or two. Lots of commercial opportunities to “pan for gold”. It’s kind of like looking for rocks along the Great Lakes or hunting for seashells on the Atlantic shore.

We’ll also be scouting for a good breakfast this morning. The restaurant near our campground offered pancakes and reindeer sausage. Hard to imagine putting syrup on blueberry pancakes that are sitting next to Rudolph. Lol

We will be driving through Delta Junction on our way to Fairbanks. Located at the intersection of the Alaska Highway and the Richardson Highway, its claim to fame is that it is the official end of what is referred to as the Alaskan Highway. It is at mile marker 1,422. That means that we have traveled 1,422 miles since we left Dawson Creek on Thursday morning. The next time I see a car with Alaska license plates traveling in Michigan, I will have a greater respect for their journey.

After a great breakfast in Delta Junction at the Buffalo Diner, we continue northwest towards Fairbanks. Just nine miles out of town we cross the Tanana River. On our right is a glorious suspension bridge; not for cars, but for “liquid gold” as the Beverly Hillbillies said. The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline is suspended across the river. The pipe is probably 25 times wider than the one we saw in Canada. It travels 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez (remember the oil spill years ago in Valdez?) There are thirteen bridges that hold the pipeline within those 800 miles. The one we just saw is the second largest. Right below the bridge were three trucks, all with Alaska plates. They were fishing right next to the pipe that keeps all of us driving our cars everyday. Amazing.

Our final destination for today will be Fairbanks. Located in the western interior, it is only 150 miles from the Arctic Circle. Imagine that! We spoke with two couples that were going to drive up to that latitudinal point, just to be able to say they had been there. We don’t plan to do that, since it is a dirt road north of Fairbanks. It is tempting, however…

When we arrived at Fairbanks, we were faced with rain, rain, and rain. Temperature here is 55 degrees. Feels like a day in April or November in Michigan. Oh well, it will make us appreciate the good weather days.


We stopped in the local Wal-Mart. Around the perimeter of the parking lot were yellow cement posts with conduit and an electrical box on either side. What could they be? You won’t believe it; they are electrical outlets for those desiring to stay in Wal-Mart’s parking lot with their RV. Leave it to Wal-Mart to cater to campers. Can’t believe it. We will be staying at an RV park in Fairbanks with Internet, etc.

Hopefully, tomorrow will bring clearer skies.