A Riverboat Adventure
Sunday, July 1 |
| Just to finish up on Fairbanks, we had a fabulous time on the highly touristy paddle wheel riverboat. The trip has been run by the Binkley family for 51 years. It seemed inconceivable to me that they could gave a meaningful experience to 700 people, but with a little tip from a taxi driver (sit on the port side) and a little wrangling to bring more chairs out on deck, we had a great view. The Chena river is tiny, barely more than a stream, but the paddle wheel only needs three feet of water, so we were fine. A few miles down the road we stopped at the home of Susan Butcher, the famed woman musher who won the Iditarod race four times. Now, with two small children, she doesn't race, but does raise and train dogs. From the (port) boatside we watched the littlest puppies learn how to climb over a log, assisted by her four-year-old. Then Susan, speaking with a wireless mike so all could hear, and funneled into the interior and starboard sides of our boat via video monitors, explained the different stages of training and then brought out some of the larger dogs, including the oldest one left from her prize winning trips in the late eighties. Susan has a record somewhat analagous to Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods: not only did Susan win the race four times in five years, but during a ten year period she also came in second another four times! |
| Further down the river we had another display of salmon harvesting using a large wheel to catch the fish. A native woman demonstrated how to filet them and lay them in the sun to dry off before placing them in the smoke house. From there we headed to an "recreated" native village where we got to see different kinds of housing and the making of clothing from furs. Here we also saw a further demonsrtration on dogsleds with a young woman named Jessie Royer who was Iditarod Rookie of the Year this past march. Look for that name in races to come! |
| Most interesting was the confluence of the small Chena River with its clear mountain waters and the gray muddy waters of the larger Tanana River which is the product of glacial melting. The silty water includes the fine (powder like) residue from the rocks torn up by the glacier. I hadn't realized that the poor salmon have to swim up through this ugly water to get from the ocean to the pristine streams where they were born. |
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and the murky glacial runn-off of the Tanana merge |
| Our last event in Fairbanks was disappointing. Now you might think we would know better than to go to a place called "Alaskaland," but in fact it came highly recommended and since it did not charge admission, we were less diligent in our research. We had dinner there at an open-air salmon bake which was overpriced even with the "all you can eat" premise. From there we headed back to enjoy the beautiful pool at our hotel and (praise be) use the coin op laundry which many more hotels should install. |
Wolverine fur is next to the face --
frost would not stick to it, and it was exceptionally soft.
