World Eskimo-Indian Olympics (WEIO) in Fairbanks

We spent the day on Friday at the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics. Today's events included stick pull, ear pull, two-footed high kick, and blanket toss along with competitions for the best native regalia in multiple categories (fur, cloth, etc.) and the crowning of Miss WEIO. They also conducted separate demonstrations in fish cutting and harpooning of seals. The scheduled seal-skinning event had to be cancelled because the seals were still frozen. However, there were still several native dance troupes that performed their singing and/or dancing routines.
The stick pull consists of a 12" tapered stick from about 1 1/2" in the center to 1/2" at the end that is greased and competitors stand opposite one another with inner foot touching. The object is to yank the stick out of your opponent's hand without getting off balance or taking a step and you can't 'body-check' them either.
The ear pull was the toughest event with a few competitors ending up in the E.R. with torn ears today. Competitors sit facing each other with a length of sinew behind one ear. Keeping the head straight (no twisting!) and ensuring only the ear is "pulling" and not the face, the object is to lean back and pull so that the sinew ends up on YOUR ear (with your opponent 'giving in' and turning their head or their ear 'giving way'). Lots of grimacing in this event!

The two-footed high kick requires each competitor to jump off both feet evenly and hit a small, seal-skinned ball squarely with both feet simultaneously. The women typically were hitting about 6'6" with the men's record being 8'8"!

Of course, all of the native outfits and the singing and dancing were awesome! A great experience!

 

Museums--Iditarod and Fairbanks

After our "repairs" in Anchorage and an update to fresh provisions and a trip to the laundromat, we headed north to Palmer, up thru Wasilla and on to Fairbanks. Along the way we stopped at the Iditarod museum in Wasilla--the "real" start of the event each year.

We stopped at Byers Lake for a few days and 'circumnavigated' the lake (about a 5 1/2 mile hike) and found some wild blueberries along the way. YUM!

We then moved on and camped overnight along the start of the Denali Highway near Cantwell (a gravel road that cuts across from Cantwell to Paxson) in a gorgeous site near a river with a float plane landing site. According to our "Milepost" (the 'bible' of Alaskan road travel), wilderness camping is allowed anywhere along this road where it's not explicitly signposted. WRONG! At 9:30 pm we had a knock on the trailer from a private security company paid to come along the native lands and collect a "use fee". It cost us $10, which actually wasn't bad. I have subsequently visited the BLM Lands office here in Fairbanks and now have a somewhat accurate map of where the native and private lands are along the Denali Highway...but even that's not a guarantee as things change daily!

We made it to Fairbanks and are camped at a state recreation site in lush trees along the Chena River. We are spending 4 days here to explore the museums (Univ of Alaska's Museum of the North was EXCELLENT), visit the farmers' markets, partake of the activities associated with the "golden days" festival and the Eskimo-Indian Olympics (with such events as blanket toss, greased pole walking, seal skinning, and ear pulling), and view the Alaskan pipeline.

Over the weekend we'll head back south to spend about a week exploring the Denali Highway before we head into Denali National Park for several days at the end of July.

"Civilization" in Anchorage for new tires!

We had a glorious drive from Tok, Alaska to Anchorage along a beautiful stretch of road that include views of mountains (of course) and glaciers!

 

We had to take a diversion into Anchorage to get new tires as the wear on the front tires had become substantial. Staying in a Costco parking lot (with the permission of the manager so we could get tires put on first thing since we arrived too late in the evening), we were able to get 4 new tires and we also invested in a front end alignment, but need new ball joints (not to be done up here--prices are TOO steep!!).

Top of the World Highway into Alaska

From Dawson City, we proceeded along the "Top of the World" highway (rather than the Alaska Highway) into Alaska. This road was gravel and a bit muddy in the rainy weather.

 
We did see several caribou and enjoy scenic vistas in amongst the clouds! We saw a tent camp of loggers who were being flown into the wilderness each day with chain saws to cut the trees along the borders of the US--good use of taxpayers' $$???

Note "brown line" to right--that's the Canada-USA border being "cut"!

 

We are finally in Alaska!!

Happy Birthday to Alan--Call girls in Dawson City!

We spent Alan's birthday (11 July) in Dawson City, Yukon--made famous by the 1896-1898 gold rush on Bonanza Creek. We were able to visit many museums dedicated to the gold rush and the history of the territory and it's development. 

 

Robert Service Cabin with Dick, Nancy, Liz & Alan

Tailings from a dredge in the Gold Mining Effort

Overlooking Dawson City from the "Dome"

We stayed at a campground across the Yukon River from Dawson City where the ferry was free.

After spending Alan's birthday celebrating with the local microbrew and then a show with the call-girls of a casino resembling a turn-of-the-century saloon, we returned to our campground on the ferry at 1:30 a.m. to a "sunset-like" scene.

What??!?!?! 1:30 a.m.??? What's this sunset??

 Be careful with the permafrost here--if you heat a building, the building settles in crooked!

The sun NEVER SETS here!!! Yikes--it is messing with our body clocks!
Still lots of wildlife--today ptarmigans and red fox!

Hot Springs, Signpost Forest, and Museums

We have enjoyed several "tourist" attractions along the Alaska Highway--the hotsprings at Liard and the signpost "forest" at Watson Lake.

The Yukon is a wild province with approx. 80% of the population residing in Whitehorse (about 30,000!).  We were able to visit several museums in Whitehorse--most devoted to the goldrush and transportation surrounding that effort or to the Alaska Highway. We did manage to also find a local microbrewery that offered a tour and tasting of their many varieties of beer! As they say, it's beer worth freezing for! It's still VERY cold up here...and, since the sun barely sets here, it's light at all hours of the day and night--really messing up our sleep schedule!