Day 10 – Part II of the Alaska Adventure – We Get a Car – June 10, 2019

Today’s the day we unpacked our Alaska ‘Milepost’ book (thanks, Paul and Laura!) because we picked up our rental car this morning. For the remainder of our trip, we’ll be responsible for transporting ourselves from place to place.

The first leg is 300 miles from Fairbanks to Chitina via the Richardson Highway. This route follows the Tanana River southeast through a large glaciated river plain, with the Alaska Range to the west and the Sitz Mountains to the east. Further south, the Wrangell Mountains come into view to the east.

Right outside of Fairbanks is the town called North Pole. As you might expect, the place is an homage to all things cheesy about our favorite winter holiday. The street lamps are painted and shaped like candy canes, and the centerpiece is the Santa Claus House complex. It was too much to resist – we had to stop!

In one wing, Father Christmas holds court (and poses for pictures) five days a week – it turns out Tuesday is one of his days off, so we missed him. This is also where the official Santa Post Office is located. You can get a genuine North Pole postmark here. The other wing houses the ‘Antler Academy’, which we opted not to attend. After a quick visit, we jumped into our own sleigh and continued south.

Delta Junction marks the northern terminus of the Alaska Highway. We were not going to drive on that highway, but we took the opportunity to stop at the visitor center. Karen got to check out some more fur, and we got a close look at a pipeline 'pig'. The pig is like a giant Q-tip that's used to clean sludge that builds up inside the Trans-Alaska pipeline. It's inserted at a given point, then propelled along by the oil pressure until it is removed further down the line.

The road along the Tanana River is lined with all types of spring foliage, including the Alaska State flower – the Alpine Forget-Me-Not.

We had a picnic lunch at a turnout with a view of the Black Rapids Glacier. You can’t see much of the ice because it’s been retreating since the 1930’s.

Just past the Isabel Pass (3280’) and beyond Summit Lake, you can get a clear view of Gulkana Glacier. This one has lots of ice in plain view. Incidentally, Summit Lake is where the annual ‘Arctic Man Ski and Snow-Go Classic’ takes place. [note: Drink a can of Red Bull and Google it for more information].

Once we got off the main highway and went east toward Chitina, we began climbing into copper mining country. At Kenny Lake, we got our first good view of the Wrangell Mountains.

We pulled into Chitina just before 8:00PM. We’re staying in the Chitina Hotel. This is a building that’s been here since the gold rush days in 1914. Much of the original character remains. Each step up the staircase, and along the narrow second-story hallway, produces creaks and groans that evoke sounds of its copper mining past.

While we sat in the dining room, the official Chitina ‘greeter’ came over to the hotel to greet us.

Next: McCarthy/Kennicott (may be no internet there, so the next updates could be delayed a couple of days)