Alaskan Adventure: Day 43. On our first full day in Fairbanks we visited two very different places. First we went to the little touristy town of North Pole, Alaska. After a quick a quick trip through Santa Clause House we did some grocery shopping and washed the car. Returning to camp we got some rest before heading to the Fairbanks International Airport for our second place to visit way above the Arctic Circle in the Brooks Range Mountains.

Santa Clause House, North Pole, Alaska.

All things Christmas trappings but no sign of Christ anywhere.

The North Pole…

With that tourist destination done we rested for awhile, then left for our flight to “Brooks Range & Gates of the Arctic”.

Our plane, “Navajo Charlie Echo”. This is before boarding in Fairbanks.

Our pilot. He climbed into his seat through the open window beside him.

We had several brilliant rainbows as we started North from Fairbanks.

The mountains in the distance are the “White Mountains Range”.

Pictures from flying North – Fairbanks to Coldfoot. Lots of glare and dirty smudges on the windows depending on which direction the plane was turned.

Astonishingly, there is only one bridge that crosses the Yukon River in the whole State of Alaska. Here’s two pictures of that bridge that is both for vehicles and the Alaska Pipeline. The road is the Dalton Highway or “the Haul Road” which was built to enable the construction of the Alaska Pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.

The Alaska Pipeline on the left. The Dalton Highway in the middle, I don’t remember the name of this river (not the Yukon). The pipeline is often above ground but goes underground in many places including going under this river instead of bridging across it.

Another view of Pipeline, Road, and meandering river.

We landed on a gravel airstrip in Coldfoot. Coldfoot is about 60 miles North of the Arctic Circle.

We had cell service in Coldfoot. This screenshot of a weather app shows how far north we were and we would fly further north to get into the Brooks Range Mountains and Gates of the Arctic National Park.

The Alaska Pipeline running alongside the gravel runway in Coldfoot.

The Arctic Interagency Visitors Center in Coldfoot.

Our flight did not follow the road from Fairbanks to Coldfoot but we saw the road and the pipeline in several places.

This map shows the “Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge”.

“Becca” picked us up at the airstrip (there is no airport building) in the white van. She drove us a short distance on the Dalton Highway to the Visitors Center. After the Visitors Center she drove us to “Coldfoot Camp” which is the only place to go in Coldfoot. This building was built by truckers using pallet wood and other scrap material. It houses a buffet restaurant, bar, and gift shop.

Inside at the bar “The Frozen Foot Saloon”. The most Northern bar in USA. People who can live here year round are rugged. This place is colder than Fairbanks and last winter Fairbanks had 6 continuous weeks where it did not get above 20 degrees below zero!

Outside at Coldfoot Camp are semi’s idling waiting to take their loads of pipeline pipe. Along the bank of grass to the left in the photo are tents of people who could not get a room in the hotel. Google that Coldfoot Camp Hotel if you want to book a room. The pipe is for new pipeline from new oil wells being opened West of Prudhoe Bay/Deadhorse in the National Petroleum Reserve area. They will connect those new wells to the existing Alaskan Pipeline.

After a short visit in Coldfoot Camp we loaded back on the van and returned to the airstrip hoping for a flight into the Brooks Range Mountains and Gates of the Artic National Park. Because of the questionable weather and low clouds there was a good chance that they would not attempt the flight further north into the mountains. If canceled, the fall-back was a van trip on the Dalton Highway up to another little town called Wiseman where a few brave souls (like 8) live year round. Fortunately the pilots were ready to go when we returned to the airstrip.

Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve: 8.4 Million Acres of wilderness in the Brooks Range Mountains. The “Gates” reference is to a specific place in the North Fork of the Koyukuk River Valley between two mountains; Boreal and Frigid Crags. This “Gate” marks the transition from “Interior” Alaska to “Northern” Alaska.

Screen shot from the park website showing “the Gate”. Looking North, Frigid Crags on the left, Boreal on the right.

Our pilot took us up the valley to “the Gate”. This photo was taken around 10:30pm.

I think this is the same valley but looking South instead of North. But we flew up and down lots of valleys so could be wrong.

This is an approximation of how we flew around in Gates of the Arctic. Pilot knew what he was doing as we flew from one glacial valley to another. Always below the cloud layer and between the highest peaks. All I remember afterwards is the Gates and Redstar mountains he specifically pointed out.

This is the map they gave us on the plane.

There were two airplanes. This is the other plane that was usually following ours but at one point was going the opposite direction on the other side of the valley. It is impossible to appreciate how huge these mountain valleys are. This is a “zoomed in” shot of this plane. It was teeny tiny to us as we watched it fly by.

The mountain on the right is called “Redstar”.

More pics of Redstar Mountain.

Pilot was using this visual Garmin app to fly in the valleys.

Out of time we started heading home.

The sun was still shining brightly at around 11:30 as we flew back toward Fairbanks across the Yukon Flats.

“Sunset” at we flew back over the Yukon Flats Wildlife Refuge.

Down low coming back into Fairbanks around midnight.

Landing on the little baby size runway at Fairbanks.

The brown building on the left was our “airport terminal” building. This picture was taken at midnight as we were walking back to the car. There was plenty of “daylight”. The mosquitoes must have thought it was feeding time at dusk because they were aggressive.

Our official certificates… We flew about 100 miles North of the Arctic Circle and feel incredibly blessed. Gates of the Arctic National Park is the least visited of all 63 National Parks. There are no roads to this park. There are not even any trails to this park. The only way to visit is by airplane or bushwhacking for weeks into the wilderness.

Favorite Bible reading today: John 3: 31-36

“He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony. The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”