We woke up quite early, about 6a, so that we’d be ready to eat breakfast at the B&B at 7:30a. I awoke with a headache but was able to beat it thankfully. Breakfast was a continental breakfast and tasty — I just had coffee and a blueberry muffin. We lingered awhile and talked with the owner as well as a couple of ladies from Brisbane, Australia who were on a four month (nice!) wander about North America. Talked about moose (or lack thereof), politics, travels, and outdoor life in Alaska. The owner stated that there are only two season in Alaska — winter and road-work. She’s right as we haven’t had a single drive that wasn’t interrupted by waiting for a flag car.
Aura Borealis B&B near Glenallen, highly recommended!
Mount Drum, less obscured by clouds this morning
Hit the road about 10a and headed up AK4 (Richardson Highway) past Glenallen and Paxson and to Delta Junction. What a beautiful drive! It started as relatively flat woodland with evergreens and aspen and led to high peaks (12,000 – 14,000) with permanent snow and glaciers. In addition the partly cloudy skies made for perfect picture-taking weather (to the annoyance of Michelle and the kids) and gave the lakes a deep blue color. The glacial rivers were a milky white and the non-glacial crystal clear and made a wonderful gurgling noise.
Forest and lakes north of Glenallen along Richardson Highway (AK4)
More forest and lakes along the Richardson Highway
River along Richardson Highway -- no salmon going upstream at the time, bah!
Same river, looking south this time
Mountain lake along Richardson Highway with a glacier in the background
Glacier seen from the Richardson Highway
Pretty view of the glacier with wildflowers (not native to Alaska, but still pretty) in the foreground
Mountain near the pass in the Alaska Range, Richardson Highway
Delta River north of the Alaska Range as seen from the Richardson Highway (AK4)
High peak in the Alaska Range (12,000 - 14,000 feet or so, depending on which peak it is)
We also saw five moose! Two calves, two whatever-it-is-they-call-the-females, and two bulls (though none with a huge set of antlers). No bears yet, but many beaver dams and also I spied a bald eagle far in the distance with the binoculars. Also saw a bird and its four chicks run across the road right in front of the car in front of us as well as a chipmunk or some other kind of small rodent. The rocks also had interesting colors — not just the normal gray you see all over Alaska but also some yellows and light reds. The road also followed the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline which, while mostly above ground, did occasionally run underground for short stretches (and even had its own fancy bridge to help it cross large rivers and the like)
Moose calf, so cute!
Mountains of the Alaska Range (12,000 to 14,000 feet high)
By the time we reached Delta Junction at 2p we were starving and ate at Buffalo Center Drive-In. We didn’t behave, I had a steak and cheese, onion rings, and a coffee milkshake. Left on AK2 to Fairbanks about 3:30p, drive took a bit longer than normal due to construction. Luckily most of it followed the flat, broad valley of the Tanana River and afforded amazing views of very high peaks of the Alaska Range beyond to the south. Closer to Fairbanks we passed Eielson Airforce Base with its parked transport plane and eight FA/18s. Also we passed North Pole, Alaska with many instances of Christmas-themed businesses. We drove on by.
Peaks of the Alaska Range south of the Tanana River
One last view of the majestic Alaska Range south of the Tanana River
Checked in at the Holiday Inn Express in Fairbanks at 5:30p, rested a bit, then headed out to the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics in the Carlson Civic Center. This event is held every year and brings together Eskimo groups from all over the world — competitors from Greenland, Canada, Alaska, etc. Events reflect valuable skills for the Eskimo like hunting and fishing and include the Stick Pull (two people pull at a stick to make the other one let go, simulates pulling in seals from under the ice), Eskimo High Kick, Four Man Carry, etc. We saw the medals ceremony for a few events and then a demonstration of the Stick Pull.
Medal presentation at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics (WEIO)
Demonstration of the Stick Pull by the gold and silver medalists
After that we watched the Eskimo High Kick finals. It was pretty amazing, competitors start in a crouching position with one hand planted then kick with one foot to try to hit a ball made of seal skin. The women hit 82″ and the men 93″. Next there was a small dance demonstration then the Blanket Toss — derived from the traditional post-whale hunting celebration of taking a large skin and having many people pull at it so that a person (or candy, or whatever) on top would be launched in the air — kind of like a trampoline. Points are given for style and sticking the landing.
Eskimo High Kick -- like Break Dancin' with a goal
WEIO banner, proving that Polar Bears make everything cooler
Performers waiting for the dance performance to begin
Athlete doing a forward flip during the Blanket Toss
The announcer was funny with some juvenile jokes (“How do you make a tissue dance? Put a little boogie in it.”) and quips (“In my day we’d hit the ceiling and change the lightbulb.” (referring to the blanket toss)) as well passing on what the Elders wanted known (“The Elders would like to ask the parents to have their children quit blowing those loud whistles”). Wrapped up the visit with a little bit of shopping — Michelle got a Christmas ornament of two little moccasin booties, Genetta some earrings and a keychain, myself a few note cards with neat art directly from the artist, and we all got t-shirts.
It was 9:30p by now so we stopped by Great Alaska Pizza Company (well, the Alaska part was correct, at least) for some pizza and we also bought some snacks for the long bus ride to the Arctic Circle tomorrow.
Route for Thursday, July 16, 2015