The Salmon have swum up their rivers,
and the evenings have begun to give the
shivers,
Canadians are plotting their southerly
routes,
the days have shortened without a
doubt,
So pack your things;
toothbrush, hat, and tools to swing,
Big boots, thick socks,
The trip will begin down by the dock,
Where the compass reads north,
Set the course,
Toward the Night sky's glow!
Yukon Ho!
In lieu of my typical work schedule of
heading for a southerly summer on the sun drenched slopes of Ross
Island, I have traveled to the far reaches of my own continent this
time, to work with a friend in Fairbanks - “The Golden Heart of
Alaska."
Alaska is now off my final frontier
list of states that I have visited (North Dakota, Maine and New
Hampshire still on the list), and thankfully I did not have to ride
the sea ice to get here. Quite civilized like - I took a Ferry.
We set sail on a clear evening,
cruising out of the bay on the Alaska Marine Highway System. This
series of ferries connects the outlying and otherwise inaccessible
communities (such as Juneau – the capitol) to mainland Alaska. The
ferries run up the inside passage from Bellingham, WA and then across
the Gulf of Alaska, and down the Aleutian Islands all the way to
Unalaska and Dutch Harbor.
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| Still in my bag, waking up to some typical SE Alaska Weather |
From the Solarium on the rear deck, I
enjoyed not only the fresh air of the west coast, the views of
thousands of islands, and several whale sightings, but also a lounge
chair to call my home! Camping on deck is the way the Alaskans do
it, it's cheap, and I think the best way to meet folks on the
journey. One man I met from North Carolina is trying to visit every
county in the US!
We experienced some wonderful weather
on the way up, lots of blue sky and sunshine. Petersburg might have
been the nicest weather we saw, and we only ran into dense fog once –
two crew members were leaning over the bow as we crept through narrow
island passages with only 30 ft. of visibility!
 |
| Petersburg - a piece of the panorama at the top of the post. |
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| Ketchikan in clear weather at dawn. |
I hopped off in every town that we had
a chance to. Picked up a hot breakfast in Ketchikan, walked to the
docks in Petersburg, and picked up a truck in Juneau... A truck to
drive to Fairbanks! Through the great connecting Oracle of the
Internet I found my way into an agreement with someone to drive their
truck up to Fairbanks from the Ferry stop in Haines. The truck was
in Juneau, so I hopped off the ferry and drove myself and my ride
back on.
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| A light station in Canada. |
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| Kluane National park, Yukon. |
The pictures speak for themselves I
think. Stunningly beautiful, all the way up.
Home! For the next two months I'll be
living and working in Fairbanks, helping to build a Falafel Shop to
replace the Pita Place's Trailer. A log cabin to call home with
electricity and an oil furnace.
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| The logs of our cabin were scribed to the point where a credit card fits into few of them! |
Running water is a convenience that has
not reached too deeply into the interior of Alaska, even in
Fairbanks. We haul our water in big blue water containers and as one
friend recently said when he couldn't remember which side of the
faucet the hot water came from – Hot water is on the stove, cold
water is on the floor!
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| North Pole of course! (North Pole, AK) |
