Fairbanks & McKinley Explorer

More magnificent scenery encountered between Tok & Fairbanks. First stop was for morning tea at Rika's Roadhouse, a delightful privately owned property which included a huge barn, blacksmiths shed, lake and the mandatory gift shop. Items for sale here were very inexpensive, for example caps $us5 each or 5 for $us20. Our en route lunch stop today was at an historic gold mining dredge #8. The sheer size of these dredges is immense, roughly the size of a very large 2 storey house. Lunch was miner's stew, served in a huge shed similar to a woolshed, with long tables and bench seats, reminiscent of Olivers' mess hall. The stew was self serve from huge cast iron "camp ovens" strategically placed along the tables with one for every four people.
A guided tour of the dredge followed lunch, then some panning for gold. Any gold recovered was then assayed (weighed), Gail panned the largest amount of the 47 people in our tour group - $9.01 value. All of the above was included in our tour cost which is a nice part of this tour.
Overnight accom. is at another Westmark Inn - They have all been first class. After dinner we went for a walk along the river, more photos then back to the Inn. Although there is only approx. 3 hours between sunset and sunrise, it does not actually get dark at all, something that confuses us all. We were told not to walk down the streets after dark - August 23rd to be exact.
Thursday morning and we were transferred to the Fairbanks rail depot and boarded our domed roof two storey train. Holland America, ou tour operator have their own dedicated carriages and also appear to either own or a major shareholder in the Westmark Hotels.
We cannot begin to describe the awsome magnificence of the first 4 hours of our trip on the McKinley Explorer from Fairbanks to Denali National Park and Wilderness.
JUST INCREDIBLE. We have an overnight stay in the most recently built lodge at Denali Wilderness Centre, then reboard the McKinley Explorer tomorrow for another full day of "blow your mind" scenery.
Kevin & Gail.
www.alaska-2006.blogspot.com

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