City of Bettles

Wow what a day. Started off with a nice breakfast. Got picked up by our tour guide at 7:30. there were 8 other people on the tour. Our Driver was Jake. Most of couples did the cruise first and were now doing their land portion. Heard lots of stories about some of their adventures.
Weather forecast has today being rainy.
We started off going north out of town along a nice highway. Our first stop was at the pipeline. We got out and were able to walk right up to the pipeline where they had some displays of equipment used on the line there were two different “pigs” that they use to clean the inside of the pipe. When they go down the pipe they make a squealing sound hence the name pig. Apparently when the oil is extracted from the ground it comes out of the ground at about 170 degrees, it gets put into the pipe where it has cooled down a bit. But as it travels down the pipe it gains heat from friction. To slow the flow you will see sections that zig zag down a slope. At every section brace, there is a detector that monitors the temperature. If it gets too hot it releases a coolant into the vertical pipe which protects the ground from thawing. They are protecting the permafrost from thawing.
We also got our first education in the fact that yes, you do need bug spray. Got siphoned off a few pints of blood.
Second stop was at the beginning of the Dawson Highway. We went from paved road to dirt. Because of the permafrost, it rakes havoc on the roads. Truckers actually prefer non paved roads in winter as the chains they use can’t grip paved roads. So instead they pack snow on the road and wet it down with water to make it icy. Chains can grip that. Hence the name Ice roads. We stopped at the info station and got out into the most incredible swarm of Mosquitoes you ever saw. This time no donations to the blood bank happened with a generous coating of OFF. Jake made an observation and showed us that you can see the aurora. Pointing out between the fluffy clouds ( no rain in sight. In fact, a beautiful day ) that you can see the whisks of white that danced and shifted. Pretty cool in the middle of the day. We got back in the van which was now filled with a cloud of voracious bugs. We proceeded with having a grand time playing Mosquito Wack-a-Mole. For the next hour, we squished bugs. Next stop, was a stop for food. Might be the only place to get anything the rest of the trip. The road continued North with the pipeline never far from view. Very bumpy. Even though we are driving through mountains, it didn’t feel like mountain driving. Every where you looked you saw spruce trees mixed with Aspen and birch. Miles and miles of it. All the hills and valleys, nothing but spruce. We eventually got to the Yukon River, and stoped at Yukon Camp. Did a little shopping there and went down to the River. Back on the road again heading for our ultimate destination. Made one additional stop at a gravel pit from which we got a spectacular view. Got to the circle at about 4:00. Got our picture taken but was a bit disappointed that there was no “circle” . However. The squirrels and Jays are very friendly. The Jays come up and take food from your hand. Found out they have a nickname of camper thieves. Headed back to Fairbanks with a couple of stops to look at wild flowers. Also spotted two female moose feeding along the road. We were able to stop and Visio then for about 10 min. Got back to the hotel at 9:45. Tried to find someplace to get dinner but everything was closed except the grocery store.
Got back to the hotel. Apparently the hotel was full up and a group of guys were being turned away. One of the guys ran after us to the elevator and offered us any price to share our room. That was a first in my book. Of course we declined the kind offer.Read more