Train to Fairbanks

The train to Fairbanks was at 4pm so we stored our bags in the office area of the Salmon Bake and wandered around the small town are, had some lunch and talked to the locals to fill in the time. It is now the end of the tourist season and everywhere is getting ready to shut up shop. A limited number of rangers remain in the park but the town where we are virtually becomes a ghost town. In the winter season the only way to get around is by dog sled.
Once away from the mountain range the scenery flattened out as we moved across the tundra and the vegetation was stunted due to the perma frost, but stunning.
About 60 kilometres out of Fairbanks we passed through Nenana on the Tanana River. Nenana is home to The Nenana Ice Classic.
Alaskans wager thousands of dollars yearly on the day and time of the break up of the Tanana River. A tripod is placed and secured in the river ice about 300 feet from shore. A watchtower is erected on the shore next to the tripod. Once the ice has thawed to the point where walking on it is no longer safe, a wire is attached from the watchtower on shore to the top of the tripod, and rigged up to a clock mechanism so that the clock will be stopped when the tripod moves 100 feet. When the tripod trips the clock, spring has officially arrived, and Interior Alaska's rivers are once more navigable. And someone or a group of people is/are a lot richer. A pretty cool competition. The prize money is generally over $300,000 US. Love Alaska!
We were picked up by our hotel’s shuttle which was good and so ended our last train trip in Alaska.Read more