2005/07 Alaska Trip - North to Alaska - Fairbanks |
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Wednesday July 20th
As we’d hoped, the weather got better as we drove northwest towards Fairbanks. We also noted that the roadseemed a lot better this side of Tok. Maybe the Alaska Highway from the Yukon to Tok was some kind of test of worthiness to enter Alaska? However, we also learned to not bother with driving into viewpoints, as these had obviously been designed twenty years ago, before the trees had grown and obliterated the view!
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Alaska Highway (Tok to Delta) and Richardson Highway (Fairbanks) |
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We had lunch where the road crosses the Robertson River. It was great to be able to walk around on the gravel
banks and absorb the sunshine and the views. The Robertson flows into the Tanana River, and we were following the Tanana all the way to Fairbanks. We caused a wildlife jam by stopping to look at a cow moose that was happily munching on willow shoots at the side of the road. The distant view was also impressive, with a row of snow-capped mountains to the south of us.
The Alaska Highway officially ends at Delta Junction and milepost 1422, where there is a visitor’s centre with lots of places for travelers to take celebratory photos. We had only driven the last 800 or so from Watson Lake, but we were planning to drive the other 600 on our way back. The road continues on from Delta Junction to Fairbanks, though this part is called the Richardson Highway. All of Alaska’s highways have numbers as well as names, but they don’t match up. For example, highway #2 includes the Alaska and Dalton highways as well as a part of the Richardson. Alaskans avoid confusion by ignoring the numbers.
There were some great views across the Tanana River to the great snowy mountains of the Alaska Range to the south of us. We passed the town of North Pole on our way into Fairbanks, a large city by Alaskan standards. We arrived in the middle of their rush hour. We’d heard that accommodation in Fairbanks was scarce because it was hosting the Eskimo Olympics. The first campground we came to was full but it had an overflow area. This turned out to be part of the state fairgrounds, with people coming and going all day, so we moved on.
We found a spot close to the city centre at the Rivers Edge, on the Chena River. It was a tight squeeze and I hoped someone else would leave before we had to squeeze our way out a couple of days later! This was our first up-market campground on this trip, with a shop and expensive restaurant on the river. The Chena River was pretty, but rather busy with power boats.
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