Alaskan Pipeline and Gold Dredge

I had to begin this post with scary fire photos. This is not the lodge fire we experienced in Alaska--see this post to read about that--this was a fire about four to five miles away from where I live!  It occurred in Deer Creek Canyon Park.  The suspicion is that teenagers exploding fireworks caused the fire. It has been hot in the 90s for a while and very dry and windy--all creating high fire danger. I was picking up my granddaughter from school when I took the photo in the upper left of the collage. My heart fell when I saw the smoke and heard the fire engine sirens. I knew it could be disastrous! The other photos were on social media sites for our fire department and sheriff. It took over 100 firefighters, 36 apparatuses and a helicopter to drop water to put out the fire.  Hundreds of homes in the Deer Creek Canyon area were evacuated for safety precautions.  Thankfully, there was no injuries or damage to any structures. We have incredible firefighters and law enforcement officers and they did a wonderful job keeping us all safe. Fire in the west is a persistent danger due to drought and low humidity which dries out the grass and brush. We always have to be vigilant! 

Back to our Alaska land and sea trip! The same day we took the Riverboat Discovery trip in Fairbanks we also had a bus ride to see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The pipeline was built between 1974 and 1977 after the 1973 oil crisis caused a sharp rise in oil prices in the United States.  It is one of the world's largest pipeline systems.

Please click on photo to enlarge it to read facts about the pipeline.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline travels 800 miles (1,287 km), has a diameter of 48 inches (1.22 m) and conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska. The crude oil pipeline is privately owned by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. 

A cross-section view of the pipeline

Construction of the pipeline was challenging due to the extremely cold Alaska winter weather, isolated wilderness, and permafrost. The project attracted tens of thousands of workers to Alaska, most who settled in Valdez, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. Every year Alaskan residents get to share oil revenue from the Alaska Permanent Fund. The amount paid to each citizen varies year to year, depending on the value of the state's vast oil reserves. 2015 saw the highest ever payout of $2,072 (£1,550) per citizen.

The next place that our tour brought us to was the Gold Dredge 8 National Historic District in Fox, Alaska.  There we rode aboard a replica of the narrow-gauge Tanana Valley Railroad and heard the conductor tell tales of prospectors who arrived by the thousands during the Fairbanks Gold Rush. We saw first-hand how the dredge worked the Alaska goldfields. The ladder dredge operated by the Fairbanks Exploration Company from 1928 to 1959. 

At the Gold Dredge 8 camp, we were given instructions on how to pan for gold.  It was fun trying to separate the gold flakes from the rocks and water.

These tiny gold pieces were the end results of my panning.

My husband and I combined our pieces of gold and brought them to be weighed, where we were told we had $27 worth of gold. The pieces can be added to earrings or a necklace sold at the camp but we opted to just bring them home as souvenirs.  There was a nice gift shop at the camp and I bought other souvenirs, and we enjoyed the free hot chocolate and cookies offered to the customers.

Please click on photo to enlarge to read the timeline of gold discoveries in Alaska.

The search for gold opened many a western territory to exploration and settlement and it was interesting to step back in time to see a historic portion of the Fairbanks gold rush!  The next day we would visit Denali National Park--my next post.

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Riverboat Discovery in Fairbanks, Alaska

After a rough beginning to our trip to Alaska, it was good to finally be able to enjoy the first excursion to sail on a fully narrated three-and-a-half-hour tour on the Riverboat Discovery along the Chena and Tanana Rivers. Since 1950, the Binkley family has operated these riverboat tours in Fairbanks, Alaska.

It was a beautiful day, complete with a rainbow in the sky!

We sat on the top of the riverboat so that we would have a good view of the river.

The Riverboat Discovery goal is to give a complete Alaskan experience, and one of the unique aspects of life in Alaska is traveling by bush floatplane. A bush pilot took off and landed right next to the riverboat as the pilot shared his stories of village life and explained the vital role planes play in remote Alaska.

As we sailed we saw an eagle sitting along the river, and saw some caribou.

We also saw many beautiful homes along the river banks!

The riverboat stopped alongside the shore of the home and kennels of the late four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher, and the Trailbreaker Kennels, located along the Chena River. We learned first hand about kennel life and the challenges that go into making a champion dogsled team from Susan's daughter. We also saw the puppies play in anticipation of joining the team.

The riverboat later stopped at the replica of Chena Fish Camp, where we saw a demonstration of how Alaskan Athabascan 

natives traditionally prepared salmon for smoking and drying.

We also enjoyed a one-hour stop at a replica of a Chena Indian Village, where Athabascan native guides showed us what a traditional village looked like, and gave us insight into their heritage. We learned about their connection to the land and animals of Alaska, their modes of travel, traditional living quarters and their traditional clothing made of animal hide and furs and decorated with beautiful beadwork.

It was wonderful to relax and enjoy the views along the river.  After the tour, we returned to the landing and dined family-style in the dining room. After lunch, we had a few more adventures--more about that in my next post!

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