Although Fairbanks didn’t have the natural beauty of the rest of our stops in Alaska, it was a great farewell. It’s a lot more fun to experience history first-hand than read it in a book! We rode a big train, a small one, and a sternwheeler. We panned for gold, saw a sled dog demo, and the Alaskan pipeline. We visited a beautiful native village and topped everything off with an Alaskan salmon bake. I love vacations!

Click on the first photo in each group and scroll to see the square photos at full size.
To start at the beginning of this trip, visit The Trip of Our Lives 2023.
To start at the beginning of the cruise portion of this trip, visit North to Alaska 2023.

After our kennel tour and the petting of the puppies, we relaxed in the lobby of our Denali Wilderness Lodge until it was time to head to our next mode of transportation.

The Alaska Railroad

Today we’ll take the four-hour ride to Fairbanks aboard the Denali Star – Alaska Railroad’s flagship train. It was only a six-minute drive from our lodge to the railroad station, which was located right next to the Denali Visitor Center in the Park. We boarded the train with ease without our luggage, because that was someone else’s problem! Ah, the joys of a Cruise Tour!

A Legend Over 90 Years in the Making. Like Alaska itself, the Alaska Railroad story is full of peaks and valleys. Every mile of this legendary railroad was hard earned through grit, bravery, faith, and lots of sweat. As daunting as the obstacles were at times, the Railroad moved forward, persevering and overcoming. It’s this epic journey that has made Alaska Railroad the backbone of the Last Frontier.” ~ READ MORE about its history

GoldStar Service

Our seats were located up top with a glass dome for awesome views. Although I don’t recall the upper-level viewing platform mentioned below, our seats were very comfortable and it was exciting to be on a train again!

“The Alaska Railroad’s premium class of service offers passengers an exceptional way to travel across Alaska. Glass-dome ceilings allow for panoramic views as Alaska unfolds along the tracks, and an outdoor, upper-level viewing platform – the only of its kind in the world – offers fresh air and an excellent vantage point for photos. On the lower level of GoldStar railcars, passengers enjoy a full-service dining room. GoldStar tickets include meals, all soft beverages and two complimentary adult beverages per trip for passengers over 21.” ~ READ MORE

Beautiful Views!

Sure, riding a train is pretty cool, but riding a train in Alaska – the views are what we come to see! We had a gorgeous stretch along the Nenana River – where we rafted just two days ago. In fact there’s a raft on the river right now in a couple of the photos below.

Dinner is Served

After a free drink or two, we were asked to head downstairs for dinner. We had a nice selection from which to choose and our dinners were delicious (and included).

Although our food was very good, I wish they would have staggered our seating for less of a herding effect and better individual service. With less pressure on our waiters (and probably the kitchen) the staff may have had a chance to give us the “premium class of service” we were expecting. I assume if you book the train on your own for just your party, the service may be better – maybe even like in the movies?

Our Ride Continues

The Nenana Ice Classic is Alaska’s greatest guessing game! In Nenana during 1917 a group of engineers surveying for the Alaska Railroad bet $800 putting in their guesses when the river would break up. This fun little guessing game has turned into an incredible tradition that has now continued for over 100 years! Buy and turn in your $3 ticket between February 1st and April 5th to be involved in this long running Alaskan tradition. In 2023 there were ten winners of the $222,101 jackpot!” ~ READ MORE

New Digs at Last!

What a long but wonderful day. We finally arrived at the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge, where we crashed and burned in our room shortly after our arrival. We only have one full day in Fairbanks – and tomorrow’s excursion is on the house!

Fairbanks in a Nutshell

Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)

“Get a close-up look at one of the world’s engineering marvels. Here you will find informational displays about the pipeline and an example of a pig, the device used to clean and inspect the inside of the pipeline.

It took 70,000 construction workers and $8 billion of investment capital to build the famous 4-foot silver thread that snakes its way through 800 miles of Alaskan wilderness to reach the nation’s thirsty refineries, crossing mountain ranges, earthquake zones, permafrost, and rivers. Some 420 miles of the pipeline are elevated (with 554 animal crossings), and outside Fairbanks is the place to see it. As you watch, consider this: Every hour, more than a million dollars of black gold flows through it.” ~ READ MORE, or if you want to dig deeper, click HERE

A Smaller Train to our Next Tour

We hopped on a hand-built replica of the Tanana Valley Railroad that took us to our next tour. The original three-foot narrow-gauge train operated from 1905 to about 1917, and delivered supplies to gold camps. A portion of the railroad later became part of the Alaska Railroad.

Our conductor told a few stories and a video shared some history and old photos. Along our route several other men offered demonstrations of some of the mining equipment from back in the day.

Gold Dredge 8

“Gold Dredge 8 operated in the Goldstream Valley of Fairbanks from 1928 to 1959 and extracted millions of ounces of gold from the frozen Alaskan Ground. Today, Gold Dredge 8 is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places and the site is a U.S. Historic District. The dredge serves as a monument to the hard-working miners who built Fairbanks. You will have the opportunity to be guided through the entire dredge as you see, touch and learn about the history that it contains and the dredge’s importance to the development of Fairbanks.” ~ READ MORE

We’re in the Money!

After our tour of the dredge, we tried our hands at panning for gold. Although Jim didn’t seem to have a problem, I just couldn’t get the hang of the process. Luckily there were several handsome helpers who came by to help.

At the end of our tour, we had $17 in gold flecks. We opted to bring our take home in a film canister, but I wish we would have added them to a locket for one of our granddaughters. After all that panning, we enjoyed some free coffee and homemade cookies (while doing a little shopping) in the gift shop.

It was a really nice tour, and here’s a video that provides a synopsis of the Gold Dredge 8 Experience. It includes the TAPS, the Tanana Valley Railroad, and the Gold Dredge. I’d highly recommend this tour if you’re at all interested in this part of Alaska’s history.

Lunch and a Cruise

Next up, we had a delicious, but pretty disorganized lunch at the Riverboat Landing. Again, the herding effect made for poor service even at a family style lunch – although in their defense, we were on a pretty tight schedule.

From there we boarded an authentic Alaskan sternwheeler – the Riverboat Discovery III for a cruise on this lovely day in Fairbanks. We traveled along the Chena River to the point that Alaskans call the “wedding of the waters” – where the Chena and Tanana Rivers meet. “The boiling current of the glacial Tanana creates clouds of silt that rise and fall as they meet the clear Chena waters.”

“Charles Madison Binkley came north through the Chilkoot Pass in 1898 – the peak Gold Rush year – and operated riverboats in Alaska and the Yukon Territory of Canada. His son, Jim Sr., worked on a fleet of boats delivering mail to villages in the Alaskan interior and, in 1950, founded the family business operating the popular Riverboat Discovery on day cruises out of Fairbanks. [Kai Binkley at age 18 was the youngest female ever to be certified by the U.S. Coast Guard as a sternwheeler captain.]” ~ READ MORE

Sled Dog Demonstration

Further down the river, we made a stop at Trail Breaker Kennel. This kennel is run by the family of the late Iditarod champion Susan Butcher (first photo below). Although the holding of the puppies was done by two young ladies (and not us darn it), we did get a narration by Susan’s husband – David Monson (a Yukon Quest champion) on the videos below. They keep the dogs in shape by pulling an ATV around the grounds of the kennel. You can tell by the joyful barking, that this is not considered work to these dogs. They love it!

“Butcher first entered the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in 1978. The roughly 1,100-mile Iditarod is the longest and most physically challenging of all sled-dog races. Butcher twice finished in second place (1982, 1984). She began the 1985 race with a solid lead but was eliminated from the competition when a moose charged across her path, killing 2 of her dogs and wounding 13.

That year Butcher lost to Libby Riddles her chance to become the first woman to win the Iditarod. The following year, however, Butcher came in first with a record-breaking time of 11 days 15 hours 6 minutes. She was victorious in both 1987 and 1988 to become the only musher in the history of the sport to win the Iditarod in three consecutive years. She won for a fourth time in 1990.” ~ READ MORE

Old Chena Indian Village

This part of our tour was very interesting, with knowledgeable guides and beautiful scenery.

“A highlight for our guests is the tour of our Chena Native Village. There you will get to meet some of our Alaskan Native Guides who will show you how the Athabaskan survived for 10,000 years in these harsh environments, and how they adapted to Village life and Western culture in the past century.

Riverboat travel into the interior prompted the building of trading posts, allowing trade between Native fur trappers and newly arrived people from all over the world. Constructed by a crew of Alaska Native craftsmen, our Trappers Cabin, Line Cabin, and Cache provide a glimpse into the development of villages along the rivers of Alaska.” ~ READ MORE

Alaska Salmon Bake

Because our time in Alaska was drawing to a close, we decided to partake in an optional Alaskan Salmon Bake. Jim had fire-grilled salmon, I had a beer-battered cod from the Bering Sea, and we cheers’d our Alaskan beers as our way of saying goodbye to Alaska.

After we ate, we explored the grounds to get a feel for its historic past. When we looked back at this fabulous day – and this fantastic cruise tour through the state of Alaska – all we could do was smile!

Easing into Departure Day

Since our bags didn’t have to be out until checkout time at 11 a.m., we got to sleep in a bit. We split a lunch at our Lodge and relaxed and chatted with several folks we had met along the way until our transfer to the airport. With a three-hour layover in Seattle, a shuttle ride back to our car at YVR, and a 45-minute drive to our hotel, we finally hit the hay in Surrey, BC about 1:30 a.m.

After one more night in Spokane, WA, we set ourselves up for a shorter drive to our cabin in West Glacier. Silly me was thinking that we may be disappointed in Glacier National Park after all we’ve seen on this trip so far. But BOY, was I WRONG. Some of the BEST stuff is yet to come!

Cruise is Over. Road Trip Resumes!

Next up: A Sneak Peek at the Park

Happy trails,
Barb