Saturday, July 3
Lisa arrived in Fairbanks at 12:30am (2:30am Utah time) after enjoying a smooth flight with a whole row to herself - what more can a pregnant woman ask for! Dusty’s supervisor, Jen, and her husband, Ian, generously prepared their workshop as a guest room for us and we both slept great despite the fact that the sun never set!
Jen and Ian live in a beautiful cabin they built themselves outside of Fairbanks and are currently finishing their dream home - a sustainable house that looks like it is right out of Dwell magazine. They hosted a party that night to celebrate the Fourth of July, where we met many interesting Alaska residents, most of whom work for or with public lands in some fashion. We also tried caribou and black bear ribs for the first time.
Sunday, July 4
Since it does not get dark in Fairbanks in July, we didn’t make an attempt to watch fireworks. After a morning and potluck at Northern Lights Church of Christ , we spent the afternoon preparing for leaving town. That evening, we enjoyed dinner at the historic Pumphouse Restaurant outside on the deck overlooking the Chena River. The food was ok, but the view was beautiful. And to satisfy Lisa’s pregnancy cravings, we stopped at Hot Licks Homemade Ice Cream.
Without research, exploring Fairbanks can be a little underwhelming. Winters here are harsh (down to 40 below!) and the actual town looks a little worse for wear. However, Dusty has been able to find some gems (like Hot Licks) that make exploring Fairbanks fun.
Monday, July 5
After saying goodbye to Jen and Ian, we spent the morning packing and grocery shopping for the week and then hit the road. The drive to Denali National Park is approximately 2 hours from Fairbanks. The campgrounds at the park were full, so we camped a few miles down the road. Our campsite was right on the Nenana River. It was a perfect spot to begin our baby’s first camping trip, except that the only facilities were an outhouse located up a steep staircase. Thus, being 6 months pregnant equated to a lot of exercise for Lisa. And while the 24 hours of sunshine made 2 am bathroom runs a lot less treacherous, it also made it difficult for her to sleep.
trying to wake up after a long night with the midnight sun (26 weeks)
Before bedtime, we took a trip down Park Road in the National Park. Denali is unique in the park system, in that most of the park is accessible only by bus and the park has only few trails near the main entrance. The rest of the park is undeveloped wilderness. As opposed to other parks where you are directed to “stay on the trail”, at Denali it is actually preferred for a group to spread out to prevent the land from being worn away in one area. Dusty will be looking into this further later in his trip as he studies “informal trails” in Denali where tourists have taken to using the same path over and over.
The Alaska Range
As we drove down the accessible part of the road, the following conversation took place:
Lisa: I think I just saw something on that gravel back there.
Dusty: What was it? Should I turn around?
Lisa: No, I think it was just someone’s dog.
Dusty: A dog? Like a wolf?
Lisa: No, it was a golden color, just a dog.
Dusty: Lisa, we are in the middle of the wilderness in one of the largest National Parks in America where the nearest town is miles and miles away. I don’t think it was someone’s dog. Was it running away?
Lisa: No, it was eating something.
Dusty (stopping the car and making a sharp U-turn): When you see an animal in a National Park eating something, tell me to stop!
As we pulled back to the gravel stream bed, we were just in time to see a large cat walking into the grass — a lynx!
Dusty: That was awesome! I have never seen a cat in the wild before! I think that is really rare! Um…let me know if you see any more dogs, Lisa.
Tuesday, July 6
After enjoying Jnn’s Camping Grits for breakfast (instant grits+real bacon bits+dehydrated scrambled eggs+cheese), we caught a Park shuttle for the 8 hour journey to and from Eielson Visitor Center.
caribou
wolf
Wednesday, July 7
Back on the road headed south, we had one last perfect view of Denali. The rest of the drive was cloudy, but beautiful as we made our way along the coast to Homer. By dinnertime, we arrived at the beautiful home of David (from Dusty’s rafting trip) and Marga who had generously invited us to travel with them the next few days.
view of Denali from the south
view from David and Marga’s home in Homer
juvenile moose on the loose in the backyard
Thursday, July 8
The next morning we loaded our gear onto the Odysseus (from Homer!) for our journey to Lake Clark National Park.
heading out to sea
rafting sea otters
humpback whale
The ride was wet, cold and stormy but enjoyable, though Lisa did get seasick. We enjoyed hearing about the lives and adventures of David (75) and Marga (80).
Friday, July 9
smooth seas - a welcomed sight
We were amazed to wake in the morning to clear skies and beautiful, calm waters. After an exciting ride to shore in the Zodiak (an inflatable motor boat), we were greeted by two volunteer park rangers, who seemed excited to see and visit with us. Apparently, we were the only visitors that day and due to bad weather, the park had been quiet. As we landed, we immediately saw two bears with two cubs eating clams down the beach. Later, we walked to the Park Service bear viewing station and were greeted by Verm, an employee of a overnight camp and bear tour facility outside of the park. Since they had no visitors, he invited us to use their viewing station to get a perfect view of the meadow where the bears like to gather by a river. Somehow, watching thirteen grizzly bears grazing in front of us was a pastoral scene; it felt like watching cows.
bear necessities
“do I smell a picnic basket?”
Before returning to the dock in Homer, we stopped to visit Gull Island. The rocks and surrounding waters were covered with thousands of birds - kittiwakes, murres, puffins, and more! It was an amazing scene, especially when we were joined by a bald eagle who set all of the birds aflight.
kittiwakes
murres
puffins
A dinner of fish and chips made from local halibut and rockfish finished off an almost surreal day.
Saturday, July 10
The next morning we enjoyed a quick visit to the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor’s Center, which was not only educational, but beautifully decorated with local art. We then headed to the Farmer’s Market where we observed Lisa’s cousin Daniel and his friend, Morgan, teaching local children face-painting and juggling. Having just finished a month in Morgan’s home town of Talkeetna running a circus camp for children, Daniel and Morgan made their way down to Homer where Morgan’s mother lives. The distance that we drove in a day, they explored for a week, stopping in small towns and performing with a small troupe. They plan to remain in Homer for a month, exploring and performing at various local festivals and events. We enjoyed catching up over a great lunch and marveled at the coincidence of being in Homer, AK (pop. 5000) at the same time.
hanging out with Daniel and Morgan
Needing to get back to Fairbanks in time for Dusty to be at work on Monday, we left Homer that afternoon and drove another 6 hours before making camp for the night.
Sunday, July 11
Before continuing on our journey, we stopped at the Matanuska Glacier. Located on privately owned land, the path to the glacier was marked out with orange traffic cones. It was another gloomy day and the setting was ominous. The huge river of white and blue ice was surrounded by dark grey mud. The lone figures on the landscape, we were joined only by cawing ravens. It was only on our way back that we passed guided groups prepared to spend the day traversing the ice.
it was a dark and gloomy day -perfect weather for experiencing a glacier
A few hours up the road, we stopped at the Visitor’s Center for Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest in the country. It is difficult to imagine how large and impressive this park is except to say that it is larger than Switzerland and has higher mountains. Though we didn’t venture beyond the park entrance, we enjoyed views of the park as we continued along the road.
The drive back to Fairbanks was long and passed through various small communities. While the Alaskan landscape is reminiscent of scenes from Lord of the Rings, we are still learning what to expect from the people of these remote places.
The rest of Lisa’s visit will be spent primarily in the Fairbanks area as Dusty returns to work and we settle for the week in a dry cabin (beautiful, with every convenience except running water!) on loan from one of his co-workers. These adventures definitely would not have been possible without the generous hospitality of those we have met here in Alaska. Though she won’t remember it, our baby has had some incredible journeys to start out her life.
chillin’ in Fairbanks with the musk ox