Alaska Trip: Day Five, Fairbanks

081015

Monday

8:00 am

Bags out & we are off in an hour to Fairbanks,
panning for gold & a river raft float trip this evening!

It was quite a moment - standing in Fairbanks, Alaska - a childhood dream realized for Greg.

One claim to fame for Fairbanks is that it's the home of the Yukon Quest,
a dogsled race covering 1,000 miles from Fairbanks, Alaska to
Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory of Canada. The route follows
historic gold rush migrations & the Yukon River.

We met dog musher Kyia Bouchard, owner of this museum.

Musher wannabe photo #4 (I think)

This really captured our imagination!

Every kid's winter dream :-D

Another bear photo...

Excursion to Gold Dredge #8 included ducking under the Alaskan pipeline!
They have it raised up to in certain areas accommodate caribou migrations & wildlife.

Amazing to hear how there is an eye on every bit of it.

Off to pan for gold!

G got a little advice on technique.

We ended up with $35 worth between the two of us,

but spent a wee bit more than that in the gift shop...

Dinner and a lazy Midnight Sun river raft float down the Chena River 

with our extreme excursion Arctic Circle partners, Connie & John.

 This bad boy guarded this whole stretch of river.

We startled a family of mergansers as we came in to dock.

Our host shared about what it's like to live in the bush.

Loved the chance to get out & see some local scenery & relax.
Tomorrow? On to the Yukon!