Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

The Yukon Quest is a 1,000 mile (1,600 km) race between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska. The Yukon Quest Race Start alternates annually between these host cities, and this year it started here in Fairbanks.  The starting line is on the Chena River near the Cushman Street Bridge.  Before the mushers and teams go to the line, they assemble in an area near the Fairbanks North Star Borough building.

In past years, spectators could visit with the mushers and teams while they were preparing for the race. My plan was to go to the staging area first, where I planned to take some photos of the dogs being hooked up and the sleds being loaded with supplies.  But that didn’t work out. It seems you need a special pass to get into that area now. Without a pass, you are only permitted to wander around the perimeter of the staging area. While you can see much of what is going on from the perimeter, it’s not the same. I was very disappointed and came away from that area with only a couple of photos.

I met up with a fellow photographer downtown and we found a place standing along the chain link fence that edges the first 50 yards or so of the starting chute.  It was tough to get photos, as you’re bound to have someone get in your way. It’s just the nature of the sport - especially at the start.

I usually stay in town to see Lance Mackey go off the line. He’s a favorite, and gets quite the cheer when he appears at the start. However, he pulled bib 16 (out of 24), which meant that if I hung around to watch him start, I’d miss a lot of the action further down the river - where photo ops are much more desirable. So I only stayed until the 12th musher left the chute, and then drove onto Fort Wainwright, where I set up on the river near the golf course.

While there’s no discounting the excitement of being down on the river, surrounded by cheering fans, I really prefer being a little further down the river where it’s much more quiet and has nature as a backdrop. A couple of friends and I went out on the frozen water, just past the one lane bridge. It didn’t take long before Dave Dalton (#4) came into view. From then on, it was a steady parade of mushers and teams.

In the photo below of the race start (taken from the pedestrian bridge), you can also see the Cushman Street Bridge, the Mariott Springhill Suites Hotel, the Yukon Quest Headquarters (log cabin in front of the hotel) and the Key Bank building (brown). A little history about the Key Bank building: It was completed in 1982, but the history of the bank on this lot goes back to the early 1900’s. It was here that “Square Sam” Bonnifield, a miner turned gambler turned banker, built the First National Bank of Fairbanks in 1905. Bought by E.T. Barnette (Fairbanks’ founding father) in 1909 and subsequently run by his partner R.C. Wood, the First National Bank of Fairbanks survived the 1911 banking fiasco that caused Barnette to flee from Fairbanks in the middle of the night. It was the oldest national bank in the state before becoming Key Bank of Alaska in 1989. (Some people claim it’s haunted, as the building was a hospital during the 1918 flu epidemic, and there are claims of hearing voices and crying)

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The night before last, there was a buzz in town about the appearance of the aurora. I saw several photographs taken by local friends showing thick green bands of light arcing over the landscape. It made my heart skip a beat to know that we’re back in aurora season again.

Actually, the aurora dances overhead all year long, but we can only see them when we have dark enough skies. During the summer months, it’s too bright to see the aurora, but generally the period from late August to mid April offers great possibilities.

What I love about early and late season aurora viewing is that it’s not freezing cold. Last night, the lights made another appearance and I was able to go out in my driveway (with my camera, of course!) wearing only pajama bottoms, a tank top and sandals. It was probably in the 50s, so I was a little chilly, but there was no way I was going back in for a sweatshirt!

The aurora danced above for a good hour, and at one point the sky was filled with a storm of light and huge corona formation.  Here are images from last night. You can see the Big Dipper in many of them. Also, in the first photo of the second row (image 4), the star you see above the center tree is actually Jupiter. It was a beautiful night!

I hope this is only the beginning of a fabulous year of aurora viewing!

Until next time…

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I am so sorry for my absence. We have been so incredibly busy. It seems that July and August ran into one month and the days seem to be flying by.

Steve’s sister Julie left yesterday. We had a wonderful time with her, and had quite a few Alaska adventures and a good bit of sightseeing. I won’t be posting photos or commentary from her trip in this blog entry, as I have other photos to post, and things to write about, from the weeks prior to her arrival.  I’ll try to get a second blog entry up later on tonight (about Julie’s visit), but no guarantees!

Let’s see if I can figure out where to begin…

BREMNER - MORE INFO

I photographed several pages from an info binder at the Bremner Bunkhouse. In the binder were several documents pertaining to not only the area we were staying in, but the surrounding mines that make up the Bremner Historic Mining District. Here is some information about the area where Steve and I camped:

Historic Name: Yellow Band Gold Mines Camp; “Main Camp”.

Significance:

• Great Depression era mining.
• Lee and Peyton Raymer (Bremner Gold Mining Company) and Asa Baldwin (Yellow Band Gold Mines)
• Lode Mining: 1934-42, 1960s
• Domestic life: Repair and Maintenance Facility

The Yellow Band Gold Mines Camp is the most visible and well-preserved component of historic mining activity in the Bremner Historic District. The camp preserves a variety of vernacular architectural forms, and effectively portrays the small-scale nature of operations. A variety of transportation equipment (bulldozer, dump truck, wagon, sleds) is also located around the campsite.

Description:

The site is located in the floor of Golconda Creek Valley, one mile south of Bremner Pass. Site is accessible by the Yellow Band-Mill haul road. The site includes two  building clusters with a total of seven standing structures. Vegetation comprises low willows, dwarf shrubs, lichen and herbaceous plants.

Historical Summary:

This campsite played an important role in supporting lode-mining operations from 1934-41.

In the mid-1930s, the Bremner Gold Mining Company constructed a hydroelectric power system on Falls Creek. On the valley floor, the company built a powerhouse and the building served as the primary power supply for mining operations during the working season. After the consolidation of mining claims in 1938 by the Yellow Band Gold Mines, a campsite was constructed in close proximity to the powerhouse structure. Most buildings were sledded from their former location at the Bremner Gold Mining Company camp near the pass saddle. Between 1939 and 1941, this site represented the center of operations for lode mining in the Bremner District. Some reuse of the structures probably occurred in the 1960s and 1970s during salvage operations by Yelinore, Inc. This may have included the removal of water pipe sections for the construction of an aerial tram to the Sheriff Mine.

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Yellow Band Mining Camp contains 6 buildings, 2 structures and a site. The buildings include the messhall/bunkhouse, the office, the garage/blacksmith shop, the shed, meat cache and a privy. Some of these buildings were constructed by the Bremner Gold Mining Company in 1934-1935, and were originally situated about 0.75 mi. to the NE. Asa Baldwin, owner/manger of the Yellow Band Group, moved them down Golconda Creek to their present locations in 1939. With the exception of the meat cache, whose condition is poor, all the buildings are in very good condition. The two structures include a power house that houses the camp’s hydroelectric plant. The only site, the remains of a portable sawmill, is located nearby. The other structure is an aqueduct that was built to supply water to the powerhouse. It presently consists of two dam remnants, the dispersed remains of a 100′ flume, a ditch, a wooden junction box, and approx 200′ of graduated metal pipe. Although the dams and flume are now in ruins, the ditch, junction box, and pipe are in excellent condition.

In my Bremner blog entry, you may recall seeing a few photos of the Lucky Girl Mine ruins perched on the side of a mountain north of where we were camped. There was information about that mine in the binder as well.

Historic Name: Lucky Girl Mill and Mine

Significance:

• Alaska Gold Rush and Great Depression era.
• Lee and Peyton Raymer (Bremner Gold Mining Company) and Asa Baldwin (Yellow Band Gold Mines), Paul Fretzs (Yelinore, Inc)
• Small scale lode mining and ore processing: 1927-42, 1960
• Small scale mining techniques and adaptations. Milling efficiency (tailings) and potential differences from conventional industry practice.

The Lucky Girl Mill and Mine performed a central role to historic lode mining activity in the Bremner Historic District, and comprises the only industrial site easily accessible from the valley floor. Mill and assay facilities were important as means to assess ores, but also to reduce the ore to a final product to aid the reduction of transportation.

Description:

The site is located close to the valley floor on the west side of Golconda Creek Valley, approximately one mile from the camp of Yellow Band Gold Mines. The site includes underground workings and associated mine structures. Mine workings are distributed over four levels, separated vertically by approximately 100-200 feet. Two mine entrances have collapsed, and the remaining two are unstable. Structures outside the No. 1 Adit lie in fair to poor condition. Snow slides have inflicted extensive damage to the mill and compressor shed.

Historical Summary:

Work at the Lucky Girl Mine prospect occurred between 1927 and 1942, with additional activity present in the 1901-1916 period, with some claims probably staked on the Lucky Girl vein by 1911. Further prospecting was not conducted at the site until the late 1920s under the Ramer brothers, who later consolidated efforts as the Bremner Gold Mining Company. During 1934-1935, the company erected support facilities at the mine, including a pilot mill. At the end of the 1935 season, when work desisted on the Grand Prize vein, the company concentrated all development efforts on the Lucky Girl Mine. After 1937, the vein received minimal work, although the mill was utilized by the Yellow Band Gold Mines between 1939 and 1941. In the 1960s - 1970s, Yelinore Inc removed ore left in the mill storage bin as part of salvage operations.

I also mentioned a book I read while up at Bremner - about the pilot Merle “Mudhole” Smith.  Smith began his long and distinguished Alaska flying career in the mid 1930s, transporting supplies into the Bremner district for Cordova Air Service. It was here, in fact, that he received his colorful nickname, after having gotten his plane stuck on the upper airstrip. Assuming control of the company after the death of its founder in 1938, Smith turned the once struggling operation into a key regional carrier, which he managed until it merged with Alaska Airlines in 1968.

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