On Wednesday we left Coldfoot at 7 AM and drove to a little town called Wiseman (population 17 – mostly people who work in Coldfoot). There we had a talk by a local resident about the living conditions there. When we got out of the van, the mosquitoes found us - fortunately we had bug spray which helped. He had a bug zapper - looks like a small tennis racket. It is battery powered so everytime he hits a mosquito, it makes a zapping noise. Needless to say, it was going off all the time!
He and his wife live in this house:
![]()
It's powered by solar panels and propane. Propane is so expensive that they only use it when absolutely necessary. When the weather is decent, they sleep in a tent outdoors.
They don't need a refrigerator. They have a trap door in the floor of the kitchen and there is a hole about 3 feet deep. Because of the perma frost, they can keep milk, meat, etc. down there all year long and never worry about it getting too warm.
He is a hunter of course. Here are some of the antlers from the moose that he has killed.
![]()
He grew up here; his mother still lives here in this house:
![]()
Tours do come thru here on a regular basis (just like we were). As we were leaving, two more vans came in for a tour. This is a sign that he put up for everyone to see because so many people were emailing/writing him for more information after they got back home.
![]()
There is a general store in town (very unusual stuff for sale) where, if you find something you like, you just leave the money in an "honor" jar.
![]()
This is one of the walls in the store:
![]()
Although the town as 17 residents, you would not know it. They are in dense woods so you can't see your neighbors. Jack has about 4 acres - he mentioned that some people thought that this would be a good 'get-away-from-it-all' place to live, but land is actually very expensive.
He does have a garden where they grow alot of their vegetables, even this:
![]()
(Ruhbarb of course).
Here are a couple of other older buildings on his property:
![]()
![]()
Very interesting place. Winters are extremely harsh, with temps in the -40 degree range.
From there we continued south and saw animals (grizzly bear, dall sheep, and moose). We stopped at the Arctic Circle and had our pictures taken.
![]()
![]()
![]()
And we had our pictures taken crossing the line!!
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
From there we continued on our way south. At lunchtime, we arrived at this turnout where our guide liked to climb up the rocky embankment and have lunch there while taking in the scenery. It was called Finger Mountain.
![]()
This was the view from the parking lot. He said that alot of people want to walk out to it, but it takes about 45 minutes to get there due to the rocks and uneven ground.
![]()
Here we are on the embankment having lunch.
![]()
This was the view looking to the north, the way we had just come from. You can barely see the road in the distance.
![]()
After lunch we continued on until we came to the banks of the Yukon River. We took this picture after stopping at a store/restaurant for a break and it had started raining.
![]()
We walked down to the river. It starts in British Columbia, goes thru the Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska finally dumping into the Bering Sea, a distance of 1980 miles.
![]()
The roads continue to be most gravel most of the way.
![]()
![]()
We did run into showers a few times in the afternoon. This particular time a mother moose and her baby crossed in front of us. It happened so fast that we only got the baby.
![]()
Around 4 PM our guide needed to stretch his legs (again) so we stopped at this General Store. The owner and his wife (the Carlson's) met in Minnesota and moved out here. They have 23 children, 5 of which are their own; the rest were all adopted.
![]()
![]()
It was an interesting store with alot of neat stuff. Unfortunately, the lemonade stand was closed the day we were there.
![]()
The bathrooms were outside.
![]()
Our final stop of the day was at a gas station just north of Fairbanks. The guide needed to call in to the office to tell them what time we would be arriving so that they could arrange transportation for those in our group that needed rides to their hotel. These trucks were there, and, I thought they were something that we don't see in the lower 48.
![]()
![]()
He and his wife live in this house:
It's powered by solar panels and propane. Propane is so expensive that they only use it when absolutely necessary. When the weather is decent, they sleep in a tent outdoors.
They don't need a refrigerator. They have a trap door in the floor of the kitchen and there is a hole about 3 feet deep. Because of the perma frost, they can keep milk, meat, etc. down there all year long and never worry about it getting too warm.
He is a hunter of course. Here are some of the antlers from the moose that he has killed.
He grew up here; his mother still lives here in this house:
Tours do come thru here on a regular basis (just like we were). As we were leaving, two more vans came in for a tour. This is a sign that he put up for everyone to see because so many people were emailing/writing him for more information after they got back home.
There is a general store in town (very unusual stuff for sale) where, if you find something you like, you just leave the money in an "honor" jar.
This is one of the walls in the store:
Although the town as 17 residents, you would not know it. They are in dense woods so you can't see your neighbors. Jack has about 4 acres - he mentioned that some people thought that this would be a good 'get-away-from-it-all' place to live, but land is actually very expensive.
He does have a garden where they grow alot of their vegetables, even this:
(Ruhbarb of course).
Here are a couple of other older buildings on his property:
Very interesting place. Winters are extremely harsh, with temps in the -40 degree range.
From there we continued south and saw animals (grizzly bear, dall sheep, and moose). We stopped at the Arctic Circle and had our pictures taken.
The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line at latitude 66 degrees 33 feet North where the sun stays above the horizon for one full day on the summer solstice (June 21st) and below the horizon for one full day on the winter solstice (December 21st).
Our tour guide setup his own line:
And we had our pictures taken crossing the line!!
From there we continued on our way south. At lunchtime, we arrived at this turnout where our guide liked to climb up the rocky embankment and have lunch there while taking in the scenery. It was called Finger Mountain.
This was the view from the parking lot. He said that alot of people want to walk out to it, but it takes about 45 minutes to get there due to the rocks and uneven ground.
Here we are on the embankment having lunch.
This was the view looking to the north, the way we had just come from. You can barely see the road in the distance.
After lunch we continued on until we came to the banks of the Yukon River. We took this picture after stopping at a store/restaurant for a break and it had started raining.
We walked down to the river. It starts in British Columbia, goes thru the Yukon Territory, and then into Alaska finally dumping into the Bering Sea, a distance of 1980 miles.
The roads continue to be most gravel most of the way.
We did run into showers a few times in the afternoon. This particular time a mother moose and her baby crossed in front of us. It happened so fast that we only got the baby.
Around 4 PM our guide needed to stretch his legs (again) so we stopped at this General Store. The owner and his wife (the Carlson's) met in Minnesota and moved out here. They have 23 children, 5 of which are their own; the rest were all adopted.
It was an interesting store with alot of neat stuff. Unfortunately, the lemonade stand was closed the day we were there.
The bathrooms were outside.
Our final stop of the day was at a gas station just north of Fairbanks. The guide needed to call in to the office to tell them what time we would be arriving so that they could arrange transportation for those in our group that needed rides to their hotel. These trucks were there, and, I thought they were something that we don't see in the lower 48.
You can't see it on these tires, but I was told that almost all trailer tires will have a white paint mark on them so that the driver can see that the tires are turning. Otherwise if they freeze up, they could just be dragging and the tire would be ruined. If we see one, I'll get a picture of it.
We arrived back in Fairbanks at 7 PM, said our goodbyes, and walked over to the parking lot to get our truck. From there, it was back to the CG to get a good nights' sleep before leaving for Denali the next morning.
One final note – don't fly up to Fairbanks and expect to rent a car to drive the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse - most car rental agencies make you sign a statement that you will NOT take the car up there!
No comments:
Post a Comment