My Alaska Travel Experience - March 07

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

After seeing and experiencing Alaska last summer, I knew that one day I would return in the winter to take in all that Alaska is really know for. I had no idea, however, it would be so soon. You see, my employment contract was terminated just before the end of the year and with a very generous severance package, I had plenty of time and some money to spend on a dream trip to Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle. Most of my family and friends (including my husband) thought I was absolutely nuts, so I planned my trip to go alone. It was in many ways, beyond words and all expectations. Sure it was cold, and the days short (around 12 hours though) . . . but it was well worth it!!!

I arrived on a Sunday night/Monday morning at around 1:30am. To walk out of the airport with essentially my normal clothes on, was a real shock to the system. It would be the last time over the course of a week that I would wear less than three layers of clothing under a parka. I think the pilot said something about it being -25 upon arrival. The hosts at the B&B where I stayed were fast asleep when I arrived there, but the gentleman got up to help me get my gear up the two flights of stairs. (They were expecting me sometime after 2am.)

On Monday I had a rather light day to get my bearings around town, which included taking a dog sled mushing lesson and then a one-hour tour trip at a private sled dog kennel. It was a lot of fun, even though I did crash my sled once on a rather small hill - - LOL. That night I went to bed early as I had to be up by 5:00am to get ready for my Arctic Circle Tour on Tuesday.

The Arctic Circle drive was like going to another world. The Dalton Hwy is the main road up to the Prudhoe Bay where the oil pipeline starts. The "haul road" as it is known, is mainly for the 18wheelers who make the drive up to Prudhoe Bay and back. Private vehicles are highly discouraged from driving on the hwy, and rental car companies forbid it. It was a very long day (literally from sunrise to sundown) but a great experience I would recommend to everyone.

That night the forecast for the aurora was good and I was surprisingly wide awake so I ventured up to Cleary Summit for my first photo opportunity. Having never shot nightime manual photos, it was an experiment. I did OK however, and did get better each night.

Wednesday was spent in and around Fairbanks including taking in the Ice Park where the ice sculptures were from the World Ice Art Championships. It also included another aurora viewing and photo session. I spent the early part of the evening at a friend's house, someone who I met online in the Aurora Discussion group . . . primarily a group of scientists and photographers, and other aurora enthusiasts. I was thankful to Karen and her hubby Jeff for their hospitality. After a few hours at their place, they were ready for bed so I left just before midnight. As I was driving out of their subdivision, the aurora kicked back up, so I headed north to Cleary Summit again for another two hours of shooting. It was a spectacular light show that night!

On Thursday I drove up to Chena Hot Springs Resort which was a wonderful scenic drive through the forest and state parks . . . winding along the Chena River. At Chena Hot Springs I toured their resorts many attractions including their Ice Museum and Sled Dog Kennels. After a short nap, I went to dinner and then got ready to take their snow coach ride up to the top of the mountain to their aurora viewing area and yurt. There guests had about three hours to watch and photograph the northern lights. I was treated to yet another great night of wonderful photographs.

I spent Friday afternoon watching the first day of the North American Sled Dog Championships in downtown Fairbanks, and an early dinner. After a good nap, it was back out for what would turn out to be the earliest and best night of the aurora. It was nearly 3:00am before I got home to my B&B that night. I slept in on Saturday, nearly til noon. I spent a leisurely afternoon at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks and an evening of photographing the ice sculptures in Ice Park after dusk. The colored lights really added to the beauty of the sculptued ice. Satisfied with my four nights of aurora pics, I choose to hang out around the B&B and get packed for my departure the next evening.

Sunday was a fun day of local driving to North Pole, AK and the world fameous Santa Claus House. Also took in the Knotty Shop while out in that direction which was also very interesting. Back in time for the finishing of the last day of the sled dog races, I enjoyed the photo ops in the late afternoon.

A quick trip by the B&B for my luggage and I was off to the Fairbanks airport for my 7pm flight home. I slept the entire way from Anchorage to Minneapolis, so it was a good flight. Getting into Des Moines the next morning around 9am, it was great to be home after a full week of exhilerating adventure and sights.

Some might say going to Alaska is a trip of a lifetime . . . and they'd be right. For me however, I think it was just the beginning of what I expect will be frequent trips to enjoy Alaska regardless of the season. I feel especially blessed to have had the opportunity to see her beauty in both seasons . . . all within a single year. As the book (and TV show) states . . . ALASKA - one of 1,000 places to see before you die!!


p.s. My photos from this trip can be viewed at YahooPhotos: Yahoo! Photos - timeshare_von's Photos . When looking at the auroro photos, you'll want to see them full screen with the lights in the room dimmed or dark. They really don't do justice to the experience, but hopefully you'll get an idea of what it was like.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Thanks for sharing. The pictures and your write-up were great. How did you do the Dalton Highway?

[Gracey Member Find all posts View Profile Close Gracey]

Thanks for posting, what a fun trip. Both my brothers want to do that Dalton Highway! I am printing out your posting so they can read all about it.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

Great report!! Would it be ok if I moved it to Travel Tales? That forum is for travel reports, logs, etc. It gets a little mixed up over there so I am trying to straighten it up. Hugs, Shaggy

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

Thanks for the kind words. I loved it (as you could tell).

I did the Dalton Hwy trip to the Arctic Circle with a tour group out of Fairbanks. The Northern Alaska Tour Company is probably the best, based on the reviews I read before my trip to Fairbanks. Here is the link to the journal review of that specific trip: Arctic Circle Winter Drive Adventure Drive Tour – 13 hours of Arctic Exploration, Fairbanks - Experiences, Tourism, and Things to Do - IgoUgo .

One of the things I learned about the Dalton Hwy is that as rough as the road seemed in the winter, it was actually in the best shape of the year when it is snow packed. The frozen snow actually fills in the cracks and bumps in the road, smoothing it out. On the other hand, in the summer, when the snow pack on the road has melted and the permafrost also starts to thaw, the road is in horrible condition. The dips, holes and cracks can really cause a lot of damage to a regular car . . . which is why the car rental companies forbid you from going up there with their cars. If you get stranded up there with a car, there isn't a garage nearby either, so you'll be into a huge "rescue" fee to get towed back to civilization.

For me, especially as a "single" vacationing there, paying the $169 for the full day trip was well worth it.

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

Great report!! Would it be ok if I moved it to Travel Tales? That forum is for travel reports, logs, etc. It gets a little mixed up over there so I am trying to straighten it up. Hugs, Shaggy

I guess I'll defer to your advice. I placed both of the threads here because they were about "holiday" in Alaska and that Alaska doesn't seem to get much written here. But whatever you think is best

[WanderLust Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close WanderLust]

Great photos!!

Would you mind posting the link or address to the forum or bbs that you mentioned about the aurora lights?

thanks

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

Great photos!!

Would you mind posting the link or address to the forum or bbs that you mentioned about the aurora lights?

thanks

Sure . . . this is the site I mentioned in my OP: Aurora Alerts :: Index .

There are several others that I frequented daily before and during my trip:

The Geophysical Institute Auroral Forecast Page (provides long term and short term forecasting)

SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids (nice to read about auroras and see photos taken around the world)

3-day Estimated Planetary Kp-index Monitor (this one is a three day historical data set and is very good for "just in time" when you are there and wanting to get a forecast for the next couple of hours)

Yukon Aurora Forecast - Northern Lights Yukon (while Yukon, Canada based forecasting, still a very good site)

http://www.aurorachasers.com/Adec/Subscribe/index_html (good for those of us outside of Alaska who want to know if/when aurora will be viewable in the lower 48 and elsewhere)

I also joined the Fairbanks Photogs' YahooGroup for the weeks before my trip. They were very helpful in identifying locations to photograph the aurora in rather public locations where a woman travelling alone would be safe. Here is the link to their group: FairbanksPhotogs : FairbanksPhotogs

If you are interested in photographing the aurora and have little to no experience (like me) . . . there are some great sites with wonderful advice. Here are links to those who I found to be most useful to me:

NorthPoleGallery.com - Aurora, Ice Art and Wildlife from Alaska (Kevin McCarthy - - a well known photographer out of North Pole, AK. Very nice, helpful and trustworthy.)

Photographing Northern Lights (Roy Hooper - another aurora photographer from up around Fairbanks. Very helpful via e-mail as well.)

While this may seem like info overload, I thought I would post as much as possible in terms of online resources I found helpful.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

A question on clothes? Did you take your own or buy up there? In Southeast Missouri and Middle Tennessee, it doesn't get near that cold, so we are prepared for "cold' weather.

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

What to wear in the arctic cold of Alaska?

A question on clothes? Did you take your own or buy up there? In Southeast Missouri and Middle Tennessee, it doesn't get near that cold, so we are(n't) prepared for "cold' weather.

I really didn't own much in terms of arctic cold weather stuff, but didn't really buy much for the trip either. Fortunately I did own my own parka and boots (read more below), which are probably the most expensive to buy.

I bought 2 sets of wicking layers at my local Sam's Club. They are different that typical "thermal underwear" in that they are made to pull moisture away from your body which is essential to avoid hypothermia. (Total price for 2 sets, $28)

I wore a normal layer of thermals over that, which I also already owned. Over that later it was a good sweater or sweatshirt (top) and jeans (bottoms). I didn't feel I needed to invest in waterproof/repellent snow pants . . . and I didn't.

For socks, you cannot underestimate the need for high quality wool socks. I have a good friend who does a lot of winter outdoors activities up in the boundary water area between Minnesota/Wisconsin and Canada. She suggested I get high quality/high content merino wool socks which I did. I bought a lining pair and outter pair of socks. I bought a total of two sets set up like that, plus I already had several pairs of "regular" wool socks which I took with me. (Merino socks and liners were around $6-10 a pair and were bought at the outdoors outfitters and a Farm & Fleet store here in Ames.)

For gloves, I bought a pair of the ultra-thin liners to wear with a pair of hunter's mittons. Mittons are better for keep warmth in, but are rather challenging when doing photography and needing to work the buttons of a camera. The hunter's mittons have the fingers covered with a flap like velcro cover. With the glove linings under the mittons, you can have ease of mobiity with your fingers with the mittons protecting your hands when you aren't actually needing nimble use of your fingers. (The glove liners were $4 at that same outdoors outfitters and the hunter's mittons just $3 on close-out end of season sale at my local K-Mart.) I also took my good driving gloves with me as they are safer when driving.

For head covering, I had a couple of good wool scarves and my hubby had one of those "head/face" socks that completely covers your face, head and neck. I also already had a couple of decent beanie type hats and headband style ear covers. So nothing was bought. I started out early in my trip just layering my head lightly, but once I was doing late night outings, I had to move to the full head sock with another layer (or two) over that, including my parka hood. Polypropylene will be your friend!

I own a nice GB Packers Starter brand parka, which I bought many years ago for around $90. I also already had the Sorrell boots, which were also around $100 many years ago.

I mention the boots because they are the number one thing the locals will tell you not to scrimp on. Many/most swear by "Bunny Boots" which can be bought at many of the local stores in Alaska. Whatever you get, you will want to make sure they are rated for subzero weather, as low as -50 if possible, and are waterproof. Standing on snow packs will cause your feet to get very cold from underneath, very quickly.

There are some places that have the cold outerwear available for use or rent. Where I did my mushing adventure, she had it to borrow. She also operates a B&B and guests can use her gear for free if they are staying there. (That is pretty common from what I found researching B&B's) At Chena Hot Springs they would rent you the full set up of outerwear including snow pants, parka and bunny boots . . . although some in my group said it came with the tour package they bought for the aurora viewing snow coach trip.

There were other places where you could rent around town but I don't know much more about it other than someone told me that was how they got their stuff for the trip.

When doing activities like the Arctic Circle Drive Tour, you will really want to have a decent layering plan as when you're in the van/bus it is rather comfy without a jacket on . . . or even a heavy sweater. If you looked at the photo of me taken at the pipeline, it was probably -10 degrees and I'm actually comfortable enough to be outside without my heavy outer layer on. (I just had on the wicking lining and a lightweight sports sweater.)

I think all totalled, I probably spent around $75 for clothing that I didn't have, which I didn't think was all that bad.

Before my trip, I read some information on what to wear on the Univ of Alaska - Fairbanks' website for new students. I can't find the student paper acticle right now, but I did find this from their website: Outdoor Adventures .

Feel free to write me off list with any other questions you may have . . . or here is fine too. I'm happy to answer them