Day 11: Dawson, YT to Fairbanks, AK (623km/387mi, 8129km/5051mi total)
In the mountains above Dawson, last winter’s snow still hasn’t melted, this despite being above tree line and in direct sunlight at least part of the day! It wasn’t even cold here… maybe 60-65 degrees.
Starting to sound like a broken record here but… I want to get outside and be a part of this!
The border checkpoint was tiny, and consisted of this informational sign, a cabin, and a little shack no larger than a toll booth. Which is probably about what one would expect all the way up here.
Alaska is cold. Or something. It’s the 49th state to join the Union, and the 49th state I’ve been to.
This was the most exciting part of dinner in Fairbanks at a mediocre seafood restaurant: sitting out on the deck watching a beaver swim back and forth.
Day 12: Fairbanks, Alaska
Stuck inside of the world’s northernmost Ford dealership, getting new tires before the drive to the Arctic Ocean. Other than the 23 hours a day of sunlight, and the occasional moose wandering through a neighborhood, this could be any mid-sized American city… most of what I’ve seen so far looks an awful lot like Binghamton. I’m not sure what I expected to see here, or why — with almost 100,000 people, even if it’s thousands of miles from the mainland, it’s only natural it would develop into a recognizable city. Even one that I can’t escape the feeling that I’ve been here before. The one thing missing is a photography store. After those relatively distant encounters with wildlife, I really could use a zoom lens. Especially going to the Arctic ocean and Denali this week…