Alaska, Northern Lights

ALASKA – NORTHERN LIGHTS

No.1 on my bucket list was to see the Northern Lights and when I told my husband Roy about the trip and he heard the temperature would be 40 below, he said no way, I did my cold weather training in the Marine Corps and I don’t want to go. I talked him into it, with the promise that as an ex pilot, he would enjoy the flight around Mt. McKinley in the co-pilots seat, and a 12 hour train trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage. I didn’t tell him about the dog sled ride.

We have been to Alaska a dozen times, but always on a cruise. This time I wanted to see the interior. There are two seasons in Alaska, winter and construction. You realize how tough these people are, and the pipeline must have been difficult to build in such a harsh climate.

We flew into Fairbanks and our driver took us to stay at Pike’s Hotel on the river which was frozen solid, with people driving on it. Nice, friendly hotel, great restaurant, and each night they ran a free ice cream stall in the lobby. It was 40 below, and even in several layers with a full length mink coat, I was still cold. Another great restaurant is the Chena Pump House, complete with a 10 ft brown bear at reception.

Don’t rent a car in Alaska in the winter. We had arranged to be taken to Chena Hot Springs, 60 miles north of Fairbanks. It took us 4 hours to get there on a very icy road. We were told that there are four accidents a day, with tourists rolling their vehicles. The journey was fun. Racing past us alongside the road were different teams of mushers with 16 dogs pulling their sleds. Lots of reindeer, caribou, elk, moose, and eagles.

Chena Hot Springs has 100% occupancy. 50% of their guests are oriental.

Apparently it is a belief that if you see the Northern Lights, your children will be brilliant.

I was amazed at the internationals there, from Brazil, Australia, Switzerland, Russia, England. Even people in wheelchairs, on canes, all wanting to fulfill their dream to see the Northern Lights. It was a two star lodge, no elevators, with two floors. There was no way I was going to get out of my five layers of clothes, and into a swim suit to try the hot springs. I don’t care how good the waters are, my bones would have to do without their help.

It was a fascinating place, so far from anywhere, yet they had huge greenhouse tents to grow their own vegetables, and even had their own power plant.

The main attraction is viewing the sky each night. They put me into thermal Mickey Mouse boots which I couldn’t even lift up. On top of all my layers, they loaned me survival trousers, and then a jacket which came down to my ankles. We left at 9p.m. in a convoy of snow vehicles, a driver and two people in the cab, towing a snow tractor with 10 passengers in, 40 minutes to the top of a mountain which had a warming wigwam with a wooden floor and seats inside so you could pop in and out and get a hot chocolate. We were up there until 2.00 am and by that time – I had had enough. Of the 50 people who were taken up the mountain, I never saw a soul. Everyone seemed to have a fortune in expensive cameras around their necks, tripods, and a miners headlight on. I stayed leaning on the snowcat vehicle and froze but I wasn’t going to miss a thing. It was magical to see the dancing colors. There is no perfect word to describe how the northern lights move across the sky. They float, glide, weave and swirl in an almost fluid fashion and the winter in Fairbanks provides one of the best spots on earth to see them. The aurora borealis ranges in color from yellow to red to purple. The Auroral Oval, a ring shaped region around the North Pole offers a great balance of clear nights, which draws people from all over the world, mid August to early April.

You can ask the front desk of the hotel to give you an aurora wake up call if the lights appear

www.gi.alaska.educ

Our next adventure was back in Fairbanks and at the airport, we went in one of the 600 small planes parked there, for a two hour flight around Mt. McKinley. Wonderful to see the 20,230 ft mountain surrounded by several glaciers.

The train trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage was fun, spectacular scenery, only runs once a week in the winter . 12 hours of non stop viewing, and I think it would be even more interesting in the summer, with all the rivers and waterfalls to view. We saw lots of Dahl Sheep on the canyon cliffs.

We stayed in Anchorage at our favorite hotel, the Capt Cook. Two wonderful restaurants and since there was a blizzard with 12 inches of snow, we were glad we had a lovely suite to enjoy. Crows Nest and Fletchers are two places I recommend to all our clients going to Alaska.

My husband said our next trip is going to be somewhere warm.

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel/Frosch

825 Santa Cruz Ave

Menlo Park, CA

650-961-2340 Direct

Maureen.Jones@Frosch

www.allhorizonstvl.com