Fall Drives

We went for a fall drive the first fall we were up here and I still remember.  We went down the Denali Highway which is about 150 miles on a dirt road.  We were totally unprepared and fortunately we made without incident, but looking back, we could’ve been in serious trouble.  It was amazingly beautiful though so we thought we’d do some more drives this year.

We went for a couple of drives two weeks ago.  The first was up north on the Elliott Highway.  It goes north and then west of Fairbanks.  Right at the north-west bend, the Dalton Highway breaks off and heads north to the Arctic Ocean (Deadhorse Point).  We basically drove up to the junction (where the pavement ends).  It was pretty and the kids had a good time getting out and throwing rocks in the river.  We also built a small dam and floated sticks under a bridge.  I  remember doing that as a kid and I must say it’s still kind of fun.  I think we were doing it for  about an hour and I probably could have stayed another few (kids as well, but it was getting dark).   We stopped at the Hiltop (yes, one ‘L’) Truck Stop for a bite (famous for pie) and then went on to Fairbanks

The next day we headed south down the Richardson Highway (goes to Valdez where the pipeline ends).  It was kind of cloudy so we didn’t go far, but stopped at Birch Lake and a couple of turnouts where you can see the flats of the Tanana River (big river that runs right by Fairbanks and drains into the Yukon).  It was beautiful and mostly just fun to hang out with the family.  Maybe we’ll make a tradition out of it.  Good times.

More photos here.