This is a series of letters Libby has composed and sent to our children and some friends.  Since she is obviously a better writer than me, I am using them to cover our Alaska trip.

We stayed the 28th and 29th in Wasilla and enjoyed the area. One thing that impressed us is at the Wasilla Lake Park they have life vests hanging on a board next to the lake, so that people will hopefully use them and practice water safety. We have never seen that anywhere else. Wasilla is home to the 1,150 mile Iditorod Trail Sled dog Race between Anchorage and Nome that takes place in March. They actually have the "press start" in Anchorage and then move everyone and their dogs to Wasilla for the actual re-start. I don't know why.( note from John, They move it to Wasilla because it would be too dangerous to have the dog teams share the only land route across the Knik Arm with the train tracks and the road.  It keeps them out of the bay and off the road where they might be injured.) It has just become tradition. On June 30th we left Wasilla and headed for the Denali area.

The first 70 miles out of Anchorage amounted to small villages and very little traffic. About 10 to 15 miles from Denali we started seeing the Alaskan Range to the west of us and other mountain ranges to the east. Some of the ranges to the east look like plateaus almost flat and smooth in nature. As we went further north the mountain ranges to the east became lower and the first ridge, although covered with trees and other greenery, was eroding at the face. The overall texture of the erosion gives the impression that it is sand and it has the shape of a sand dune. Interestingly enough as we continued north the terrain was quite arid for a few miles and then returned to a lush setting.

We entered the Denali State Park. It is comprised of 325,460 acres and has 48 miles of hiking trails. Trail rides are popular in this area as well as helicopter flight seeing tours.

This is where we caught a glimpse (cloudy day) of Mount Mckinley (a.k.a. Denali "The Great One") towering to 20,320 feet. Denali is the highest peak in North America and is part of the Alaskan Range. It is only visible 20% of the time, so we felt fortunate to see it. We saw it twice in 1997. When it does grant you a peak there is no doubt that it is Denali. It is so massive at the base that it looks totally unreal. We have seen many pictures of this mountain and absolutely none of them capture the majesty of what your eyes are trying to take in. This mountain like other huge peaks has its own weather system and on occasion climbers and flight seeing tours become trapped. Along a twenty mile area you can also see Mount Hunter (elev. 14,573); Mount Huntington (12.240 feet); Mount Barrille (7,650 feet) and Mount Dickey (9,945 feet).

We then entered Broad Pass (a.k.a. Caribou Pass). It is a beautiful mountain valley with trees and scrub spruce surrounded by mountain peaks. Almost everywhere you look you see fast flowing rivers and streams in all shapes and sizes. At points they intertwine and have an overall softening effect on the surroundings. This area is at an elevation of 2,400 feet and it marks the divide between the drainage of rivers and streams that empty into the Cook Inlet and the Yukon River.

Just outside the pass there was a good bit of snow on the ground next to the road and then wildflowers started to appear. We are much closer to the mountains on each side of us. We now have a closer view of the Alaskan Mountain Range. For the most part it appears as a continuous line of massive rugged mountains, but we can now see some that are obviously much older that have almost smooth silhouettes, due to many more years of erosion.

At 237.3 miles from Anchorage we entered the Denali National Park Preserve, which is comprised of 6 million acres. We drove to the visitors center, but it was so crowded that we only had our National Park Passport stamped and decided to continue to Fairbanks. We had not planned to stay in Denali, because we did that in '97 and wanted to move into an area we had not visited. By the way, we strongly recommend Denali National Park. It is a truly amazing place. The variety and types of big game wildlife that you will see is well worth the trip. The bald and golden eagles are always a thrill to see as well and there are so many of them to enjoy. The Park also offers sled dog demonstrations, hikes or guided walks with rangers, evening programs at the hotel auditorium or campground presentations, rafting, flight seeing and horseback riding. There is a great deal of discussion at all levels at the park regarding safety and respect for the animals and their habitat. They tell people not to get any closer than ¼ mile of a grizzly, no closer than 75 feet from wolves, caribou, moose and Dall sheep. They also warn you not to get any closer than 300 yards from raptor nests, 100 yards from fox, wolverine, lynx or coyote dens and one mile from a wolf den. The last time we were here we took a trip 53 miles into the park and we heard a lecture at the auditorium from the first woman to climb Mount Mckinley. We might just revisit this park during our next visit. I think I would like to hike, but with a ranger so we don't get lost.

We entered Fairbanks, but it seemed as crowded as the Denali area so we went down the road a few miles to North Pole, which is a great little community making the most of the Santa theme and the Christmas spirit that is in most all of us. There are three reindeer at the campground we are staying at and our RV site is on a small finger lake.

Tomorrow, July 2nd, we leave Fairbanks on a "Spirit of Alaska Arctic Adventure" that is professionally guided to Prudhoe Bay at the Arctic Circle (498 miles) by the Northern Alaska Tour Company of Fairbanks. They take two days driving us up there and then we fly back to Anchorage on a 19 passenger twin engine Beechcraft.

John wanted to take the Arctic trip to Prudhoe Bay on Alaska's north slope when we were here in 1997, but we just never did. He has talked about his desire to cross the Arctic Circle and make it to the Arctic Ocean. Why? because it is there and Alaska's Arctic is one of the last great wilderness regions on earth. In Valdez we were at the end of the 800 mile pipeline and at Prudhoe Bay we will be at mile 0 of the pipeline, which is a pretty cool thing as well. It is a remote and wild land that is only populated year round by the hardiest of individuals. Winter temperatures run -40  to - 68 degrees, with winds to 30 or 40 miles per hour, resulting in severe chill factors.

Before I describe our experiences, I would like to provide you with some general information about the trip. The tour program makes it very clear that travel in Alaska's Arctic is not for everyone. Travel along the Dalton Highway is rugged to unbelievably rough (washboard). If there is any rain at all the road turns to a slippery mud surface and coats the entire vehicle making it look like it has been painted. When it is dry the dust is so thick that when an on coming vehicle approaches your view becomes totally blocked, requiring you to come to almost a full stop. The gravel road is treated with calcium chloride and is built over a plastic foam underlayment to protect the permafrost from melting. The gravel is not trucked it, but taken from rivers and a few gravel pits. If the harvested stones are small then the road is less bumpy, but if large rocks are only available the road becomes incredibly rough and absolutely shakes you to where it is really irritating. Although we saw a few class C motor homes and one class A on the road, we would never subject our coach or car to such conditions.
Our adventure took us through a remote part of Alaska where modern amenities are extremely rare or nonexistent. The tour was not equipped with rest room facilities. Frequent stops were made so that we could use "outhouse facilities" along the route. The tour company provided delicious snacks and two picnic meals that were scrumptious. We paid for our other meals, which were pricey, but you have to remember that everything is trucked or flown in increasing the cost. Our overnight accommodations were in Coldfoot and Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay). The motels were weathered modular prefab units that were very basic and rustic by urban standards. We were fortunate to have private baths. There was one telephone at each motel for guest use. Electricity at Coldfoot is provided by generators and water is trucked in. We had an abundance of water and we did not have any problem with low voltage. There were no TVs. In Deadhorse natural gas is utilized as a by product of the oil fields. All of their water is brought in from 12 miles away. Cable TV was provided at Dead horse which surprised us.

The tour company brochure and our send off talk said that if you are young at heart, adventurous, have a desire to learn, to explore new territories and seek out new experiences, then the rustic aspects of traveling Alaska's Arctic, including swarms of mosquitoes, will be of little consequence. We feel the description fits John and I. Although the rustic accommodations were not our choice they were part of the adventure and certainly tolerable in order for us to have memories that will last the rest of our life. Now to the actual tour .....

Shannon Sehnert was our tour guide. She has her degree in communications and is working on her masters. She teaches public speaking to freshmen at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. She was an excellent guide and her love and knowledge of Alaska were touching and impressive. Shannon made sure we were fed well and as comfortable as possible. The other guide that followed closely behind us was Michelle DeVaul, who had a goal of joining the Polar Bear Club by having Shannon, a member, witness her submerging herself in the Arctic, which is about 34 degrees now. Each van seated 10 guests plus the guide.

From Fairbanks we traveled 11 miles north to where the Steese Highway meets the Elliot Highway at Fox (pop. 332). Fox was established as a mining camp before 1905. We passed the El Dorado Gold Mine, which is a commercial gold mine where tours and gold panning takes place. Friends of ours did pan for gold there and actually left with a little.

With the blink of an eye we passed Olnes City (pop.1). Olnes City was once a railroad station on the Tananan Valley railroad and a mining camp. Once populated with hundreds is now for the most part a deserted town with abandoned cabins. There are two lower Chatanika River State Recreation areas with campsites along the river in this area. We then passed a community called "Haystack"  that has no running water and where electricity was just made available 2 years ago. Haystack is  located about 30 miles from Fairbanks. We should have been able to see the White Mountains (limestone) at an elevation of 5,000 feet from this area, but the view was blocked by low clouds and smoke from fires north and west of our location.

We then stopped at Joy (pop.22). Joy was settled by a family of 8 in the late 60's. They eventually had a total of 23 children, and became foster parents to 37 making a grand total of 60 children. Several of the children still live there in very small log cabins and run a snack and gift shop. This was our first outhouse stop. There water is trucked in at two cents per gallon and they produce power via solar panels and generators. John took a tour of one of the homes where he was shown their refrigeration, which amounted to a hole 3 or 4 feet deep into the permafrost (permanently frozen earth) where they lowered 2 circular shelves to keep food cool. Unreal! It is hard to believe that people choose to live today without the things we actually take for granted. The family members were a delight and made us feel welcome. The cabins were old, comfortable and had a wonderful warmth to them. It was fun visiting with a few of the Joy residents.

As we proceeded north we primarily saw brush and trees close to the road, but not much else due to the weather conditions and smoke. We made it to the Dalton Highway and continued north toward our first stop at Coldfoot. From this point we were 56 miles from Yukon River, 175 miles from Coldfoot and 414 miles from Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay).

When we arrived at the Yukon Bridge we noticed the security cameras immediately. There were video cameras and speakers on both sides of the bridge, so that activity can be closely monitored. The bridge cost $30 million dollars to build and during Desert Storm they had military personnel guarding the bridge as well as places along the pipeline. The bridge is 2,290 feet long.

After lunch we continued north and the terrain changed to stunted low growth and black spruce, which is an indication that they are growing in a permafrost area. As information, if an area is well drained and there is no permafrost, you will see tall dense forests of white spruce and birch, which we did at intervals. Permafrost ranges from 1,000 to 2,000 feet deep in most areas to as much as 5,000 feet deep north of the Brooks Mountain and closer to the Arctic Ocean region. We stopped along our route to look at part of the tundra that had pushed up vegetation and soil to reveal permafrost. It looked like a solid block of ice. The vegetation and soil is only about 18 inches deep and covers the permafrost.

About 1/3 of Alaska lies within the Arctic  Circle, the only polar region in the state.  Approximately 20 miles south of the Arctic Circle the vegetation changed noticeably, as the highway crossed areas of tundra and dense stands of low lying shrubs. We reached the Arctic Circle (North 66 degrees 33 minutes latitude and west 150 degrees 48 minutes longitude).  Shannon had each one of us walk across a red carpet in front of the sign for good luck and then gave us chocolate cake and perma frosting (cool whip) to celebrate.  It was great fun.

We arrived at Coldfoot for the evening, which is almost the half way point to Prudhoe Bay and the last stop for services. The mosquitoes were noticeably worse here. We were told that in 1989 they had a record low of - 82 degrees. We were given a slide presentation by a biologist from the Bureau of Land Management about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which was fascinating. We learned a great deal about the subartic ecosystems and the delicate balance of man and wildlife. He talked a good bit about the unique wildlife, wildlife habitats, and the plants that grow rapidly with 24 hour daylight. There are 180 species of birds, 45 species of mammals (36 on land and 9 are marine species), and 36 species of fish located in the rich coastal lagoons. He told us about the majestic Brooks Range that we would cross the next day. The Range presents peaks and glaciers to 9,000 feet, dominating the Refuge, and extends east to west in a band 75 miles wide, rising abruptly from a flat, tundra covered plain.  Just south of the Range we were told we would see the last spruce tree and from that point we were we would drive north into tundra, the Franklin Bluffs and the Arctic desert plains with no trees or mountains. Hunting is allowed but no fire arms can be used 5 miles from any service road or the Dalton Highway, only bow and arrow. You also have to walk and carry your kill out. No vehicles are allowed off the road. First of all you would never be able to drive a vehicle over the tundra and even if it was possible the tundra would be destroyed.

We left the next morning to start our day by having breakfast at Wiseman (pop. 27). Wiseman is where 8 out of the 10 largest gold nuggets have been found in Alaska. There is still one working gold mine in town. This was the northern most community during the gold rush and it is the last inhabited community on the Dalton Highway until you reach Deadhorse/Prudhoe Bay. It is also the last privately owned land on the highway.   We had breakfast in a cabin built in 1916. A separate bedroom was added to the structure in 1925. This cabin was just beautiful. White birch was used for the walls and black birch for the ceiling and roof, with the original moss chinking. We then visited the museum, which was another cabin next door.

This community of 27 includes 11 children. There are 7 computers at the school for community use. They have access to the Internet. They do not buy any meat, because they trap their own. They heat their small cabins by stoves and power is generated by solar panels, inverters, and generators. They also have LP Gas. They make money selling furs, art work, jewelry and some go to Fairbanks for commercial fishing. In fact, one mans wife was in Bristol Bay with their son on a commercial fishing trip and they were going to sell their catch to Bumble Bee who ships the canned fish to China. They make a living in ways that most of us cannot imagine. They are creative, talented and choose to live in this captivatingly beautiful remote region. By the way, they are totally charming people that are well educated, proud of Alaska and their homes.They were very happy to show us around. One resident has his own plane, which places him in the category of one out of the every 60 Alaskans who has a pilots license.

So far we have seen moose, hawks, snow shoe rabbits and arctic squirrels. We followed the Koyukuk River for many miles. The river has a braided effect, due to frequent changes in water levels in the stream bed. The braiding makes it all the more beautiful and it is easy to imagine an artist sitting by the side of the river sketching the river and the surrounding mountains. We came to the Sukakpak Mountain Range (elev. 4,000 ft.), which is said to be the traditional boundary between Eskimo and Athabascan Indian territories. We saw moose in this area.

Shortly after leaving Wiseman, we came to this sign on the Dalton Highway. It denotes the last Spruce tree going North.  Soon after that, there were no trees at all.

Here is a picture of John standing on the Dalton Highway, north of the Arctic Circle, just before we ascended to the Chandalar Shelf and Atigun Pass.  Note the Alaska Pipeline in the background. 

We entered an area called the Chandalar Shelf; a former checkpoint when a permit was required to drive beyond this point, which is 176.9 miles from Prudhoe Bay. The headwater of the Chandalar River is to the east and Table Mountain (elev. 6,425) is to the southeast.

We came to a turnout at the top of Atigun Pass (elev. 4,800 feet) in the Brooks Mountain Range;
highest highway pass in Alaska and the continental divide. Many mountains in this area reach or exceed 7,000 feet. We are treated to panoramic views of indescribable beauty. The air is so fresh and crisp. The temperature is in the 40's and 50's. We then stopped for lunch and we felt privileged to witness such scenery around us. There were mountains and terrain obviously carved by glacial erosion and there were a couple of lakes with deep sheets of ice. Not long after this we saw Dall sheep, a hawk, an arctic fox and more arctic squirrels.

Shannon stopped at a pull out so that we could walk on a small section of tundra. It was very difficult to do so, due to the large groupings of vegetation that sank with each footstep. It was quite an unusual sensation. We could not imagine walking very far on this type of surface. We find it even harder to accept a person hunting on this terrain and having to carry their moose or caribou kill out. This is the kind of stuff you see on the Discovery or Learning Channel.

We had already risen above the tree line and moved into more tundra and the coastal plains. We were thrilled and could not believe our timing when we saw a herd of Musk Ox. We walked as close as we dared and took some pictures. The little ones were adorable. Musk Ox are so prehistoric looking. They are magnificent animals. Today a cooperative owned by native Alaskans raises them for long wool, which is sheared, combed,  knitted and sold as "qiviut", a rare and highly prized luxury material. A scarf can sell for as much as $250. There are Musk Ox farms in Fairbanks, but it just isn't the same as seeing them free in the wild.

We were treated to a variety of wildflowers that included white heather, arctic poppies, northern buttercups, arctic forget-me-nots, purple saxifrage and Alaska cotton. They are all so delicate and help paint the landscape in such gorgeous combinations of colors. We were in one area were there was so much Arctic cotton that it looked like a light blanket of snow.

We saw many "pingos" along our drive, which would continue into the Prudhoe Bay. Pingos are caused by a rise in the permafrost for some reason.  It soars to 10, 15 even 20 feet on occasion.  Young Pingos are small hills and old Pingos are created when something penetrates the Tundra, either an animal or simply the expansion of the Pingo.  This leaves a small pond with crater like sides, a sure sign of an aging Pingo.  We also saw many Polygons.  Polygons are formed when the Tundra is penetrated for whatever reason, and the permafrost melts.  This forms a small chasm which collects water and refreezes.  This process continues and eventually the Tundra is broken up by hundreds of these "stretch marks" which connect and form Polygons   As the sides continue to push up they become heavy and break off widening the areas of water and some eventually form small ponds or lakes. Some of the older areas that have experienced this season after season have produced rather large shallow lakes.

We then drove into an area known as the Arctic Desert. The Arctic Region only receives an average of 6 inches of rain per year. There is no ground water in this area. When it rains the water forms in puddles and eventually forms shallow lakes on top of the permafrost. This area is nothing like a typical desert of the west. Even though there are no trees, shrubs or mountains, it looks quite lush with so many lakes in view.

We made it to Prudhoe Bay and spent the evening there. We were immediately warned that a grizzly bear and cubs were next to the motel and store the night before and to be very cautious. There were notices warning us of the danger posted in many locations. Believe me we did not walk far from the immediate area and we were on the lookout.

Prudhoe Bay is located on the North Slope, which is a flat, treeless plain, or tundra, which covers 88,000 square miles. This area is slightly larger than Idaho. The North Slope extends north from the foothills of the Brooks Mountain Range to the Arctic Ocean and west from the Canadian border to the Chukchi Sea. Prudhoe Bay is about 600 air miles north of Anchorage and about 1,200 miles south of the North Pole. The Prudhoe Bay oil field is a developed area that encompasses an area of 250 square miles. Less than two percent of the total area is covered by roads, pads, wells and facilities. The oil at Prudhoe Bay is trapped in the Sadlerochit formation, a sandstone and gravel structure nearly 9,000 feet underground. It is the largest oil field in North America and it also contains an estimated 46 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Each well taps a subsurface area of 80 acres or greater and the well enclosures are placed as close as 10 feet apart.

The next morning we were given a tour of part of the oil field, which we enjoyed immensely. Shannon made the tour quite interesting. We went to the beginning pipeline at "0" mile and had our pictures taken. This is where the mosquitoes were at their absolute worst. They were in swarms around us and the van. We have never seen enough mosquitoes to take a picture of them. We were told that the mosquitoes at Prudhoe Bay can suck up to 6 pints of blood from a Caribou in one week. I don't know how someone went about measuring that. We saw ARCO administration, maintenance and housing facilities, along with their hospital and their recreation center. ARCO provides a 150 seat theater that shows the latest movies and a recreation facility, with a pool, top notch exercise equipment and jogging paths. Otherwise I am sure they would all go mad from the isolation and outside conditions.

The only vehicles that are allowed to drive onto the tundra are called Roll-O-Gons that have huge wide tires exerting  only 7 pounds per square inch of pressure on the fragile Tundra,  less than a persons foot print. They have stopped building gravel roads next to the pipeline. During the winter they build ice roads for maintenance use. Once a year ARCO hires college students to pick up any trash on the surrounding tundra, but they must past security screening and wear special gear, specifically shoes that will not harm the tundra.

We were told the air quality at the oil field is so good that it exceeds all state and federal standards and we saw caribou and foxes throughout the oil field tour. They have people that are responsible for monitoring the wildlife to make sure that they are doing well in the area. Shannon told us that if one tablespoon of foreign substance, like coffee, fell to the tundra the Spill Response Unit would respond immediately. We saw Caribou and an Arctic fox roaming the tundra around the oil fields.

We then went to the Arctic Ocean. Some of us stuck our feet in the 34 degree water, while others just placed their hands in it, like John and I. The other tour guide, Michelle DeVaul intentionally fell in and shot out very quickly just so she could join the polar bear club. I won't tell you what she said when she immersed herself. We took pictures and we are going to send them to her.

On Tuesday, July 4th, we took group pictures and singles of each other and waited for our plane. This was an exhausting trip, but it was an absolute thrill. We were totally wiped out by the third day. We saw all of the wildlife we had hoped for except for a grizzly and now we think it was best that that desire was not satisfied. We knew we would not see polar bears because the ice had already moved out. We highly recommend this trip for adults, but we don't think it is a good one for children.

On Thursday the 6th we took the Riverboat Discovery Cruise down the Chena and Tanana Rivers. We quickly discovered that this cruise what not a true Alaskan adventure, but a skillfully orchestrated tourist trap that cruises shuttle their guests to. We went because it was highly recommended by people at the park we stayed at. The highlight was a tour of an Chena Indian Village. We were shown dog sled demos and  had fun petting the dogs. We were shown how they prepare salmon for the smoke house and were given a taste of smoked salmon mixed with cream cheese on wheat crackers. It was tasty. We were shown beautiful garments that were made from hides and furs and embellished with stunning bead work. The lady that actually makes the garments was there. She is very well known and respected throughout Alaska. She was commissioned by the Smithsonian to make an Athapascan chief's tribal robe. No doubt her articles of clothing sell for many thousands of dollars. She displayed three of them for us.

We saw Susan Butcher's Iditarod Sled Dog Team that has won 4 Iditarod competitions. She and her husband have 100 sled dogs and their homestead is located on the Chena River. It was fun for all 700 hundred of us on this four story riverboat. It was about 3 ½ hours long. It was 74 degrees and very warm.

Tomorrow we continue our journey south back to Tok. We are going to take the Tracker to Chicken, Dawson City and over the Top of The World Highway. We will return to Tok and begin our exit from Alaska. No doubt, the drive out will be as beautiful as it was entering, just from different angles and view points. We will be traveling with our friends the Holders.

More to come .........