Almost Another Plan B- We Do Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley N.P.s

We left McCarthy and flew back to Chitina where we picked up our car and started a long drive to Fairbanks. This drive would be along the Richardson Highway, but would be a new route to us once we passed the Tok Cutoff.

Air mail delivery along the Richardson

We immediately noticed a change in the landscape with more boggy and slough areas that were favored habitat for moose.

Ice still on the lake

We only had one moose sighting and had to yell at it to get it to quit foraging and look at us so we could get a good picture. We drove along the very scenic Delta River valley on our way to Delta Junction the Alaskan Highway ends. The Alaskan Pipeline parallels the Richardson and we had several great views of the pipeline.

At a salmon hatchery on the Delta

With the Alaska Range as a backdrop, we had several great views of mountain scenery, but are growing tired of photographing mountains.

Hey moose, look this way!

Just outside Delta Junction is the Ft. Greely Army Base where we stopped for a photo of the tanks that flank the base entrance.

Ft. Greely main gate

We stopped at the Delta Junction visitor’s center for a short break and to see the marker that marks the end of the Alaskan Highway. We also got some pictures of some really large mosquitoes.

Along the pipeline

We arrived in Fairbanks but had difficulty finding our hotel from the directions that we were given by the travel agency.

The end of the Alaskan

We called the hotel and found out it was on the other side of the city and not even close to where we’d been directed. It was the first time our instructions were not dead on.

Jane with the AK state bird

We checked into the really fine Pike’s Landing waterfront hotel and into our deluxe room overlooking the Chena River. We had dinner in the hotel’s restaurant and conked out for the night.

The next morning we took the hotel’s shuttle to the airport and boarded a Wright Air Service flight to Bettles (BET uls), AK.

The poop on Bettles

This would be our first trip above the Arctic Circle as Bettles is about 35 miles north of latitude 66°33’44”N, and we were excited.

Taking off from Fairbanks

We landed in Bettles after about an hour’s flight from Fairbanks and checked into the Bettles Lodge which is listed on the national registry of historic places.

Meandering rivers up here too!

We were to stay here for two nights. Our package called for us to do a Bettles community tour and a river cruise to Old Bettles, the original trading post and community established during the gold rush days one day, and a visit to Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic national parks by floatplane the next.

Another pipeline pic

On our community tour we learned that Bettles has a population of 67 people and operates side by side with a small native community. Both native and white communities function independently of each other, but come together to make decisions and policies that affect both.

Bettles Lodge

Bettles has its own post office and has diesel generators that generate power for the entire community. But power generation is an expensive process and electricity costs about 62¢ per kWh. We wondered why in an area that has over 22 hours of daylight in the summer, there isn’t more solar panels taking advantage of this power source.

Fuel for the generating station

The Bettles school is now closed down as the number of children attending has diminished over the years.

Bettles ranger station

Currently, there is only one school-aged child in the community who is being home schooled. After our tour we had lunch at the lodge then were driven to the Koyukuk River for our river cruise to Old Bettles.

Launching the boat

We learned that a turn in the river determined where the original community was established as steamboats could not negotiate the turn any further upstream.

The old Bettles trading post

Later, the town was moved about 10 miles further upstream when the Air Force established a landing strip during WWII for logistical support. We took an approximate 10 mile ride down the Koyukuk River to Old Bettles.

One sexy mama!

We donned mosquito netting because the bugs were swarming and super thick, but even with the netting and bug spray viewing was difficult with the bugs biting.

We've got bugs!

After looking at the old buildings and taking some photographs, we climbed back into the boat and high tailed it away from the mosquitoes.

Never this thick in Louisiana

We got back to the lodge and started happy hour while waiting for some new friends we met on the flight to Bettles, Gary and Greer, to return from flight seeing the parks.

Relaxing after a big day

We had finished our second round and decided to go ahead with dinner without them.

The sun shines through the smoke

No one at the lodge was saying anything as to their whereabouts, but it was obvious they were overdue.

The next morning at breakfast we met up with Gary and Greer and found out they had to land on a lake and wait for the wind to shift and clear smoke from a forest fire so they had enough visibility to fly. They didn’t get back to the lodge until almost 2000.

Our plane at the float pond

Today it was our turn and right away our pilot let us know that getting to Kobuk Valley was very improbable due to smoke and haze from the fire.

Removing bilge water

Capt. Larry was depressed over the news, but was hoping that conditions might improve enough that he could convince the pilot to at least fly over the closest boundary so he could claim that he was in the park. After breakfast we went to the Gates of the Arctic ranger station in Bettles and watched a movie about the park and the people who live along its boundaries.

Filling the fuel bladders

We decided that most government made park movies make the people are associated with the park to be bigger heroes than they probably are in real life. Anyone who lives in frontier wilderness conditions are a special breed, regardless if they established a hog farm in Iowa years ago, or a trading post in the Yukon. But if you are associated with the government park system, you, our friend, can become a legend bound for glory!

We met back up with our pilot, Kevin, and the three of us were driven to the float pond. We watched as Kevin and a helper fueled the plane to its maximum capacity, and then added another 10 gallons in fuel bladders.

Mr. Paul signs his book

Kevin indicated it could be a long day and you don’t want to run low on fuel. We agreed. We thought it was interesting when Kevin used a bilge pump to remove water from the pontoons. Our plane was a Cessna 185 and she was now ready to go. We boarded her and received all of the emergency and survival instruction, then settled in for the first leg of our flight. Jane was petrified and kept squeezing Capt. Larry’s arm so hard that he later found black and blue marks. We tested the conditions toward Kobuk, but Kevin thought it was too smoky to proceed.

Paul Shanahan and Jane

Plan B was to head to a nearby lake and visit a bush pilot icon, Paul Shanahan, who built a home and raised a family in these parts while flying to virtually every part of the state during his career.

We try for some big ones

We flew over Paul’s home and sure enough, he was outside in his long underwear waving to us. We had our first water landing and it was as smooth as glass. We taxied up to Paul’s beach where he and his dog, “Bug,” greeted us. We immediately knew that this was going to be a treat, because Paul quickly established himself as a really Alaskan sourdough character. He invited us in and we laughed at the sign in his door- “I am hearing challenged. Don’t knock, just come on in.” We wondered how often he had the bejesus scared out of him by a visitor! Paul and Kevin started to catch up on pilot and flying news, and then Paul started to tell some of his stories and experiences. It was fascinating, even though we couldn’t fully relate to all of the bush pilot issues.

Lake Walker

Kevin asked Paul if he had any copies of the book that was written about him and asked us if we would like to purchase a copy. We said, “Absolutely,” but Paul said he would just give us one. We wanted him to sign it and opened the cover and found that it was already signed and dated 3/20/2013. He found two more copies that were also signed and dated with the same date. Paul was bewildered. He could not figure out why he dated all three books with that date. We noticed several empty vodka bottles and wondered if this provided a clue. We told him to just change the date and asked if we could take a picture of him doing so. Well, now he insisted on putting on pants, and after he got his pants and suspenders adjusted, we got our shot. We left and walked down to the beach where Kevin and Capt. Larry tried their luck at fishing, but no luck was to be had. We said our goodbyes to Paul and took off from the lake. What an encounter!

Kevin took us up to Lake Walker in Gates of the Arctic, N.P. where we would have lunch. Lake Walker is a big lake about 19 miles long and up to 600 feet deep. It is extremely scenic as the surrounding mountains seem to dive right into the water.

Enjoying lunch on Lake Walker

We landed in a good spot and had our lunch while only being mildly attacked by mosquitoes. After we finished eating, Capt. Larry and Kevin again tried to hook into some 20-plus pound lake trout that the lake is known for.

Good sized Lake Walker bear print

But again, no luck. While he was walking down the shore to try another spot, Capt. Larry came upon some bear prints and scat, so we knew we probably weren’t alone. Kevin signaled it was time to move one and we settled in for another great takeoff. Capt. Larry was wondering when he should say something to Kevin about the prospect of getting into Kobuk Valley.

The dunes of Kobuk Valley

The park feature for which it is noted is sand dunes that were formed from glacial sand deposits that were spread over a very wide valley along the Kobuk River. We headed northwest for about 15 minutes and Kevin said that conditions ahead didn’t look too bad and we would poke our nose around and see how things went. About 20 minutes later he announced that we were approaching some of the little sand dunes. Capt. Larry started to get excited.

So weird to see these dunes here

Five minutes later we were approaching the large dunes that the park is known for. We made it and were in the park big time! The Kevin put the icing on the cake when he announced that we were going to land in the Kobuk River so we could get out and touch the ground!! The day before Gary and Greer said that they landed in a nearby lake and we learned that was standard fare for most visitors. But Kevin wanted to try the fishing in the river, so that’s what we did.

Fishing the Kobuk River

We landed, took some pictures with a sign (there is no sign that marks the park like most of them, so a couple in 2010 donated a sign for future visitors) that was loaned to us by the Gates of the Arctic park ranger, and Kevin and Capt. Larry fished for sheephead salmon (he thinks that’s what Kevin called them), a migratory fish that normally shows up in early July. Either they didn’t cooperate or we were just too early, because we were skunked for the third time.

We make it to Kobuk Valley!

We flew out of the river and headed back to the lodge, arriving almost 2 hours later. When we were in the river we were about 130 miles from the Bering Sea coast, and about 170 miles from the lodge. It’s really big country! By now, with so many smooth takeoffs and landings, Jane was starting to feel comfortable. She was chatting, joking, and taking pictures from the third seat.

The extra fuel comes in handy

We landed and got back to the lodge where Capt. Larry gave Kevin the biggest tip he’d ever given anyone. It was money well spent and Kevin was grateful, but not as grateful as Capt. Larry. He made it to the most remote national park in the park system and had a great time getting there.

Smoke from the fires

We had happy hour and dinner with Gary and Greer and turned in early (there’s over 23 hours of sunlight up there this time of year) for some welcomed sleep.

The next morning we had breakfast. The lodge got a new cook while we were out chasing Kobuk, and last night’s meal was good. However, as we started to look over the breakfast menu, the cook’s helper told us it would be best to get the cook’s “breakfast special,” and not upset him. We ordered 2 specials and noticed that the new cook liked to dress everything up with lots of cheese (anyone can cook with cheese!), and the special had one scrambled egg with potatoes left over from last night (they were mushy). We were not impressed and told the helper (who was the cook when we arrived) that he did a better job, but at least the new cook was happy we got his special. Our plane back to Fairbanks arrived around 0930 and we boarded to leave the Arctic Circle.

Kid Jane at Santa Claus House

We had a good flight back to Fairbanks right until 5 minutes before we landed when an ear-piercing alarm went off and the plane dropped about 200 feet before the pilot brought things under control. Jane re-bruised Capt. Larry’s black and blue marks.

Santa lives in North Pole

Capt. Larry noticed that the pilot had pushed the speed up to a red-line indicator on the air speed indicator, and thought that that might have set the alarm off. The pilot joked about it on the ground and said he “had the field,” but Capt. Larry thinks he was trying to beat another plane in and things went sour. We returned to our hotel where we had our rental car parked. Check-in time wasn’t for another 4 hours, so we decided to do a “Jane trip” and go to North Pole, AK, just outside of Fairbanks. Of course, North Pole has Santa Claus House and everything is about Santa Claus and Christmas. Jane was like a kid in a candy store.

Jane with Santa's reindeer

We met Santa and told him that all of the little kids in our family were being really good this year and try and bring them everything they ask for and more (belly up you parents!).

Jane and friend

We photographed Santa’s reindeer and bought some souvenirs before heading back to the hotel. The next day was a travel-break day. We did some laundry and got ready to take the train down to Denali, N.P., our next park.

Letters to Santa

We had to call to verify that we could get in as some wildfires in the area were messing with traffic and park activities. But we were told that we were good to go.  We ran some last minute errands, turned in our rental car and got ready for the next leg.

181 days until he returns!