Day 25
Saturday, July 2
Fairbanks

The alarm went off at 6:00 this morning and I sure wanted to sleep a little longer, but we had a bus coming at 8:00 to pick us up and we couldn't sleep in even if we had wanted to. Boy, am I glad I got up and around and caught that bus. We went to the paddlewheeler the Discovery for a trip up the Chena River. It really didn't sound like to much to get excited about, but I was sure wrong.
 
 
 
After a little time wandering around their gift shop - that is an activity required at every stop - we boarded the Discover for our trip. The Discovery is a 4 deck paddlewheel riverboat that can accommodate up to 900 people. There were about 700 on our trip. Free homemade donuts and coffee awaited us as we boarded and took our seats. A member of the crew did a running commentary as we pulled away from the dock. He mentioned that many Alaskans have a plane as their 2nd car. Up and down the river on both sides were airplanes parked either in the water or in the driveway of many homes. Just then he said to look out the left side of the boat and a pontoon plane would be taking off, and sure enough he one came. He circled the area and came back in for a landing. As he was taking off he started talking to the guy doing the commentary. He told about how he learned to fly and why it is important for people in Alaska to have an airplane.


A little further down the river we stopped at a sleddog kennel.


 
 
 


The owner of the kennel, David Monson, came out and talked to us about how they train sleddogs. He had some puppies out at the river's edge and he talked about how he started training them when they were very young. He had a team of sleddogs hitched up to a 4-wheeler that didn't have an engine. He explained how they liked to run and how they followed the lead dog. Suddenly the dogs on the hitch started going crazy as did all the dogs in the kennels. They knew it was time to run. They took off pulling him on the 4-wheeler and they raced down the river, across a bridge, back up the river, across another bridge and back into the kennel yard. The whole time he was talking to us and telling why they ran so hard and how he always held them back a little until they were almost back home. This guy and his dogs have won the Yukon Quest dogsledding race 3 or 4 times. The Yukon Quest is a 1000 mile race from Dawson City to Fairbanks. Munson's wife, Susan Butcher, won the Iditarod race 4 times. She was known for her ability to train and race sleddogs. She died from leukemia a few years ago.

A little further down the river we reached the point where the Chena River runs into the Nenena River. The Nenena is the largest glacier fed river in the world. The water in the Chena was a dark brown while the water in the Chena looked like coffee with cream added. The difference in the color is due to the rock and dirt carried by the glacial water. The glaciers grind the rock and dirt into a fine flour like dust that colors the water. The Chena is colored by dirt from runoff from mountain snow as it melts.

We went back down the river a ways and an Athabaska Indian girl showed us how her ancestors caught, processed, dried and cured Salmon. She cleaned and filayed a Chum salmon. She said the Chum Salmon is used for dog food and the other species are used for human consumption. They caught the fish in a large rotating basket contraption that turns with the river's current. Fish are caught in the basket, fall into a chute and slide into a box on the side. They dry the fish after cleaning it.

 
 
 
 
The riverboat pulled into a dock and all 700 people unload into an Athabascan Indian Village. We were divided into three groups and guided to different areas for a presentation. The first presentation showed how the Athabascan's built their shelters. There was an example of a permanent home, a trapper's shack and a storage building for meat and other foods. She also showed us examples of the different animals they trapped and told how each was used for different clothing and other needs.



We then rotated to the 2nd station in the village and saw examples of the temporary shelters they used when they were hunting or on the move. She showed us a baby carrier and told how they constructed it. Also they had snowshoes and other hunting items. On the 3rd rotation we learned about the large animals they hunted and how they hunted them. They had grizzly bear, moose, and caribou hides hanging up front. The guide explained how they processed the hides and the various uses for them. She showed us different clothing items and explained how they were made. One of the girls wore a parka that was made from several different kinds of fur. The whole program was to help us understand the Indian's culture and how they survived in this harsh environment. It was an excellent program and we all enjoyed the whole cruise very much.

As we were going to the 2nd rotation, I told Jenna to sit next to two ladies wearing green jackets. I went to take a picture of some caribou and Jenna began talking to the women. One of them asked where we were from and Jenna told her Corsicana. She said, "My daughter teaches in Corsicana." When Jenna asked her where she replied, "Collins Middle School." Jenna said, "My husband was the principal there for 26 years." we couldn't believe it! It turned out that her daughter is Monique Morgan. She came to Collins the year after I left. What a small world we live in!

 
 
 
After we returned to the dock we loaded our bus and went to the Pumphouse Restaurant. The Pumphouse is a National Historical Site because back in the 30's it pumped water to a dredge used to mine gold. They used the water to wash the gold out of the dirt and rock and into a sluice. We had a great lunch of soup, sandwiches, Alaskan Rock fish, chicken, vegetables and apple/rhubard cobbler with whipped cream.

We returned to the RV park for a short dog walking break and then reloaded the bus for a trip to the Eldorado Gold Mine. On the way we stopped at a point where the Alaska Pipeline is above ground. Our bus driver explained how the pipeline zig-zags across 800 miles of Alaska from Barrow to Valdez. A "pig" was on display and a cutaway section of the pipe so that we could see how they clean the inside of the pipeline. He also explained how they prevent the permafrost from thawing from the heat generated by the pipeline. Thawing the permafrost would allow the pipeline supports to sink into the ground causing the pipeline to be damaged.


We reloaded the bus and went to the Eldorado Mine. Once we arrived, we loaded a train that took us up to the mine. On the way they had examples of different mining techniques used in Alaska. First was a tunnel and an explanation of how they found gold underground in a mine shaft. Next was panning for gold in a stream, and the final technique was dredging. A guy went from one type of mining to the next and demonstrated how each worked. We finally reached the mine and went around behind the building to rows of benches along a long sluice. Another "miner" showed how they would dump dirt and rock into a pile at the head of the sluice; then, they opened a flume that released a torrent of water into the pile of dirt and rock washing it down the sluice box. The bottom of the box was lined with metal grating on top of a burlap pad that caught the gold and separated it from the larger dirt and rock. The grating was remove and the burlap was picked up to be panned in order to find the gold. Just as they released the water from the flume, it started to pour down rain. Three or four guys got into the sluice box and started panning for gold. We didn't stay to see the results, but others in our group said they found gold.

 
 
 
 

As we left that site we went into a large covered building with benches on either side of several troughs of water. They handed each of us a bag of dirt and we sat on the benches and panned for gold. Gold mining is a very labor intensive job - panning is the final step and it is very tedious. We worked and worked and thought we had found gold only to be told that that what we found was not gold. More panning and some final help from the kids working there revealed several gold flakes in each of our pans. We scooped it into a little plastic tube and took it in to be weighed. I don't know how much we had in our two vials, but it was worth $27.50. You could have your "gold" put into a locket, and many people did just that. We chose to save our $$ and bring our gold home in the vial they gave us.

A long rainy bus ride brought us back to the RV park. We are worn out after such a busy day, but it was all fun, entertaining, and informative. Tomorrow we go to The University of Alaska for a tour of some museums and then we go to an Ice Museum. I'll let you know tomorrow what we found. Til then, Happy Trails!!