Wednesday 16 May 2012

Beaver Creek to Fairbanks Alaska


It started snowing last night about 9 o’clock.  By the time I woke up this morning, there was 1 ½ inches on the car, and it had settled on the ground.
                                     
My first thoughts were for the English cycling couple, Laurie and Edith, who were sleeping in a tent beside the road somewhere !!  So as soon as I had packed up and had my breakfast I headed off south, in the direction I had come last night, looking for them.  It was still snowing quite heavily as I drove and after 10 miles there was no sign of them – Perhaps they were hiding in a culvert, or maybe a hungry bear had got them !!!  Then I saw a car coming the other way, and jumped out and flagged them down – Yes they had seen them about 20 miles further back, and they were cycling south OK !!   So I could relax, and I turned round and headed north again.  Not soon after I had passed back through Beaver Creek, the snow stopped, and the sky started to clear up.



I headed out over rolling roads, with these funny stunted fir trees – They obviously have a really hard time in the winter here !!   Then we started up a bit of a hill, and over the state line into Alaska.  Shortly after that we went through the deserted Canadian border post, and about 5 miles further, at the top of the hill, we reached the US Customs. For the first time, I was asked for specific car importation paperwork, but the guy was very friendly and after about 5 minutes, after he had given me a few ideas of places to go and see in Alaska, I was on my way.
Within 20 minutes I decided to take the roof off – It was about 2 deg C and a cold wind was blowing, but the sky ahead looked perfect, so I stopped, and boiled the billy for a cup of tea while I took the roof off.  Soon I was back on the road, with a cup of tea to keep me warm on the inside !

The drive today was long – I left at 10 am and got into Fairbanks at 7 pm, so 9 hours in the saddle, with just a couple of stops.  And the road wasn’t particularly interesting, with a lot of very long straights, in particular one just on the other side of Tok which seemed to go on for ever.  But the ever present mountains to the west continued to cheer my spirits – They really are so majestic.  There was one straight ahead between the trees on the long straight out of Tok, and I just watched it grdually get bigger an bigger !!   Several peaks today over 15000 feet, so some big mountains over there.

At one stage we crossed the Robertson River, and as there was no traffic I was able to stop on the bridge to take some photos.  The ice was several feet thick, so there is still a lot of melting to go on !  Combine this with the other wide (like maybe a mile across) river beds that are virtually dry and waiting for the snow in the mountains to melt in order to fill them, and one gets some idea of the enormity of the systems here, and their dependence of each upon the other.  Hopefully the melt will start soon, so after a couple of weeks I will see a big contrast when I head down to Anchorage and the Kenai.

I stopped in Tok for lunch, and during lunch I made the decision to go to Fairbanks instead of Anchorage as it was 200 miles closer ! Additionally, I decided to start in the north, and try to reach the Arctic Circle as soon as possible, and then go to Denali NP before all the tourists arrive in June.  Then I can head south and see that area before heading south out of Alaska, and this will save me doing too much back tracking.    When I came out of the restaurant in Tok a guy named Bill, and his wife Tracie stopped me for a chat. They live in the Kenai and he very kindly asked me if  I would like to go out fishing with him when I get down there !!!   So we swapped numbers and I shall contact him when I head down there !!
Had the roof off all the way to Fairbanks, although there were a lot of grey clouds around, and you could see the rain falling locally.   But every time I was thinking "I had better stop and put the roof on" the road would suddenly turn away from that black cloud and head into blue skies again !  It was uncanny - Must have happened a dozen times or more during the day !  Hit a couple of minor showers, but nothing that came into the car too badly.
One thing I am finding difficult is the planning and sightseeing.  Obviously I have a rough idea in my head of where I want to go and what I want to see, but there is a lot more detail stuff when you finally get there.  And you also don't want to miss sights along the way because you haven't read about the day's sights before you set off in the morning !! When you are driving all day you can't read maps and guide books.  In the evening it is too cold to sit around and read maps and books, plus I am pretty tired.  So occasionally you just need to take a quiet day, sit around and read up on what you want to do locally and what there is to see, and then go for it.   But  it is just another thing that you don't realise will be the case until you are actually travelling long distances like this on your own.
Eventually arrived in Fairbanks and found a camp site in a place called North Pole just outside of town.  Yes, their entire industry is based on Christmas – 365 days a year !! (http://www.northpolealaska.com/)  Even the local haulage company has giant candy canes as the supports for the entrance archway to their yard !!  Only in America……!!!  I will go into Fairbanks in the morning and check out what tours I can get on, and then I will be able to work out when I can go up the Dalton Highway.  I might well take a day tour up there first in a 4 WD to see how bad the road is !! Will let you know what I find out tomorrow.
Interestingly for Lotus Elise owners, after doing 9 hours in the car, I only got my first "urge" to adjust my seating position just as I came into Fairbanks.  Thinking about it, I am quite stunned.  I have the original S1 leather seats with minimal padding, but inserted a little bit of hard foam in under the sheepskins when I had them fitted, and they have been absolutely superb comfortwise.  Can't recommend them highly enough for anyone doing big mileages in a car.  They also hide all the crumbs from the muesli bars I eat along the way !!! Poor Elsie is starting to look like a rubbish tip inside - Although a lot of it does blow out when the roof is off !!!