Up early - slept w/ window open again, but again very warm in room, altho very pleasant outside. %$#$$ dogs were howling, barking and yipping all nite! Hard to sleep....The sun did not set, but it did go behind a mountain at some point during the nite.
After breakfast, we left at 8:30 to backtrack a bit to the settlement of Wiseman - population 13. Our tour included a stop for a visit w/ Jack Reakoff, a long time resident of the town who lives a subsistence lifestyle - he never buys meat - he kills moose for his meat. For income, he works for the tour co. hosting tours and giving them a glimpse into his style of life and also traps fox, marten, lynx, wolves etc. and sells the fur. It was a very interesting morning and the man is incredibly knowledgeable. His home was interesting also....We were invited in...you can imagine with no trash pickup the kind of stuff they have laying around. Of course it is a log cabin with outhouses in back. He does have electricity and has an internet connection that perks along at the speed of 14.4 which is half the speed of old fashioned dial up....
There is a log cabin museum in the settlement with lots of pictures, etc. We listened to Jack tell us about gold mining and the lifestyles in this area. I took lots of pictures there - everything was so different and fascinating.....around the base of a tree he was drying moose legs - from the knees down. I don't know what he was going to use them for but there were several skirting this one tree. He had beautiful fox, lynx, and marten pelts and told us how he has to pack meat out when he kills a moose for food. He has a special subsistence hunting permit and he cannot use a snow machine or 4 wheeler to help him pack out his meat. He has to carry it out on his back and it can take up to 6-7 trips to pack out the meat on an 1800 lb. moose. He grows his own vegetables and keeps meticulous records of temps, pressure, sunlight, etc. each day.
If anyone is interested in this kind of stuff he has a website - I think it is www.wisemanwolf.com and if that does not work, Google Jack Reakoff and see what pops up. It was a very interesting morning.
After leaving Jack's we made a quick stop back at Coldfoot and then on down the road. We stopped briefly at Gobbler's Knob for our last look at the Brooks Mtn. Range but the big stop was at the Arctic Circle sign. We had gotten some bubbly which we had iced down that morning and when we were there, we popped the cork and we all toasted our Arctic adventures. It was really good fun. Rob, our guide, rolled out the red carpet for us in front of the sign so we could stand on it and have our pix made. It would have been a good place to stop for lunch except the bugs - mosquitoes and black flies- were pretty bad there. Besides the cruise ship tour bus w/ LOTS of people on it were already there. We had been following them yesterday and today and kept bumping into them.
After the Arctic Circle we passed the Kanuti River and Kanuti wildlife refuge. Still no bear sign and we were also hoping for a peek at Bullwinkle. We have seen mama moose, but we wanted to see one with big antlers! We were running a bit later than anticipated so we broke out our lunches and ate on the bus.
Our next stop was Finger Mountain..named for a very unusual rock formation that looks just like a finger. It was a different landscape as all this granite was jumbled up on the surface of the ground. It was very interesting but we were getting a bit antsy by that time.
I have not said too much about the road we were on. the 422 miles of the Dawson Highway that runs from outside Fairbanks to Deadhorse is 98% gravel and/or dirt. In places it is rough. The paved sections are very prone to potholes and asphalt deterioration b/c of snow and ice so we were usually glad to get back on the gravel roads. Except for one area of construction where the gravel had not been compacted and was unusually large and rough, most of the gravel road was OK. At one point they were grading the road and the road was nothing more than this black (and I do mean black) muck. We met a motorcycle coming the other way through that....does not sound like fun to me. The highway is maintained year round and was closed for a severe fores fire a couple of years ago but that is rare. We bumped and bumped along forever it seemed.
Our next stop was at the Yukon River Camp - again trailers. This one is right on the banks of the Yukon River. We went in and got some ice cream and took a break from the bumping and shaking. The bridge over the river actually had wooden decking that is replaced every year. They use wood b/c of the shrinking/swelling caused by ice. Most all the bridges had plank decking. We also stopped at Joy, AK which had a small store and the bathroom facilities were literally outhouse style. But these were stylish outhouses...the one I used actually had a painting in it on the wall as well as an old tin pitcher with flowers in it. First time I have used a decorated outhouse! Jerry got a t-shirt there. We did stop on the road for pictures of the beginning of the Dawson Highway. We still had about 22 miles to go, but it was real highway the rest of the way.
After leaving at 8:30 a.m., we arrived back at the airport parking lot at about 8:30 p.m. We had made some new friends and had a wonderful time as shared experiences like that tend to create bonds. Lola and Loren from Canada are coming by the campsite in the morning to share some stuff with us and pick up a couple of pictures.
When we got back to camp, Jerry and Frank went to get the dogs while Barb and I unpacked and had a drink! We needed it! Then we snacked a bit but no one was really hungry. Jerry and Frank were planning our timetable so we could get our tickets for the glacier cruise. Frank and Barb are going to get those on base tomorrow. Barb and I were busy downloading pix and she was printing some for Lola and Loren. I made them a DVD of all the pix I took on this side trip as they were having trouble with their camera. He is a farmer in Ontario.
Back to our camper. Boy the dogs were really glad to be back! I went back on computer and Jerry went to bed. I thought I was really tired, but could not sleep and up till 1:30 on computer and then trying to sleep. oh well...what else is new! Good Night!!! Linda
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