August 9 It's official- we've been there, done that, and now have the t-shirt. Mid-morning we drove back to the Northern Alaska Tour Company to purchase Arctic Circle t-shirts. We also stopped by the RV Park's office and bought t-shirts, especially since they are running a 15% sale on all clothing.
The air in Fairbanks is smelling of smoke and there is a definite haze in the air. There is a wildfire burning along the Denali Highway southeast of Fairbanks. And yesterday we saw a forest fire burning west of the Dalton Highway. When we talked to the clerk at Northern Alaska Tours she also mentioned there are fires along the Parks Highway near Denali NP but that they are not effecting traffic. That's good since we will need to travel that route to get back to Wasilla tomorrow.
And I need to apologize. I went back and reread yesterday's post. I corrected a couple of typos, but also added a bit more as I recalled certain events of our journey to the Arctic Circle and back. The additions weren't anything major, but memories that I want to have available when I read these postings years from now.
After lunch we drove the 12 or so miles to Fox, AK. Peggy (a.k.a. my CFO, my navigator, and my travel agent) had made arrangements for us to take the Gold Dredge #8 tour. On the way we stopped at the Alyeska Pipeline pull-out and walked by ourselves among the pipeline and displays. It is amazing the technology that was used not only to build this pipeline but also to clean and monitor the condition of the pipeline. We were able to take a few pics here.
We then went to the dredge. It was a very good tour! It started out with boarding a narrow gauge train. While we waited to depart the depot we were entertained by Earl who had opened for Johnny Cash. He was a good singer and guitar player. Then we had our train's guide (sorry, we can't remember his name) who did an excellent job of describing the gold mining operations in the Fairbanks area and specifically gold dredge #8 and finally the Alyeska Pipeline. I knew he would do well because he is a high school teacher, and this was his last presentation before having to go back to his teaching job on Monday.
As he spoke, the train made its way to different mining displays. It is remarkable to think about how mining in this northland happened and had to be so different from gold mining in the lower 48 states. In the winter gold containing pay gravel was shaft mined from beneath the ground. The pay gravel was stockpiled because the freezing temperatures prevented the use of water to separate the gold from the gravel.
In the spring and summer until freeze-up in the fall the pay gravel was run through sluice boxes which used water and riffles to allow the heavier gold to separate itself from the gravel. But this was a very labor intensive operation.
When it was realized how much gold was available through placer (eroded from the mother lode) mining, newer, faster technology was brought to Fairbanks. These were in the form of mining dredges like the #8 we were informed about.
These dredges were mining monsters of the day. It was compared to a giant gold mining chain saw. Each bucket on the chain would take in 6 cubic yards of pay dirt. The dredge would gobble 22 buckets a minute. The pay dirt was dumped into a hopper which then fed a trammel. The trammel was a large, rotating drum through which the pay gravel was fed with a strong water spray washing the gravel. The water flushed out the small, heavy particles and gold which were then fed into sluice boxes to separate the heavy gold. The dredge was much faster than human power alone could mine gold.
At the end of the train ride to see all these mining displays and live demonstrations, we were given a chance to pan gold. Each tourist was given a small cloth bag of supposedly pay gravel. We then went to a bench in front of a water trough with a pan. We were quickly instructed on the art of panning. Swish, swish, swish, drain, drain, drain, swish, swish, drain, drain. Each repetitive movement removed more and more of the gravel while at the same time allowing the heavier gold to settle.
In the final panning stages, there they were...small flecks of gold! Peggy and I both had gold! We captured each small fleck on the tip of a finger and carefully put it into a plastic container. We then took our gold into the office where it was dried and weighed. To our surprise we had panned $31 worth of gold which we were allowed to keep! Not bad for 15 minutes worth of work by 2 rookies. Laughingly, I told Peggy I had panned $16 and she $15!
We walked aboard the dredge to see first hand the equipment on this behemoth machine. It was hard to imagine this giant-sized technology being used from 1928 to 1959 and removing 7.5 million ounces of gold from the surrounding area. We then also bought some t-shirts in the gift shop having felt smug because of our new-found wealth.
The final presentation was on the Alyeska Pipeline. As I mentioned yesterday, the pipeline's technology is truly amazing. The present flow rate is 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily. It takes 15 days for the oil to go the 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. And, Alaskans pay no state income tax because of the state revenue generated by the pipeline. On the contrary...each Alaska citizen gets a yearly oil profits' dividend check in October!
By now it was time to have dinner since we had a very light lunch. Fortunately, we did not have to go far. Fox, AK, is home to the northern-most brewery in North America, the Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Co. The food and drink was very good!! And, Peggy even bought me a beer bottle cozy!
On the way back to our camper we filled the pickup with fuel and called it another fun, entertaining, and educational day! Tomorrow we load up and head south back to Wasilla.
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