Our final full day in Alaska was the most relaxing all day tour. We started with a steamwheeler ride on the Chena River and ended with gold panning!

Morning view from our hotel room, the sod-roofed Fairbanks visitor center.

Across from our hotel was the Bridge of Flags and St. Marys Catholic Church.

Ginger and Karen ready to board the Discovery III (it was about 45 degrees F at 9am)

View of back yard along the river, recent flood waters are receeding and leaving debris.

Piper plane taking off on the water next to our boat, floats used for landing gear.

Another water takeoff, Alaska has the most private pilots per capita.
Rivers are used for runways with floats in the summer, skis in the winter.

nice Fairbanks home along the river

puppies at sled dog kennel (viewed from the boat)

getting ready for sled dog demo given for our boat

racing back, pulling small ATV

dogs drinking and cooling off after the run in the icy cold river

ah, that was great!

reindeer at a reindeer farm

our boat had to turn around here because merging rivers were too flooded

recently flooded campsite

salmon wheel (traditional automatic salmon catching device)

salmon preparation demo, in front of traditional smoke house

salmon preparation demo, cleaned and ready to smoke in 30 seconds flat!

We got off the boat for awhile to tour a reconstructed Athabascan Indian village.

house with drying skins and dog sled

Karen in front of traditional spruce branch shelter

Ginger in front of traditional fur skin shelter

modern Athabascans sometimes raise reindeer now instead of hunting caribou

Alaskan Huskies come in many colors

The smartest dog is used as the lead dog, he knows he's the top dog!

native woman modeling traditional style Sunburst Parka

back view of Sunburst Parka, hand made by the narrator on the far left, who is the same woman who gave the salmon demo

inside view of bush cabin

Karen with lynx hide at trapper's cache (wolf on left, red and silver fox on right)

Karen in front of sod-roof post office

Ginger in front of sod-roof post office

front view of post office, smoke is from wood stove inside

Back on the boat for the return trip, they served us smoked salmon dip on crackers.
dip recipe: one can of Captain Jim's Smoked Salmon with 4 ounces cream cheese
(Karen called it "cat food" but Ginger got back in line 5 times)

after the boat tour, Ginger won the Iditarod dog sled race to Nome

No wait, Karen won!

on the bus ride through downtown Fairbanks around 1pm, temperature was 51 F.

We stopped at the official visitor center for the Alaska Pipeline, the only place the public can get this close, but still under surveillance. Each post holding up the pipe has a refrigeration system to keep the hot oil from melting the permafrost which could break the pipe.

Ginger and Karen enjoying a family-style Miner's Lunch

Ginger had reindeer stew and buttermilk biscuits

Gold Dredge No. 8, a preserved stream dredging machine

front view of the floating dredge, also showing piles of spent gravel tailings

Karen panning for gold

Ginger panning for gold

Small flecks on fingertip and in pan are 90% pure Gold!

Our gold is weighed by the assayer.
Karen found 2.7 grains (0.005625 oz)
Ginger found 3.5 grains (0.0072917 oz)
480 grains = 1 troy ounce.
Current Price of Gold

After we returned to our hotel, we went for an evening walk. The sun was out full on this statue in Golden Heart Plaza, a nice end to our final day in Alaska!

previous day      Return to Alaska 2008 Home Page