Fairbanks, Alaska...land of the mid-day moose

Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitor Center,
Fairbanks, Alaska

On Monday, July 2nd, we headed downtown to the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center again, this time to attend a free ranger-guided tour about the history of Fairbanks. While waiting for the tour to begin, we found ourselves quickly engrossed in a movie playing on one of the televisions in the center. The movie, titled ‘Alone in the Wilderness’, is a documentary of Dick Proenneke’s lifestyle at Twin Lakes, Alaska. The footage shows him building his own log cabin using only hand tools and the resources available in the wilderness around him. He goes on to live in the cabin for more than 30 years after which he donated the cabin to the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. It was one of the most riveting documentaries we’ve ever seen and awe-inspiring to watch a solitary man build a cabin, an outhouse, a sled and all the furniture by himself. Wow.

Historic Gould cabin

Peony

Once the tour began, our ranger guide, Amy, showed us some historic photographs of Fairbanks as a small collection of rustic cabins that progressed within just a few years to a full-fledged city. In August 1901 on his way to the gold fields up the Tanana River to establish a trading post, E.T. Barnette was stranded with his wife and his stock of goods when the steamer they were on ran aground upstream from the Chena River. Seeing a few scattered miners there, and with no way of immediately continuing his trip, he established his trading post on what would become Fairbanks with the discovery of gold by Felix Pedro the following July. Unlike the gold in other areas, though, Fairbanks’ gold was buried deep in the earth under frozen ground and lodged in solid rock. It would require a patience that most of the gold rushers didn’t have. Those that stayed to mine the gold, though, managed to pull out over $30 million worth by 1910.

Gardens at Gould cabin

We chatted about the historic log cabin in front of the visitor center as well and Amy told us the home is, unlike so many others around town, still in its original location. The cabin is surrounded by a historically accurate garden full of vegetables and flowers commonly grown at the time of its construction, around 1910 by William and Mary Gould.

Northernmost Antler Arch
in the world

We walked on to the Northernmost Antler Arch in the world, though we seriously doubt there are many contenders for the title. The arch was designed by Sandy Jamieson of over 100 caribou and moose antlers shed naturally or collected by hunters, and installed in 2010. With only Ken and me in attendance on the tour, we began peppering poor Amy with all manner of questions about living in Alaska during the winter season. She mentioned that despite being from Vermont, the winters here are much worse. She lives in a ‘dry cabin’, meaning she has no running water and uses an outhouse, a practice very common in Fairbanks and throughout Alaska. The dry cabins are easier to maintain because there is no chance of a frozen water pipe bursting, and they are usually small and easy to heat. Water is obtained in relatively old-fashioned ways, either from streams in temperate climate, or from water trucks or by melting snow in winter. She also mentioned that the long nights of winter tend to make folks a little squirrelly. It seems that everyone suffers from a least a mild dose of depression. (She said that when you write a 3 item to-do list and one of those items is ‘brush your teeth’, you know it’s winter.)

Fireweed

We also learned from Amy that fireweed, a plant we've seen growing all over Alaska, is a good measure of the remainder of summer. She said when the open blooms reach the top of the stalk, summer is just about over. We chatted with her for a while and she gave us some tips about traveling to some of our later Alaskan destinations, as well as about where to see the oil pipeline and how to find the elusive moose in Fairbanks. We took her advice and drove off in a desperate search. But, first, lunch.

We dined at the casual but tasty Loose Moose Cafe, a little café not far from the campground. They offer meals made from Indian Valley meats, mostly buffalo, reindeer and such. Ken ordered the Buffalo Bratwurst, a nice, if a bit bland, version of the German hotdog with extremely yummy grilled onions on top. I ordered the far tastier Reindeer Polish Dog, which we both enjoyed and highly recommend, also with the excellent grilled onions atop.

Alyeska Oil Pipeline

Pig!

After lunch, we came across the oil pipeline just north of Fairbanks near Fox, Alaska, along the Steese Highway. The pipeline from Prudhoe Bay at the northern coast runs 800 miles south to Valdez on the southern coast. The portion we found is an elevated section, held above ground by giant support posts that also serve to drain heat from the ground below. The ground underneath this section (and many others) of the pipeline is permafrost, meaning it never fully thaws during the summer. The oil running through a pipeline buried in permafrost would thaw the surrounding earth and destabilize the pipe itself, resulting in ruptures or leaks. We also saw a couple of retired ‘pigs’, round plug-shaped tools used to scrape away the waxy buildup on the inside of the pipe to enable the oil to flow more freely.

Moose in Fairbanks

In our search for moose, we headed down Chena Hot Springs Road, toward the state park and resort of the same name. Several local folks we’ve asked have all mentioned this road as the best place to see moose. They were not wrong. The first two we saw were a mother moose and her yearling walking in a field away from us, but we managed to snap some pictures before they disappeared into the treeline. At this point, it began to rain. Excellent…we were certain that the large animals would appreciate the coolness of the rain over the 75 degree sunshine, especially with almost 1000 pounds of meat on their bones.

Moose along Chena Hot Springs Road

Ken spotted a moose standing in a stream eating. We watched this silly moose dunking his whole head under the water looking for something. With the rain coming down in sheets though, we didn’t get a picture. When we turned around and came back a bit later, we saw a mother and yearling in the same spot, standing in the water. Ha! So many moose!

We continued farther toward Chena River State Recreation Area, a confusingly similar name to the campground where we parked the RV and yet vastly different. This park is over a quarter million acres of land about 30 miles northeast of Fairbanks compared to the 26 acre campground in the city. In any case, we saw yet another moose standing on the side of the road nibbling on the greenery around him. We turned around and found him again, and he looked up to watch us watching him. Apparently a little shy, he then walked behind some bushes next to him and resumed eating the leaves. We did get some nice pictures of him, though! Yay!

Canoers on the Chena River

Golden Heart Park Downtown Market

We didn’t want to be greedy in our moose hunting (and the rain had ended), so we drove back to Fairbanks to attend the Downtown Market at the Golden Heart Plaza, a gathering of local farmers and artisans offering their wares in the brick lined courtyard next to the swiftly flowing Chena River.

We wandered around and bought a few things, enjoyed the sunshine, strolled over the Cushman Street bridge and back again over the William Wood Memorial Foot Bridge, both with beautiful baskets of spring flowers to adorn them. We watched some canoers paddling on the water, and chatted with some local folks about the heat (80 degrees at 5pm!).

Lend-Lease Statue

Plaque showing the movement
of aircraft in the Lend-Lease program

We found the Lend-Lease Statue, a monument to the World War II program when American forces moved military aircraft from around the country to Great Falls, Montana and flew them to Fairbanks, Alaska to be lent to the USSR to fight the German army. The cooperation exhibited by the two nations so opposed politically and culturally was a feat in and of itself but one that ultimately helped win the war. The statue also addressed the large role played by Soviet and American women in their own militaries at the time, helping either on the homefront, in factories or in combat.

See the bee?

Wildflowers

We strolled back to the car along the paved path that follows the Chena River through downtown Fairbanks and past some pretty flowers in various gardens.

We returned to the RV for dinner, drinks, and ice cream after spending a fair amount of time enjoying the evening sunshine at the campground.

What a gorgeous day!