Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

The Steese Highway starts in Fairbanks and extends 161 miles to the village of Circle, located on the Yukon River.  Towns and places along the Steese Hwy include Fox (mi.11), Chatanika (mi.28), Twelve Mile Summit Wayside (mi.85.5), Eagle Summit Wayside (mi.107), Central and Circle Hot Springs (mi.128), and Circle (mi.162).

Yesterday, Lori and I met in the Sam’s parking lot at 9:30am - a halfway point between our homes. She loaded her camera gear and snacks into my car, and we were off.

The area with the magenta hills is about 120 miles from Fairbanks. The Steese Hwy is paved for about 60 miles, and then goes to dirt and gravel.  For the most part, the road was in great condition. I drove my Caliber, which isn’t high off the ground, and I didn’t have any problems.

The sun was shining brightly which isn’t the best condition for photography, as it causes colors to look rather flat and washed out. I didn’t take very many photos until we were well on our way.

When we came upon the cabins at Checkpoint 101 (Yukon Quest), we decided to stop and check them out. Our friend Georganne had just spent some time last weekend at Checkpoint 101. She and other folks in the mushing community, were working to get the place cleaned up and ready for another season.

There are several cabins on the property. We checked out two that have beds or bunks for the mushers to rest upon. Both had a kitchen in them, and wood stoves for heat. On a stop here, mushers can eat, take a nap, rest their dogs, dry out their clothes, enjoy a little socialization, and so on. It’s an inviting oasis when racing 1000 miles on a sled.

We next stopped at the Eagle Summit Wayside.  Major kudos to the folks responsible for maintaining the outhouse. The facilities here are, and have always been, impeccably clean. (Likewise the facilities at the Davidson Ditch rest stop)

I packed sandwiches for the trip, and this was the perfect time to have lunch. Off in the distance, I could see a pale magenta hue on the hills. I knew that a short distance down the road we were going to be dwarfed by hills of fireweed. I actually hoped that the clouds would roll in and enhance the color.

We drove for several miles before the first hill came into view. It didn’t look as brilliant as it has in past years. The flowers are about halfway up the stalk now, and I think it’s only going to get better over the next two weeks or so, when the blooms are closer to the top.

Nevertheless, it was gorgeous! What an amazing thing to see miles and miles of pink and magenta! If you’re local and haven’t been up the Steese Hwy to see this for yourself, you’re really missing out on one of nature’s greatest paintings.

Lori and I decided to continue to Central. She had heard that the Steese Roadhouse is now closed, and we went to check it out. There was a sign on the door announcing the closure, and we noticed that the gas pumps are gone from the front yard.  Will it still serve as a checkpoint for the Yukon Quest? I don’t know what the plans are.

We then drove out to Circle Hot Springs, 8 miles outside of town. From where we stopped (at the “no trespassing” sign), it looks very run down. It’s closed and up for sale, according to this website. While I’m a fan of roadtripping just to see pretty scenery, what is there in Central to draw tourists now? It was like a ghost town when we drove through; we only saw a handful of people.  I suppose those who choose to live in Central because it’s remote, aren’t too unhappy about that.

Clouds began rolling in as we began our trip back to Fairbanks. We made pretty good time to Central - a little more than 3 hours. I’m glad the road was in good condition.

We stopped a few times to take more photos of the fireweed on the return trip. The gray skies were really helping to enhance the colors. And the rain, when it fell, helped to keep the dust down on the road.

Despite the rain, we opted to drive into the White Mountain Rec Area via the road at Davidson Ditch (mile 57).  The view from the park road is gorgeous as it climbs over rolling hills. At the higher elevations, we saw several people picking blueberries which are quite abundant. Lori and I tasted a few, and they’re still too sour for us. They’ll be good in a couple of weeks (if they’re not all picked by then!).

We followed the road until it splits and goes off to two campgrounds: Ophir and Mt Prindle. We opted for Mt Prindle, as it’s only 4 miles from the entrance road, and it was raining again.

On the way out, as we climbed over the hills, we could see rain falling off in the distance. It was beautiful! Heavy clouds released dark streaks of rain, which appeared light colored in contrast to the dark hills.  You could see where each individual rain shower was falling.

The remainder of our drive back to Fairbanks was uneventful and quiet. We were both tired from the long day on the road.  I looked forward to getting home to Steve, and downloading my photos.  All in all, it was a fantastic day, and I’m so happy I was able to get up the Steese to see the fireweed. I’m also very thankful for my friend Lori, who is always available to be a roadtripping buddy, when Steve isn’t in the mood to go for a drive.

The first few photos here are some of my favorites from the day:

	Rain! whose soft architectural hands have power to cut stones, and chisel to shapes of grandeur the very mountains. ~ Henry Ward Beecher ~

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STRONG WINDS and PEACE OF MIND

Over the past week, we’ve had really strong winds. A couple of days ago, gusts reached 35mph and more.  Our house is surrounded by trees. Hundreds of trees. We have birch, cottonwood, and spruce. Many of the spruce aren’t in the best of shape.  They are either dead or dying, and their branches are drier than kindling.

When there are fires in AK, the spruce are usually the trees that catch the easiest and spread the fire. It is recommended that homeowners remove not only trees that are right up against the house (we have none that close), but also any dead or dying spruce within 100 feet of the home.  Since most of us live within wooded areas (and love the privacy and coolness that trees provide), removing trees within 100′ of a home isn’t always feasible.

When we moved into the house, the area at the rear of our RV driveway held three very tall spruce trees and a handful of smaller spruce saplings. Steve was able to remove the smaller trees, but the tall trees were too close to our power lines for him to attempt removal.

Everytime the wind blew, we’d watch those trees rock back and forth. While cottonwood and birch generally have a little more flexibility in their trunks, spruce don’t. Those three trees were located in an area that only had one direction they could fall and not cause any harm. If they fell in any other direction, they’d either hit our power lines, our home, or our camper.  Scary.

Two days ago, when the wind was really kicking, Steve and I kept an eye on those trees, praying that they wouldn’t go over.  We were watching TV when we heard a loud and deep THUNK! Steve sprang up off the sofa and checked the garage, thinking something out there had fallen.  Then we stepped out onto the deck and looked around the yard.

The tree closest to the house (at least 65′ tall) had gone down.  Miraculously, it fell in the only direction it could go and not cause any damage to our property - straight into the woods!  That was enough for us. Yesterday Steve called around to get estimates on tree removal, and today we had seven tall spruce cut down in our yard.  There are several more that have to come down, but they are in areas that won’t hit our house or the power lines, so Steve will be able to take them down himself.

The trees that were cut down will be cut up and hauled off by a friend whose church donates wood to needy families in the winter. Since we don’t have a fireplace or woodstove, we don’t need it. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The dangerous trees are down, and the wood will keep a family warm.  Because the tree removal guys didn’t have to do anything but cut them down, the cost to us was minimal. They were in and out of our yard in about an hour. (Call Eric at Great Alaska Tree Cutting for your tree removal needs!)

Until next time…