Fairbanks, Alaska 9/4/05

Fairbanks, AK 9/4/05

It’s Sunday morning and so far this weekend has been pretty much the same as if I was sitting in West Palm. Friday was a quiet night in preparation for a long run on Saturday morning. Of course this time of year the weather is much better for running in Fairbanks so I didn’t have to get up at 5 a.m to beat the heat. Instead I started my 14 mile run at about 1:30 p.m. when the outside air temp was a perfect 58 degrees.

I spent the morning basically preparing for the run. I hopped a shuttle from the hotel to a placed called “Fred Meyers”.
“It’s an Alaskan version of Wal-Mart.” the girl at the front desk explained and probably my best, and easiest, chance to buy a new running watch. She was right.

On the way back, armed with tourist maps of the area, I got running recommendations from my bus driver. As usual my local tipster’s sense of distance was way off and what he thought would be about 7 miles out from the hotel turned out to be more like 4. I wonder why this always happens. I used to do the same thing in West Palm Beach. What I thought was pretty far in town when you actually measure the distance is often half of what you thought it was.

The miscalculation was no worries yesterday and I just kept running past my estimated stopping point until I had reached a more realistic turn around spot. Well it was no worries except for not finding a place to buy a drink until mile 9. It was a good run and wow was I thirsty!

Fairbanks is a pretty non-descript city. No great scenery to speak of and those mountains in every direction that I talked about in other Alaskan entries are now gone. The leaves here are in full change though so pretty fall colors will have to make up for what the rolling hills leave out.

In typical weekend style I had planned to hit the town on Saturday night in celebration of my Sunday “free day” from marathon training. However after a couple Fairbanks’s Lagers with my salmon dinner at the hotel bar I lost my motivation. The staff had not made any good suggestions on where to go and the thought of getting up early the next day to explore the town before my afternoon flight sounded appealing. So off to bed I went at 9 p.m. with lights out by 10:30 p.m. after watching Forrest Gump on TNT. I finally had to turn the TV off because I kept getting choked up. What can I say? When he sees little Forrest or when Lt. Dan shows up at his wedding….I’m a sap I know.

I had a quick workout this morning, mostly just stretching and then I hopped on the shuttle again. I was the only passenger this morning; not many folks left at the hotel. It’s the last day of the tour and most of the seniors that I have been traveling with for the last 2 weeks have flown out already. My shuttle bus driver, Todd, dropped me off in sleepy downtown Fairbanks which is even sleepier on a Sunday morning.

I felt like Lt. John Dunbar when I got off and bus driver Todd said, “I’ll tell the next driver you’re down here so he’ll look for you around 2:30 p.m.”

I sure hope Todd isn’t attacked and killed by Eskimos on the way back or I’ll be stranded in downtown Fairbanks!

I walked around for about an hour. Nothing was open but I didn’t mind. It was kind of fun just wandering the streets with no one around. I thought, well now when I see “The Coldest Place in the US Today” on the Weather Channel or Today Show and that place is Fairbanks Alaska, like it always seems to be, I’ll be able to picture the exact place.

It’s Sunday morning though which according to my usual weekend routine means a huge mocha and a journal entry. So here I sit at “McCafferty’s A Coffee House” opening at 10 a.m. on Sundays. It’s a good coffee shop. I would have liked comfy couches and chairs instead of the rigid tables and chairs that I found but the menu and the advertisements for live music at night made up for it. I ordered “the mondo”; the largest mocha they make and as it was being prepared I read the menu closer and realized that the mondo drinks contain 4 shots of espresso. 4 shots! Wow! So much for sleeping on my upcoming all night flight from Anchorage to Atlanta!


The Mondo is fantastic too by the way; in a huge mug, another point I like in good coffee shops. Save a cup and save a tree.

Let’s see, my last day in Alaska (on this trip) and enough caffeine in my system to write War & Peace, what should I write about? After a quick glance through some past entries from this trip I note that I have not documented the rest of my time at Cooper Landing; another great day and a high light of my trip. I definitely need to document that day.

I ended my Cooper Landing entry by saying I was going inside to have some beers and make some friends. Hard to imagine but I did just that. I went to the front desk first and there I met Cathy. I asked her about hiking trails in the area and she said tours were handled over at the Outfitters Desk.
“Actually Cathy I’m not looking for a tour. I just need you to point me in the direction of a good trail.”
She looked me over quickly, glanced around to see if anyone else was around, like she was going to break a rule, and said “You do look more competent than most of our guests. Let me see if I can find that trail map we used to have around here.”

She recommended a trail to Juneau Falls but when I asked about elevation she directed me to a trail called Slaughter Ridge. “Now that is definitely bear territory with lots of berries. Are you going alone?” she asked.
“Yep, but trust me I’ll stay away from them if they stay away from me.”
“OK, just remember to keep talking out loud and check in here at the front desk before you go so someone knows you’re out there.”


With the tone of a happy but worried mother that knows there is no stopping me (yes I’m very familiar with that tone) Cathy wished me luck on my next day adventure. Armed with my hand drawn, photo copied map, and excited for my morning trek I bellied up to the bar located one room over from the lobby.

I had just completed a great run though rolling hills that I had never set foot on. The sun was getting lower on the horizon. I had just had a great conversation with a local and now had plans for a great hike in the morning. Next door I found Summer Ale on tap served in a frosty pint glass. Sitting at the bar I was very content, very comfortable. If living generates energy it would be safe to say that I was glowing.

It was just me, a bartender, and a couple waitresses at first. I sipped my beer and put off ordering dinner. There was no need to rush. I watched more coverage on TV of the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has reaped on Louisiana. I hope Troy, my college roommate who now lives in New Orleans, is OK. Somehow I know he is but that could just be the ignorance of a charmed man that always seems to have things work out for him. I’ll get more into Katrina later on because it has definitely been part of this trip even though its thousands of miles away.

Slowly a couple more people joined me at the bar; guys by themselves grabbing a beer and a bite after work. The bartender greeted both by name. Like I said I was feeling very comfortable, a condition that I’m sure was communicated all around me through a collection of non-verbal cues. Why else would I soon be in a conversation with two fishing guides and a bartender about how busy Cooper Landing was getting “these days”.

Gary the fishing guide/biker said he was about done with it. “I gotta move North.” He said as he tugged on his Budweiser and looked at me like I could relate to what he was saying.

Part of my mind chuckled. “Dude, you live in ALASKA! You are about as North as you can go. You’re running out of options.” I didn’t say this though. I just sighed and smiled.

With the ice now broken Laura the bartender started asking me questions. Much like in Skagway and many other times on this trip my presences was an anomaly to the weathered seasoned staff. She saw the map that Cathy had provided me sitting on the bar with the handwritten title Juneau Falls on the back.
“Are you going to hike out to Juneau Falls?’ She asked.
“Nope I’m going to do Slaughter Ridge in the morning.”
"Oh, I've wanted to do that one all summer.”
And our conversation was off and running.

The conversation with Laura was one of those that flowed so quickly into surprising realizations that in about 15 minutes we seemed like good friends. Her husband is a fishing guide and they have lived all over including the Florida Keys. This common ground helped but when she told me that they were going to New Zealand after the season ended the conversation seemed to change from just a local giving a nice tourist some advice to a conversation of mutual entertainment.

I said, “I just got back from New Zealand about 5 months ago.” Laura was blown away.
“What are you doing here?! Are you really staying here at this lodge?!”
I just laughed and said, “I like to wander.”

Laura now started asking me for advice on New Zealand. “Where did you go? How long were you there? Is it easy to get around?” Etc. and of course “What was the best thing you did while you were there?”; my favorite question. OK, you asked for it. Here I go again….

I told her about bungy jumps, hikes, rafting, the Mauri, and probably the best part, canyoning! She was not familiar with canyoning so I did my best to explain it. Laura said she was adventures but quickly put canyoning into the same category as bungy jumping, “No Way!”

“You know who you should meet is Annie.” she said, “She loves that kind of stuff.” And so bartender Annie, working a waitress shift that day, was called into the conversation.

My fun evening at the Keni Princess Lodge bar continued until about 10:30 p.m. I had some buffalo wings for dinner; not a very Alaskan meal I know but one of the guides next to me ordered some and much like a yawn mysteriously spreads across a room so does chicken wing orders. It always starts the same way. First I remark “Boy those smell good.” Then I look at the menu but I don’t actually read anything. All I’m thinking (in a drooling Homer Simpson voice) is “mmmm, chicken wings.” I wonder if Pavlov did any research on this.

I continued talking with Laura and Annie about traveling, working in Alaska, and good stories from the season, aka: who got fired along the way and why. Most importantly we talked about hiking in the area. Annie and Laura started talking about trails they knew about but had not taken that summer and with the end of the season quickly approaching time was running out.

Laura planted an idea in our heads and it quickly grew. The next day we should all go hiking. Annie was getting off at 3:30 p.m. We would meet at 4 p.m. and head out for either Juneau Falls or some other ridge whose name constantly escaped me.

That night when I finally went back to my HUGE room on the hill, above the lodge, I remember I was very excited about Alaska. God I love traveling! My day pack was already stocked for the next day; trail mix, granola bars, a couple oranges, camera, rain coat, bug spray, Swiss army knife, first aid kit, etc. I put my water bottles out on the deck to chill overnight and laid out my clothes for the next day.

There are nights in WPB When I don’t want to fall asleep. Busy days turn quickly into busy nights and I know the next day is just going to be the same thing. Sometimes I’ll be completely exhausted but will fight to keep my eyes open so I can watch just 30 minutes of TV or read a few more pages of a book. I’m not fighting to continue the moment I am having. I am fighting to keep the next day from starting already. I sleep so soundly, so deeply that when the alarm goes off the next morning, usually before sunrise, it feels like no time has passed since I went to bed.

When I ‘m traveling I rarely feel like this. Instead I go to bed and I can’t wait for the next day to get here. I hope that my time sleeping is instantaneous. When the alarm goes off I jump out of bed ready to start the day’s adventure. There is no laying there fighting for more sleep. That night at Cooper Landing is a perfect example and the next morning I instantly jumped out of bed as wide awake as a kid on Christmas morning.

I hit the little coffee stand in the lodge before I set out for Slaughter Ridge. It was a muffin, banana, and large OJ morning. I sat down in the lodge sitting room and was flipping though some coffee table books while I enjoyed my quick breakfast when my bus driver from the day before, Mike, sat down next to me.

He was also heading out for a hike; probably Juneau Falls but he wasn’t sure. He said he would love to do Slaughter Ridge but he told a couple of the “old guys” (his words not mine) that he would take them out today. However he was supposed to meet them at the lodge at 8 a.m. and it was now 8:05. If they didn’t show he asked if he could come along with me. “You really shouldn't go alone anyway you know. There are bears all over the place.” He rationalized.

Mike, I’m always up for company but not having it will never hold me back. I told him of course he could come along and 10 minutes later, after ducking out the backdoor in case his original hiking dates were walking up the front, we started out for Slaughter Ridge.

Mike is probably in his mid-40’s; about 5’8” and carrying a few extra pounds but carries himself like he used to be in shape and if it wasn’t for the hard living he thinks he could get there again. He has a smoker’s rasp, a light east coast accent, and scraggly reddish hair that hangs about shoulder level and matches a scraggly mustache of the same color. If Danny Bonaduce has a cousin and it isn't bus driver Mike I would be surprised.

He had never hiked this trail either and was breathing heavy before we even got to the trail head but it didn’t stop him from trying to come across as the hiking expert and guide on this little adventure. It didn’t bother me any. I actually found it entertaining.

We talked about his kids, ex-wife, hot young girls at the lodge, his days in the Air Force, and a lot about his days in the various Hasher Clubs. “Mat you have to do a Red Dress run! They are a blast! Do you know how they started?’ and then I got the history of how a local drinking run turned into the first Red Dress Run.

This story lasted right up to the point that we lost the trail. Well let me be clearer. It lasted up to the point that we realized/admitted we had lost the trail. One of those “I think it goes this way. This looks kind of like a trail over here.” And after about a dozen of those you are so far into the thick woods that the direction with the least amount of limbs becomes the obvious trail.

We are soon bush whacking our way up a steep incline in thick, wet, vegetation and layers of rotting limbs under our feet. Mike has given up his lead duties and is starting to fall back. He probably wanted to turn back but pride was pushing him. I kept saying ‘I think it gets better just ahead at that big pine.” Three pines later Mike calls it quits.

The “trail” we had just come up sucked. We were soaking wet from the waist down, scratched from the waist up and while the view was kind of pretty we were far from the top of the ridge. The thought of going back was disappointing to me and the thought of going back the way we came was ridiculous to me. I suggested it looked a little clearer to our right; maybe we could at least get a good picture before heading down and either way it couldn’t be any worse going down over there. Mike agreed and we started to move horizontally on the side of the ridge.

No more than 20 yards over we hit the little clearing in the trees I had noted for a picture spot and 5 feet beyond that we found a nice worn trail running vertical. I laughed out loud.

I think Mike still would have been happy heading back down but now with a clear and obvious trail leading up there was no way I was going back without reaching the top. Mike probably knew this without even asking so onward and upward we hiked.

I soon left Mike in the distance and would yell back down to him once and a while. Eventually I reached the top of the ridge and kicked back to enjoy the view of the Keni River running below. I was halfway through my orange when Mike reached the top. He rested awhile with me. We took some photos as the fog rolled in and as it started to sprinkle we headed back down.

We made it back to the lodge about 1:30 p.m. I grabbed some lunch and then went back to my room and built a fire in the wood burning stove in an attempt to dry out my hiking pants. I still had an afternoon of hiking to go! Woohew!

The four o’clock meeting time got there in a hurry. My pants were mostly dry and the berry stains were starting to bleed together. No worries to me. Stains on hiking pants are better than any souvenir you can buy.

When I got to the lodge Annie was just getting done with her shift. Mike was in there working on a crossword puzzle so I sat and waited with him. He was heading to Juneau Falls with another guest. I respected that. That morning was probably quite the work out for him. If he can stay off the cigs he my have a lot more climbs, hikes, and better yet, many more Red Dress Runs in him.

Annie joined us and grabbed a quick bite to eat. Unfortunately Laura was busy and couldn’t join us for lunch or the hike. “We'll meet up with her after the hike for some beers at this local bar if that’s OK with you." Annie asked.
“Sounds perfect to me!” I said. Oh how I love meeting new people on the road.

As Annie and I headed out to Resurrection Trail and eventually Juneau Falls I kind of realized this might be a little strange for her. I was literally a guy she had spoken to for about 20 minutes total in-between servicing her tables the night before. Heading out with one of her friends and me was one thing but now without Laura it was just us. Now she was letting a stranger into her car and then heading into the woods with him. Plus she had to be a little curious still as to what a guy like me was doing here alone anyway.

When we got into her car I thought it best to acknowledge these obvious facts. “So I know this might be a little weird for you I just want you to know that I’m really a nice guy, you have nothing to worry about, and I really appreciate you taking me out.” I assured her.

She laughed. “Ya a few people at work thought I was nuts and told me to be careful. I do think you are nice but trust me I can take care of myself if you are not.”
I said “Well in that case maybe I should tell someone where I’m going. Maybe I’m the one being naive here.” The ice was broken. Now it was just time to hike.

Annie is in her early 20’s. A recent college grad working up here for the season before heading back to Oregon and starting her job search. We talked about music, family, traveling, how we grew up , and what it’s like to live in Alaska for the Summer in a shack with no running water. You can cover a lot of topics when you have 2-3 hours of gradual up hill hiking to do and lets not forget our Alaskan bear rule; keep talking.

The Resurrection Trail was a nice hike. A well traveled path but we didn’t see anyone else. Where the trail ends I don’t know. I think it loops back around and would eventually come out close to the lodge. We stopped at our destination, Juneau Falls; an impressive water fall that I think has some title like the second highest fall in Alaska or something like that but I’m not sure. Jumping off of it was not an option so I had to be content with the view, which I was.

On the hike back the sun was setting fast as we got close to where we parked the car. The sky glowed orange and red through the trees. It was beautiful. It was trying to rain but I couldn't see a rain cloud anywhere. The result was just a beautiful rainbow on the side of a ridge with a backdrop of beautiful fall trees as the sun got lower and lower with every second.

I probably shot a dozen pictures trying to capture the scene. I have not looked at them yet but I already know they won't do it justice. Maybe it was my state of mind but it was one of the best sunsets I have ever seen. I hope I never forget it.
By the time Annie and I got to Gwin's to meet Laura, Laura’s husband, and a friend it was dark. It was not a crazy night at the bar. It didn’t have to be. A few Summer Ales, some fish, and best of all, new friends who I hope I cross paths with again.

Well, I think this long recap is fitting for such a big State. I could go probably go on more but I’m out of time. Not only is my Mondo Mocha all gone but I’m now at the Fairbanks Airport. I think Willard (small airport near my hometown in Illinois) is bigger. My hope of buying a new book here does not look like a possibility. There’s no book store. Hell there is no store period. Maybe my quick lay over in Anchorage will prove more fruitful.

As my time in Alaska runs out I need to wrap up this entry. I usually like to wrap up big trips with a deep, personally insightful entry with a great ending…..but this will not be the end of my Alaskan adventures so I’ll let myself off the hook this time.

MJF