Pre-Conference Field Trip---Fairbanks to Valdez

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Pre-Conference Field Trip---Fairbanks to Valdez Tour Leaders: Ron Mahoney, Peter Stortz, Torie Baker, Phil Kaspari Considering Sustainability of Resources and Communities along a highway through the

1 Pre-Conference Field Trip---Fairbanks to Valdez Tour Leaders: Ron Mahoney, Peter Stortz, Torie Baker, Phil Kaspari Considering Sustainability of Resources and Communities along a highway through the Alaska Range, along the Tanana River, and the old American route to the Klondike and Fairbanks Goldfields. From Fairbanks, the heartland of interior Alaska, to Valdez Switzerland by the Sea. Summer in the Last Frontier Field Trip Travel Dates: June 23-25, 2010 Cost Estimate: $600 depending on how many people attend (prices include transportation, museum fees, meals and lodging). Possible Wildlife Sightings: Brown and Black Bear, Moose, Waterfowl, Fox, Salmon, Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, upland and shore Birds. No-see-ums may be present but cannot be sighted! Personal Items: Outerwear, sunglasses, camera, binoculars, bug spray/wipes, water bottle, notebook, sense of wonder NOTE: Legendary mosquito hoards are NOT expected on this trip, but we may encounter some along with no-see ums and gnats. Check out the suggested reading following the itinerary! The tour will return to Fairbanks June 25 with planned stops at a Pipeline Visitor s Kiosk and for lunch. Personal options for Valdez and alternative routes home from there will be listed at the end of the itinerary.

June 23, 2010 6:30am 7:30am Depart Fairbanks Itinerary Arrive Rika s Roadhouse, Breakfast and Historic Site Rika s Roadhouse a window to the past see how they ran a business on a subsistence

html 9:30 am Depart Rika s, Narrated Drive through Diverse Agriculture 11:00 am Arrive Dry Creek Community, Self-Sustaining Commune Visit wood-based enterprises, meet the people and see large-scale

2 June 23, :30am 7:30am Depart Fairbanks Itinerary Arrive Rika s Roadhouse, Breakfast and Historic Site Rika s Roadhouse a window to the past see how they ran a business on a subsistence lifestyle in the early 1900 s. They grew/raised the food for the restaurant. Short guided tour of the grounds and interpretive sites. 9:30 am Depart Rika s, Narrated Drive through Diverse Agriculture 11:00 am Arrive Dry Creek Community, Self-Sustaining Commune Visit wood-based enterprises, meet the people and see large-scale gardening, agriculture using horses and local power production! Dry Creek began as a commune in the early 1970 s and today is a thriving community with 5 commercial enterprises, including a sawmill, log siding and log home factory, agriculture, electricity and heat production, and a wood stove pellet factory.

Noon Box Lunch 2:00 pm Depart Dry Creek Alaska Range This is a picture similar to what you will see along the way to our next stop.

4:00 pm Rest Stop, scenery and leg stretching Interior Alaska is much drier than coastal Alaska, with temperature extremes from near 100 in

Because it is dry, much of interior Alaska was not glaciated and has very old geologic formations such as this granite dome.

3 Noon Box Lunch 2:00 pm Depart Dry Creek Alaska Range This is a picture similar to what you will see along the way to our next stop. This is Taiga vegetation, characterized by old black spruce and shrubs. Some of these 20 tall trees may be over 200 years old! 4:00 pm Rest Stop, scenery and leg stretching Interior Alaska is much drier than coastal Alaska, with temperature extremes from near 100 in the summer to -50 in the winter. Because it is dry, much of interior Alaska was not glaciated and has very old geologic formations such as this granite dome. With climate change there are more frequent and larger fires. In 2004, over 6 million acres of interior Alaska burned. Now, researchers are studying the tundra where fire was a rare occurrence but is becoming increasingly common as the tundra ecosystem responds to a warming climate.

6:30 pm Arrive Princess Lodge, Copper Center, dinner and sleep!

Elias Mountains June 24, 2010 7:00 am Breakfast at the lodge 8:30 am

Elias NP Visitor s Center; Program on subsistence, access, invasive

4 6:30 pm Arrive Princess Lodge, Copper Center, dinner and sleep! Dining al fresco (Left) at the Lodge (right) with view of the St. Elias Mountains June 24, :00 am Breakfast at the lodge 8:30 am Wrangell-St. Elias NP Visitor s Center; Program on subsistence, access, invasive species and other issues in the largest National Park in the USA at over 13 million acres! The historic Kennecott Copper Mine (left) and remote beauty (below) awaits the park visitor. Only one road barely penetrates this vast wilderness area.

9:30 am Depart Copper Center; drive the Alaskan pipeline route The Alaskan pipeline is an engineering wonder that

11:00 am Stop at receding Worthington Glacier and Thompson Pass 11:45 am Stop at Keystone Canyon Falls Walk right

Only 10 years ago, the Worthington glacier here covered much of the rock now surrounding it.

Climate change effects are more dramatic approaching the arctic than they are in temperate zones.

5 9:30 am Depart Copper Center; drive the Alaskan pipeline route The Alaskan pipeline is an engineering wonder that runs over 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. What are its ecological impacts? Can it withstand earthquakes? 11:00 am Stop at receding Worthington Glacier and Thompson Pass 11:45 am Stop at Keystone Canyon Falls Walk right up and touch one of Alaska s many receding glaciers. Only 10 years ago, the Worthington glacier here covered much of the rock now surrounding it. Receding glaciers and melting permafrost are strong evidence of global warming and climate change. Climate change effects are more dramatic approaching the arctic than they are in temperate zones. Keystone Canyon was the main obstacle to the first trail to interior Alaska from Valdez. Subject to avalanches and landslides, its waterfalls are a summer attraction and the site of the winter Extreme Ice Climbing Championships.

On the far right of the picture are small and large tour boats that travel to the Columbia Glacier; the glacier is as large as Rhode Island!

6 12:30 pm Arrive Valdez, Switzerland by the Sea. Lunch at Totem Inn. Valdez Harbor is home to the commercial and sport fleet, and the northernmost ice free port in the world. On the far right of the picture are small and large tour boats that travel to the Columbia Glacier; the glacier is as large as Rhode Island! 1:30 pm Visit Hatchery, program on Commercial/Sport fishing and Marine Ecology Pink and silver salmon, halibut, lingcod and other rockfish are the mainstays of the Valdez fishing industry. The 1964 earthquake and the Exxon Valdez oil spill are blamed for the disappearance of a vibrant crab fishery.

3:00 pm Visit Whitney Museum, Prince William Sound Community College http://www.pwscc.edu/museum.shtml Does this moose really come alive at night after the museum closes?

org/ Three dramatic events characterize Alaskan history over the last 50 years since Statehood in 1959: The Good Friday Earthquake in 1964, the Alaskan Pipeline in the 1970 s, and the Exxon Valdez

7 3:00 pm Visit Whitney Museum, Prince William Sound Community College Does this moose really come alive at night after the museum closes? The new museum opened in 2008 and features Alaskan wildlife, and native art and artifacts. 4:30 pm Check into hotel 5:30 pm Social at Valdez Museum Three dramatic events characterize Alaskan history over the last 50 years since Statehood in 1959: The Good Friday Earthquake in 1964, the Alaskan Pipeline in the 1970 s, and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill on Good Friday in Valdez is the focal point of these three events. Its earlier history includes the all-american route to the Klondike and Fairbanks Gold Rushes in the late 1800 s, a major port during the exploitive sea otter fur industry, copper mining in Prince William Sound, and a strongly championed but unsuccessful bid to become the start of the Alaskan Railroad from the sea to Fairbanks. Eventually won by Seward, the railroad changed Anchorage into Alaska s urban center.

8 6:30 pm Surf or Turf Dinner at Ernesto s June 25, :30 am Breakfast at Totem Inn Return to Fairbanks via Bus along the Richardson Highway. Sack lunches and refreshment stops, Pipeline stop and new sights along the way! Personal Options for staying in Valdez or traveling on from there: Valdez has many opportunities for wildlife/glacier sightseeing, sea kayaking, charter fishing etc. Explore these opportunities at and other websites. You can take the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry all the way to Seattle if you wish, or to Cordova to visit the Million Dollar Bridge and watch a glacier calve into the famous Copper River! Flights back Outside (the lower 48) via Alaska Airlines are usually the same price from Cordova as they are from Anchorage, although you go to Anchorage and change planes. Visit Cordova online at You can also take the Ferry across Prince William Sound to Whittier and arrange further transportation up to Anchorage to fly home. Learn more about the Ferry at You can return to Anchorage and connect with all commercial airlines via ERA Airlines from Valdez You can also rent a car in Valdez at FISHING Fishing out of Valdez in early July is excellent for pink salmon, which can be caught from shore along Alison Creek, or by charter. Halibut and rockfish fishing on charters is also excellent this time of year. The local shrimp, if you can find some for sale, are huge and yummy, Alaska Spot Shrimp are the best!

9 The 244lb. halibut (left) was caught in only 85 feet of water 100 feet from shore! The orange fish (right) are yelloweye rockfish, common and tasty! This non-pelagic, easily over-fished species has a daily limit of 2 fish. Here are some pictures taken in Prince William Sound out of Valdez. Yes, that is calm saltwater in the sound in the picture below!

10 The native village of Tatitlek lies below Copper Mountain, just east of Bligh Island. Bligh Reef lies beyond, where the Exxon Valdez went aground and caused the worst oil spill in US history on Good Friday The blue Russian Orthodox Church in the lower right is typical of remote native villages. Recommended Reading Arctic Homestead by Norma Cobb and Charles W. Sasser First person account of the last legal homestead in Alaska, 1070 s to present Stellar s Island-Adventures of a Pioneer Naturalist in Alaska by Dean Littlepage The voyage and natural history of Stellar as in Stellar s Jay, Stellar Seal Lion etc. The Only Kayak by Kim Heacox First person story of kayaking and guiding in Glacier Bay, modern philosophy Walking My Dog Jane- From Valdez to Prudhoe Bay along the Alaska Pipeline by Ned Rozell First person story of places, people and critters along the pipeline, modern The Alaska Reader Tales from the North by editors Anne Hanley and Carolyn Kremers Collection of inspiring, haunting, fascinating portraits of life in Alaska

11 The Final Frontiersman by James Campbell Riveting contemporary tales of one of the last families to live a remote lifestyle based on trapping and self-sufficiency Shadows on the Koyukuk: An Alaskan Native s Life Along the River by Sidney Huntington and Jim Reardon Fascinating life of a native Alaskan that begins with survival of Sidney at age 5 taking care of his 3 year old brother and 1 year old sister after their mother dies in their remote cabin, with his father gone on a hunting trip. On the Edge of Nowhere by James Huntington Sidney s brother tells of their life from a different perspective Coming into the Country by Craig McPhee Classic tale of the influx and influence of white adventurers and settlers in AK On Patrol True Adventures of an Alaska Game Warden by Ray Tremblay Story spans nearly 30 years with insights into people and wild animals If You Lived Here I d Know Your Name by Heather Lende Local stories of Alaskan characters by a small town reporter The Reader s Companion to Alaska by editor Alan Ryan A collection of excerpts from some of the best Alaskan authors over the last 100 years.

Alaska Trip Day 12 August 24 - Valdez to Anchorage

Alaska Trip Day 12 August 24 - Valdez to Anchorage We are up early at the Mountain Sky Motel in Valdez Alaska. Bags out at 5 AM then breakfast at the Totem Pole restaurant and board the motor coach at