Monday was another beautiful day here in Fairbanks. When we woke up it was in the low sixties with no wind or clouds or humidity. We decided to ride out to the Riverboat Discovery and see if they had tickets for the 2 PM trip. We were lucky, there were plenty of tickets so at 2 o'clock, guess where we were? Right, we were traveling down the Chena River on the Riverboat Discovery. There are a lot of great things about the Riverboat Discover; one we really like is that if you have the Alaska Coupon book it's a BOGO. Other things we liked were the bush plane demonstrations, sled dog demonstrations and the stop at an Athabaskan fish camp. Its hard to believe all the things that go on in the summers at these fish camps; from catching and processing the fish, making clothes, growing vegetables, and building tools and other items that will be needed to get through the winter. The winters can be days after days of temperatures greater than minus forty below zero. Now to start the boat trip:
The pilot here had his pilot's license before he had his drivers license. He's been flying for over 50 years. He demonstrated several take offs and landings used by the bush pilots in Alaska.
Here the pilot is getting ready to take off. It does not take much room for these pilots to get airborne. The planes they use are 1930-40 Pipers. They are very light and simple...
He's up
Susan Butcher is one of the legends of Iditarod racing in Alaska. Susan was the second woman to win the Iditarod race and second person to win four Iditarod races. She is also the first to win four out of five in sequential years. Susan passed away on August 5 of 2006 after a battle with cancer. On March 1, 2008 Gov. Sarah Palin designated the first Saturday of every March as Susan Butcher Day to commemorate the start of the race. David Monson, pictured here is Susan's husband. He is still involved in mushing and keeps the training base for Alaskan Huskies active as shown in these next few pictures.
Some new puppies already beginning their training
Here the dogs are pulling a modified four wheeler which weighs around 600 pounds with the driver. This modified four wheeler is used to train the dogs and teach the dogs to work together. In the demonstration we watched, the dogs pulled the rig around 20 MPH.
From the sled dogs we moved on down the river to the Athabaskan fish camp. This is an example of one of the later buildings that was built at these fish camps after they were influenced by western culture.
Linda with one of the Athabaskan ladies modeling one of the fur coats they make. This coat is made with furs from several different types of animals and is worn in temperatures as low as minus forty.
You can see several different types of furs they have. The one she is holding is a snow fox.
This is a stuffed moose at the fish camp. It gives you an idea how big these moose are. A grown moose averages seven feet at the front shoulder.
Like fish? These are fresh chum salmon (dog salmon) hung on these racks to dry prior to placing in the smoke house. The chum salmon are used to feed the dogs in the winter. Each dog gets one salmon per day. In the background you can see a fish wheel used to catch the salmon when they are returning to the river to spawn.
Another view of the fish wheel.
These are salmon strips made from Silver, King or Sockeye salmon and are used for people food year round. When these salmon are caught they are cut in small strips, hung on the racks to dry and then placed in the smoke house.
This is looking in a smoke house filled with dog salmon that is ready to be removed and filled with another batch.
These are some reindeer they keep at the fish camp for food and fur. They use every part of an animal they kill for something. Even the bones are used for weapons or jewelry.
Gardens are planted throughout the camp to provide fresh food during the summer. The types of vegetables grown are what we would grow in the early spring or fall. They also grow a lot of vegetables that have a short growing season such as squash and some beans.
This is the Riverboat Discovery docked at the fish camp.
This was the turn around point for the Riverboat Discovery. This is where the Chena River joins the Tanana River.
There was a river under the bridge...
