Ah, well, it ended too quickly. Creeping dread snuck it’s way in during the previous day’s train ride up to Fairbanks. I’m happy where I live, sure. It’s a nice place, with great people. And I looked forward to getting home. But, still yet, leaving Alaska is the worst part about going there.
Somewhere along the way our car’s guide asked where we were from. Turns out she’s from Cleveland, which is about 4 hours drive from where I live. Of course that brought on an extended conversation that ended with her offering us the best advice of the trip. She told us to rent a car then drive out to Chena Hot Springs.
I didn’t know what to expect from that last day and the thought of renting a car at first seemed like a bad, expensive idea. But it grew quickly on me when I realized it would be an opportunity to direct our own course. The next morning I called around and found a car for the four of us at a decent enough rate, and at the airport to boot. It all came together perfectly. Visions of us sitting at a bus stop for an hour quickly vanished.
So I was feeling good driving myself for the first time in about 2 weeks. This would be the first time I’d driven anywhere in Alaska too, and I was happy to be free of the rigid schedule the cruise line had planned for its travelers. Our red-eye back to Cincy wasn’t until 10pm, so we could pretty much do what we wanted, and that’s what you want when you go to Alaska and you’re there on a glorious summer day.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Fairbanks is pretty much like any other American city. People get up and go to work in the morning, have lunch at a fast food place, and shop at one of two local Fred Meyer megastores. And there would have been plenty to do certainly to keep us busy until our appointed evening departure for home, but the long drive out to Chena Hot Springs was exactly what I needed the last day of the trip.
On the way, just outside of Fairbanks, we stopped at yet another familiar spot, the Fox Visitor’s Center where the Trans-Alaska pipeline emerges from the ground and starts a length of elevated pipe. You can get close enough to climb on the pipeline, and signs warn those not smart enough to avoid that stunt that its not in their best interest to climb upon the metal, round tube some 20 feet above the ground. It’s a good way to get hurt. We were there about and hour before continuing on.
Somewhere along the way our car’s guide asked where we were from. Turns out she’s from Cleveland, which is about 4 hours drive from where I live. Of course that brought on an extended conversation that ended with her offering us the best advice of the trip. She told us to rent a car then drive out to Chena Hot Springs.
I didn’t know what to expect from that last day and the thought of renting a car at first seemed like a bad, expensive idea. But it grew quickly on me when I realized it would be an opportunity to direct our own course. The next morning I called around and found a car for the four of us at a decent enough rate, and at the airport to boot. It all came together perfectly. Visions of us sitting at a bus stop for an hour quickly vanished.
So I was feeling good driving myself for the first time in about 2 weeks. This would be the first time I’d driven anywhere in Alaska too, and I was happy to be free of the rigid schedule the cruise line had planned for its travelers. Our red-eye back to Cincy wasn’t until 10pm, so we could pretty much do what we wanted, and that’s what you want when you go to Alaska and you’re there on a glorious summer day.
As I mentioned in a previous post, Fairbanks is pretty much like any other American city. People get up and go to work in the morning, have lunch at a fast food place, and shop at one of two local Fred Meyer megastores. And there would have been plenty to do certainly to keep us busy until our appointed evening departure for home, but the long drive out to Chena Hot Springs was exactly what I needed the last day of the trip.
On the way, just outside of Fairbanks, we stopped at yet another familiar spot, the Fox Visitor’s Center where the Trans-Alaska pipeline emerges from the ground and starts a length of elevated pipe. You can get close enough to climb on the pipeline, and signs warn those not smart enough to avoid that stunt that its not in their best interest to climb upon the metal, round tube some 20 feet above the ground. It’s a good way to get hurt. We were there about and hour before continuing on.
Shortly after turning on to Chena Hot Springs road we stopped at the Pleasant Valley Store, a sort of general store-type place with an adjoining US Post Office that told us the town was called Two Rivers - ZIP code 99716. The ladies bought coffee, I poked around the property taking pictures and talking to a local having a coffee of her own inside the store. It’s common for the locals to ask where we tourists are from in the “Lower 48” as they call it. This particular lady had just up and moved to Alaska to get away from it all and had been there awhile. It’s definitely a different life, and the people seem to be very happy with the challenge and culture that comes with it.
And off we went again, driving out the two lane road built exclusively for the purpose of connecting Chena Hot Springs Resort to the rest of the civilized world. Imagine a 60 mile two lane road built exclusively for a relatively small little spot where hot springs bubble up at a constant temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit and the Aurora Borealis can be seen more clearly than any other place on earth. Sure, the resort is small by any standard, but it’s involved in a lot of other work. A sign on the property close announced a US Department of Energy project where a 3,000 foot well was drilled right next to one of the resorts main attractions, the Aurora Ice Museum. They were determining the feasibility of using the resort’s supply of geothermal energy to supply electricity for the close by Eielson Air Force Base.
Still yet, even with the energy and agricultural research going on, Chena Hot Springs is first and foremost a resort. It is open year round, even in the brutal central Alaskan winter, which I was told is actually the best time of year to be up there.
The cold Alaskan nights make for particularly clear skies, so the Aurora is particularly brilliant during the cold months. Among other ways, visitors catch the lights from the 165 degree comfort of the hot spring pools. They say Christmas is their busiest time of year. People hop in these pools no matter how cold it is...
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| Photo Courtesy Chena Hot Springs Resort |
The resort offers various activities, including snow coach tours to see the lights, or horseback riding. There are various educational opportunities, and they offer several packages for overnight and longer stays. For a nominal fee of $15, you can tour the Aurora Ice Museum, which has been featured on the Travel Channel and other news documentary shows. The interior of the building is a constant sub-freezing temperature to keep all of indoor fixtures and furnishings in a solid form. And I mean everything is made out of ice. Jousters, a huge chess set, an igloo, a fully functional bar, and even an indoor outhouse can be seen.
And if you’re really nuts and have $495 burning a hole in a pocket of the giant parka they loan you, you can stay the night and sleep on one of the beds carved out of ice. That doesn’t happen very often. The guide for that tour told us they’d had a couple from New York pay the money to stay not too long before our visit, and they didn’t make it through the night. Seems like the beds would be a little bit firm for me.
If you kick in an extra $5, after the tour is over, you can hang out at the bar where they’ll serve whatever drink speciality they’ve worked on for that day in a glass carved from ice. It was apple martinis this day.
I spent the entire time shooting. The ice sculptures are all highlighted with LED lights that rotate through various colors, and that made it easy for me to forget the time. The intricate detail of the work makes for compelling photography when coupled with the lights. The two jousters have been there over three years.
After the tour, we started our trip home, from Chena Hot Springs to Cincinnati. On the trip back to Fairbanks I was spent, and tired, but satisfied certainly. We hadn’t had much luck with wildlife to this point, and I had no idea yet how many pictures I had taken. I had a chance to peek at some of them. I was disappointed with the 200 or so frames I shot of Denali and had no idea what I’d do with them. I was conversely happy with the eagles, and the glaciers. But the animals eluded me, except for the Dall Sheep and puppies of course.
My Aunt Sharon had said throughout the trip all she really wanted out of the experience was to see a moose. We’d passed a moose on our train trip up to Denali, but that was highly transient. There it is, we wall ran to the window… Is squeezed the release a few times, then it was gone. So that really didn’t count for much and I was a little sad that she missed her chance.
But then, up ahead, there was a car pulled off to the side of the road, doors open, like driver and passengers had quickly jumped out to see something. As I came upon it, I pulled in behind, and found the telltale sign of tourists craning their necks and pointing… We crept up behind them, smiled our greetings, then they pointed for us and there it was!
I’d say this moose is about a hundred yards away. Don't let the closeup fool you, this picture is cropped way down. Between us and her was a swamp or lake of some sort, so we were relatively safe. The moose was clearly content feeding on the other side of the lake from us, and Aunt Sharon could barely contain her excitement.
This would happen two more times on the way back, and we stopped each time. I could sense the clock running, and we were cutting the schedule close if we wanted to catch a bite before going to the airport. But still, these shots even though they’re severely cropped and way too noisy for low ISO daylight shots, were the perfect end to an excellent visit to Alaska.
And thus ends our 2009 Alaska trip. Would I go back? Right now. Risa? When are we going?
See all of Alaska Day 12 - Fairbanks to Chena Hot Springs here…
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