Chena Hot Springs

Chena Hot Springs is about an hour from Fairbanks.  We took a day to check it out.  The hot springs come out of the ground at about 165 degrees.  They use the water to run a electric power plant for the property, to heat the buildings, to heat the green houses, and still have plenty of water for some very nice hot tubs.  One of the hot tubs is really more the size of a large swimming pool.  We went in the big out door pool...twice.  Once before our tour and lunch and once after.

Tomatoes from the green house

They also have a large ice bar with incredible ice sculptures.  Yes this is all made from ice.

Our bartender making appletinis poured into ice glasses.

Fairbanks and WEIO

WEIO stands for World Eskimo-Indian Olympics.  We had seen these would be held in Fairbanks and planned to be there.  While in Barrow we heard more about it.  The event lasts 4 days but we attended only one and it was great.

Each event is an exercise that develops strength, endurance, agility or any combination.  These are all exercises that were and are used in the native villages to stay in shape during long winter months so when spring and hunting time comes the villagers are physically ready.  We saw the men's and women's stick pull, the two foot high kick, the ear pull, native dancing and women's blanket toss.  More on each later.  One aspect of the events is the culture they come from.  It is important for the survival of the village that everyone succeed.  So during the events if one athlete is struggling with the event the other athletes will come over and talk through the mechanics of the event, verbally encourage them and cheer them on as they attempt the event.  Don't get me wrong, each athlete wanted to win but they also wanted to see their competitors succeed. This is very different from what we normally see in competitions.  Back in the villages when one hunter or whaler is successful they share the harvest with the village. No hunter or whaler goes out to kill, instead it is believed that if the person is respectful and honors the animal it will give itself to the hunter and the village.  If the body of the animal is respected and well used the spirit of the animal will tell other and they will give themselves as well.   It is not an ownership thing, it is a survival thing.

Another part of the culture is the elders.  The term senior citizen is not used.  Elders are not only respected but are honored.  As various people spoke from the podium they would introduce themselves and tell their parents and grandparents names with pride. OK enough of that, lets get to some pics...

Stick pull simulates grabbing a live salmon

The blanket toss is done as a celebration of a successful whale harvest.  They asked for volunteers, so I did.  50 of us held onto to an old whale skin with rope handles.  I looked kind of like a trampoline but no bungees, just rope. The a contestant would get on the middle of the blanket and we would toss them as high as we could.  The winning jump was based on height, coordination and landing upright.  It was hard work but what a blast!

Full tanks

We had been camping without any services for several days. We love boon docking but it does mean we have to conserve on water.  After several days of camping off the side of the road we needed to empty our black(poop) and gray(shower/sink) tanks.  Plus we needed to refill the fresh water tank.  This is not a big deal and we do it regularly.  This time was different.

We were parked at mile 244 on the Parks highway and were leaving there to head toward Fairbanks.  About a 2 hour drive.  Another camper we spoke with said the Fred Meyer grocery store in Fairbanks had a dump station and water.  Great, we can take care of the tanks, get gas in both vehicles then head over to the Elks lodge and park.  When we arrived at Fred Meyers there was no dump station.  But their price on gas is always lowest around and we get a 3 cent per gallon discount.  So we filled Harvey and the car. Then we went in and did some grocery shopping.

The gas station attendant said he thought the Holiday station about 1/2 mile away had a dump station.  So after putting the groceries away, we drove the car over to Holiday to check it out.  No dump station!  Then we used an app call "Dump stations", yep, there's an app for that.  It tells you all the dump stations in an area you designate.  We found one and drove Harvey there only to find they had no water supply to rinse the tanks or the equipment.  Of course I did not discover this until after I had emptied the black tank.

A side note here, connecting up the drain line to Harvey and the other steps needed to empty tanks is not complicated.  It is difficult to write about it, but it's basically a pretty simple process.  It also means that I have to remove all equipment from the utility cabinet to connect the soil line.  When done I disconnect the soil line and stow all the stuff that came out of the cabinet.

When emptying tanks you always empty the black tank first. Then refill it with a fresh water source and drain the tank again.  This gets the tank really empty, then empty gray allowing the gray water to flush the soil out of the line before you put it away.  But with no water source to fill and rinse the black tank I had no choice but to empty gray, which I did but was not happy about the condition of the tanks and we still had not filled fresh water.

So we looked for another dump station, found one, called to be sure and headed over.  The plan was to refill black, drain, fill fresh and be gone.  When we got there we found the water supply by the dump station was broken.  Perfect!  But, the store manager was near by and said we could use the spigot coming out of the side of the building.  So we pulled Harvey up to the building and filled the black tank.  Since this was potable water we also filled our fresh water tank.  The water supply at dump stations is never potable. Potable water source is always kept away from the dump sight. Then we pulled back to the dump station and emptied black.  Each time I have had to remove and stow equipment.  Finally we had the task complete and headed to the Elks.  It took us more time to get the tanks taken care of than it did to drive from Denali NP to Fairbanks.  Not the best day, but it could have been worse.

Meeting friends

One of the great joys we have traveling is staying in touch with folks.  Once in awhile we get to meet up with friends from our lives before hitting the road.  That was the case in Denali.  Thru Facebook Diana learned that some friends of ours from the Brandermill Church in Midlothian, VA were going to be in Denali on a tour.  We adjusted our schedule by a few days and were able to meet up and have dinner with them.  We love our road life but do miss the church community and our friends.

Diana, Linda, Sarah, Martin, Elizabeth and Bob

If you are traveling, keep us posted we may be able to meet up somewhere we never expected.

Denali NP and area

We did not stay in Denali NP.  Instead we stayed about 30 miles south on the Denali Highway.  Don't be mislead by the name, it is a very rough gravel road connecting Cantwell to Paxson.  One morning outside I looked out and saw a moose just outside the RV.  By the time we got a camera she was in the bushes.

She's in there, trust me.












A few days later we moved north of the park to mile post 244.  Again we just pulled off the road and parked for a few days.  While there we took a 12 hour bus ride into Denali.  But not just into it, all the way to the end of the road.  we saw tons of wild life including moose, grizzlies, caribou, dahl sheep and plenty of birds.  A long but wonderful day.

The flight

While in Talkeetna we took a flight on to Ruth glacier which is on Denali.  It was fantastic!  Ruth Glacier is one of many glaciers on Denali.  So now we have seen the mountain and walked on it.

Glacier path with Denali in background

Glacial path

Our shadow as we landed on Ruth Glacier

 

Not dead, just making a snow angel.

It is just overwhelming how vast this area is and how spectacular the mountains are.

Talkeetna

Talkeetna is located off of AK 3. We did not stay in a campground but found a nice pullout along the Talkeetna spur road.  We were at mile 12.3.

  The town is located near the confluence of 3 rivers and is basically a tourist town but also a great spot for fishing. While it is some 130 mile from Denali, which means "Great One","Tall One", "mountain Big"or other interpretations of several Athabaskan languages. You can get a spectacular view of the mountain if she decides to unwrap herself of clouds.  Over the 4 days we were there we got several views.

We took a hike one day and kept finding these cool looking mushrooms.  No we did not try them.

While hiking we also managed to find some gooseberries, and some blueberries.  We did try those and they were tasty! 

Talkeetna is also home to Denali Brewing Company.  We tried that, too.