Leaving Alaska

This is our last entry.

We've had a wonderful summer. One to be remembered forever.

Thirty-five years ago Doug came home from Alaska and was introduced for the first his step-father, Clarence.

Today we learned that Clarence passed away. So we are coming home to say good-bye to him. He was a father Doug looked up to and model his life after. A true friend.

See you soon family and friends.

Thanks for following us on our adventure.

Doug and Linda

Fairbanks Adventures

(The pictures are Bud driving the boat, the Goodpaster River, and the Nenana forest fire, and friends up river cabin)

Smoky!

While traveling the Park’s Highway to Fairbanks we passed a forest fire just outside of Nenana. It was the first forest fire we have experienced. Standing on a hill we could witness flames. It has been very dry here and this fire was started by a lightning strike in June. It has burned 60 thousand acres. There is another fire on the Steese Highway that has burned 15 thousand acres. Fairbanks is right in the middle of the two fires and has made the air very hazy since the town is a bowl that collects the smoke. Hard to breathe and it gives you headaches.

We’ve spent the first week here attending the Fairbanks Festival of the Arts at the University. We heard some great performances, like, World Music Sounds (Jewish Folk Songs, Indian songs, and African music), Jazz, Cabaret, Vocal and Instrumental and Steel Drum Performances. We were really impressed with steel drum music. It’s amazing the sound that comes out of them. It sounds like an orchestra but all they are is steel drums pounded in tune with a musical scale. There were about 40 drums. The instrument got it start in World War II when the US Navy left all their oil drums behind in the West Indies.

We’ve panned for gold, too. It was a tourist trap but fun to be taken in by it.

We took a short break from the smoke by going up the Tanana and then the Goodpaster River to Linda’s cousin Bud’s cabin. It was about a 2-hour boat ride. It was fun to watch Bud navigate the river. He used to be a boat racer so he really knew how to maneuver. We always traveled at around 30 mph, not even slowing down in tight turns. The motor he has is a jet so we went over very shallow water. On the way home we got stuck and had to get out of the boat to push it to deeper water. The river is very low from lack of rain. Many times we were able to skid over sand bars, except for this one.

What a beautiful place he has on the river! No electricity, no running water, heat only through a wood fire but we enjoyed sitting on the deck, fishing Artic Grayling, hunting up diamond willow walking sticks, and enjoying his sauna.. At least so we thought we were in peace and quiet. The military does all their war games up here and the jet fighters would sometimes break the sound barrier and shake the cabin. It is an extremely loud explosion which was in repetition as they flew in formation . . . total silence, then loud explosions.

We also met some neighbors of his further up river that make their home their full time. They live in a 100 year old log home. It is a very small, one room cabin. They’re deep in the Interior away from all civilization but still they are not alone. As one morning they woke up to a sound of whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. They peered out the window to see just over the trees and the river bank a Black Hawk helicopter with its occupants who looked like aliens with their face gear staring at them. It goes to show you that there is no place to hide on this planet if the government wants to seek you out.


The property they live on was owned previously by an old “sourdough”, Lawrence Johnson, that would trap in the winter and grow vegetables and take them down river to market during the summer. To get vegetables to market, he would use a push pole to move his boat. We’re sure his arms looked like Pop Eye the Sailor Man. He also had a cabin down river for layover since it took a few days. The Goodpaster River is a quiet, peaceful river which we could see no problem with this mode of travel but when he would get to the mouth of the Goodpaster he would have to travel the Tanana River which is a cold, fast moving, glacier fed, whirl pool, boiling river. Yikes. People were hardy in those days. He’s buried on the home site. He was not a veteran but the military gave him at 21-gun salute when he died because they truly enjoyed his vegetables. And I’m sure his friendship, too. He was born August 19, 1883 and died February 19, 1958. Just before Alaska became a state in 1959.

We’re getting rain now so maybe that will help control the fires. We’ve heard that these fires can even start up again in the spring since the peat just smolders under the ice and snow all winter.

Our next adventure will be the Chena Hot Springs as we brought our swim suit and could use a good, relaxing soak in the heated waters.