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Manual Garcia O'Kely · 07-07-2008, 05:59 PM

North To Alaska, report No. 3
Dateline: Outside Denali National Park, AK, 7/7/08

Greetings and welcome to report No. 3

First off, Today marks the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower signing the papers
to admit Alaska as the 49th State, something he did with little fanfare as he expected
Alaska to go Democratic. It did for about two elections.

6/30/08 - Fairbanks, AK

Today we took the day off travel to see the sights of Fairbanks. Actually a nice city
if you are into that sort of thing. We saw two attractions: One was the University of
Alaska museum [well worth the visit] for it's fine collection of native arts and history.

The other was 'Gold Dredge No. 8' outside of town in the Fox mining district. This was an
overpriced attraction although if you are into the equipment of placer mining, it's rather
an interesting one. Lots of cornball in the presentations, mostly by video, although you do
get to walk thru the machine, long abandoned since 1959. Rain continues to trouble us,
but what do you expect.

A lone loon floated in the floatplane pond this evening, giving his cry and wondering where
his buddies are.

7/1/08 - Dalton Haul Road at the Yukon River

Today we crossed the Artic Circle. I'm sorry to report that we did NOT go all the way to
Deadhorse, but the mosquitos were so fierce that we decided that the AC was just going to
be far enough - we took photos and then retreated back to the Yukon River where we camped
in the information station parking lot in the shadow of the pipeline. I was amazed at how
many motorcycles we saw...

For those who wonder, at this time of year it never gets dark, although the sun does go down
about 11 pm, it's twilight and plenty of light - we have not needed either flashlights or our
Coleman Lantern since southern Canada and probably won't need it until we get only a few days
from home on the way back.

We did visit Chena Hot Springs which looked pretty nice for a soak, but they are very commercial
and even charge for tours of the 'ice hotel' for which admission you get the right to buy a $20
Martini in an ice glass [we said no thanks and beat feet out of there], although the springs is
pretty interesting in that they power the place with geothermal energy and do offer tours of the
technology if you are interested in learning about it - the refrigeration for the ice hotel is
an ammonia absorption system powered from the hot springs itself, just like a propane refrigerator
in your RV.

The road to Chena has many good campsites but as early in the summer as we are, the bugs are fierce
yet.

7/2/08 to 7/5 - Mile 275 on the Parks Highway, about 30 miles South of Nenana, AK

Rest days. We found a lovely camp with power and water, on the Nenana river and as the weather
turned dry, we decided to stay for a few days to avoid the 4th of july crowds in the park.

Nenana was once an important city for shipping by barge up the Yukon River and still serves this purpose
today, although the amount of traffic is less than it used to be. There's a historic bridge, and a nice
railway station museum and about the only store between Fairbanks and Anchorage.

Nenana is also famous for the Nenana Ice Classic: it's a contest where they put a tripod on the river
attached to a clock. People predict the time they think the ice will break up, and the winner gets 1/3rd
of the pot, split amongst the winners if more than one person correctly predicts the exact minute of the
breakup. Last year the pot went to one winner, about $360,000. Not a bad prize.

I did some radio while I was here, rigged up the Buddipole and the wire dipole, but am sorry to say that
radio is turning out to be a real bust. I made one contact in spite of making many many calls.
20 meters was open all over the world, I heard a huge number of stations but was utterly unable to bust
the pileups. It is a bit of a disappointment really, given that I've hauled three bags of gear
all the way up here and I could have saved myself the trouble had I known how few people listen for weak
signals....shame on us amateurs.

The 4th was celebrated between 11 pm and 2 am but a bunch of numb-nuts who kept us awake with the sound
of fireworks...althought for the life of me, what fun it can be doing that during what is virtually
daylight fails to excite me.

We had FOUR SUNNY DAYS IN A ROW HERE, our first dry days in a long time.

7/6/08 - 7/7 Carlo Creek Campground, 10 miles south of the Denali Park road.

Long drive on the 6th, almost 90 minutes, not counting our stop for Breakfast in Healy, at Rose's Cafe
[recommended].

Oddly, this is the same camp that we stayed in our last trip to Alaska - it is unique in that each campsite
has it's own hard-roof under which you pitch a tent if you have one - this is very nice for staying dry
when the weather turns.

We drove up into the park to the end of the road [16 miles is all private cars are permitted] and bought
tickets for the bus today, but Deb has come down with something and did not feel like the long 8 hour
bus ride today so we cancelled [refund was available, thankfully].

Rain has returned, so the weather is back to Alaska normal.

We are headed next to Talkeetna, a town that was the model for the TV show "Northern Exposure", which was
actually filmed in Cicily, Washington. We will likely spend several days there as it's a nice town.

The rig is running fine, we have had virtually no major problems so far, so we like that.

We did have a few cold nights, but re-discovered the hot water bottle, and three 1 liter nalgene bottles
with boiling water do wonders for keeping our feet toasty warm on cool nights. The only real challange
we have is keeping the vents open to avoid excess condensation, a problem when the outside RH is nearly 95%
to be sure, particularly when it is actually raining. A minor issue really.

We have not even consumed a full bottle of propane yet, although it looks like we are about 2/3rd's of the
way thru this fill. I will have it refilled in Anchorage to be sure to have enough for the rest of the trip.

Pictures will be uploaded if possible.

Waugh!

Temps range from highs in the 80's to lows in the high 40's, with days averaging for the most part around 70, nights around 50 degrees.

Rain many days, but not usually ALL day long.

07-07-2008, 05:59 PM	#42
Manual Garcia O'Kely Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 96	Report Three North To Alaska, report No. 3 Dateline: Outside Denali National Park, AK, 7/7/08 Greetings and welcome to report No. 3 First off, Today marks the 50th anniversary of President Eisenhower signing the papers to admit Alaska as the 49th State, something he did with little fanfare as he expected Alaska to go Democratic. It did for about two elections. 6/30/08 - Fairbanks, AK Today we took the day off travel to see the sights of Fairbanks. Actually a nice city if you are into that sort of thing. We saw two attractions: One was the University of Alaska museum [well worth the visit] for it's fine collection of native arts and history. The other was 'Gold Dredge No. 8' outside of town in the Fox mining district. This was an overpriced attraction although if you are into the equipment of placer mining, it's rather an interesting one. Lots of cornball in the presentations, mostly by video, although you do get to walk thru the machine, long abandoned since 1959. Rain continues to trouble us, but what do you expect. A lone loon floated in the floatplane pond this evening, giving his cry and wondering where his buddies are. 7/1/08 - Dalton Haul Road at the Yukon River Today we crossed the Artic Circle. I'm sorry to report that we did NOT go all the way to Deadhorse, but the mosquitos were so fierce that we decided that the AC was just going to be far enough - we took photos and then retreated back to the Yukon River where we camped in the information station parking lot in the shadow of the pipeline. I was amazed at how many motorcycles we saw... For those who wonder, at this time of year it never gets dark, although the sun does go down about 11 pm, it's twilight and plenty of light - we have not needed either flashlights or our Coleman Lantern since southern Canada and probably won't need it until we get only a few days from home on the way back. We did visit Chena Hot Springs which looked pretty nice for a soak, but they are very commercial and even charge for tours of the 'ice hotel' for which admission you get the right to buy a $20 Martini in an ice glass [we said no thanks and beat feet out of there], although the springs is pretty interesting in that they power the place with geothermal energy and do offer tours of the technology if you are interested in learning about it - the refrigeration for the ice hotel is an ammonia absorption system powered from the hot springs itself, just like a propane refrigerator in your RV. The road to Chena has many good campsites but as early in the summer as we are, the bugs are fierce yet. 7/2/08 to 7/5 - Mile 275 on the Parks Highway, about 30 miles South of Nenana, AK Rest days. We found a lovely camp with power and water, on the Nenana river and as the weather turned dry, we decided to stay for a few days to avoid the 4th of july crowds in the park. Nenana was once an important city for shipping by barge up the Yukon River and still serves this purpose today, although the amount of traffic is less than it used to be. There's a historic bridge, and a nice railway station museum and about the only store between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Nenana is also famous for the Nenana Ice Classic: it's a contest where they put a tripod on the river attached to a clock. People predict the time they think the ice will break up, and the winner gets 1/3rd of the pot, split amongst the winners if more than one person correctly predicts the exact minute of the breakup. Last year the pot went to one winner, about $360,000. Not a bad prize. I did some radio while I was here, rigged up the Buddipole and the wire dipole, but am sorry to say that radio is turning out to be a real bust. I made one contact in spite of making many many calls. 20 meters was open all over the world, I heard a huge number of stations but was utterly unable to bust the pileups. It is a bit of a disappointment really, given that I've hauled three bags of gear all the way up here and I could have saved myself the trouble had I known how few people listen for weak signals....shame on us amateurs. The 4th was celebrated between 11 pm and 2 am but a bunch of numb-nuts who kept us awake with the sound of fireworks...althought for the life of me, what fun it can be doing that during what is virtually daylight fails to excite me. We had FOUR SUNNY DAYS IN A ROW HERE, our first dry days in a long time. 7/6/08 - 7/7 Carlo Creek Campground, 10 miles south of the Denali Park road. Long drive on the 6th, almost 90 minutes, not counting our stop for Breakfast in Healy, at Rose's Cafe [recommended]. Oddly, this is the same camp that we stayed in our last trip to Alaska - it is unique in that each campsite has it's own hard-roof under which you pitch a tent if you have one - this is very nice for staying dry when the weather turns. We drove up into the park to the end of the road [16 miles is all private cars are permitted] and bought tickets for the bus today, but Deb has come down with something and did not feel like the long 8 hour bus ride today so we cancelled [refund was available, thankfully]. Rain has returned, so the weather is back to Alaska normal. We are headed next to Talkeetna, a town that was the model for the TV show "Northern Exposure", which was actually filmed in Cicily, Washington. We will likely spend several days there as it's a nice town. The rig is running fine, we have had virtually no major problems so far, so we like that. We did have a few cold nights, but re-discovered the hot water bottle, and three 1 liter nalgene bottles with boiling water do wonders for keeping our feet toasty warm on cool nights. The only real challange we have is keeping the vents open to avoid excess condensation, a problem when the outside RH is nearly 95% to be sure, particularly when it is actually raining. A minor issue really. We have not even consumed a full bottle of propane yet, although it looks like we are about 2/3rd's of the way thru this fill. I will have it refilled in Anchorage to be sure to have enough for the rest of the trip. Pictures will be uploaded if possible. Waugh! Temps range from highs in the 80's to lows in the high 40's, with days averaging for the most part around 70, nights around 50 degrees. Rain many days, but not usually ALL day long.