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Wall map in a museum in Fairbanks
The Augustine Volcano is an island in the Cook Inlet, south of Anchorage.
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Katmai Volcano in Katmai National Park* on the Alaska Peninsula
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Desolate landscape south of Anchorage. This area is covered by up to 30 feet of snow in the winter.
Glacier carved coastline at the southern tip of the Alaska Panhandle near Ketchikan.
The Coast Mountains in the Alaska Panhandle
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Yahtse Glacier in Mt. St. Elias National Park
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Glacier National Park
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Juneau, Alaska -- the State Capital -- is only accessible by boat and air.
Logging in the Panhandle
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Totem poles are part of the tradition of the native peoples of the Panhandle.
The northern portions of the Alaska Range
Tanana River in the Fall southeast of Fairbanks in the "Delta" area. This braided channel is full of water during the Spring snowmelt. Spruce forests can be seen in the background and the Alaska Range in the far distance.
The Tanana River west of Fairbanks meanders its way through the sedimentary plains of the Yukon interior.
Mileage Marker in Fairbanks
"Alaskaland" - Historic buildings in Fairbanks have been moved to this site in an effort to maintain their original character and ambiance.
This was one of the ferries that brought miners and settlers up the Yukon River and then up its tributary, the Tanana River, to Fairbanks. Fairbanks was the furthest they could go upstream, and the closest the boat could get to the Klondike gold region on the border with Canada.
Outdoor and traditional lifestyles predominate in Alaska. Notice the offer to "Win an Airplane" (blue sign). Airplanes are a major means of transportation in most of Alaska.
This condemned house was built on permafrost land, which is intermittent throughout the Fairbanks area. Once permafrost starts to melt (from the heat generated by this house) it cannot be stopped.
Trees show how the land has subsided due to melting permafrost.
This bed and breakfast has been retrofitted with large beams that are used to level it every few years and counterbalance the effects of melting permafrost. Despite this, a ball placed on the floor of our room rapidly rolled to one of the corners.
We witnessed the spectacular Aurora Borealis (or Northern Lights) one evening from this bed and breakfast.
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On the road from Fairbanks to Circle, Alaska
We saw this moose crossing the road. Later we met a hunter from the 'lower 48' who, with his guide, had been looking for a moose for the past week without success.
Thick tundra covers the upper slopes of the higher mountains. The Brooks Range, further north, is completely covered with tundra.
Small roadside store run by a former gold miner, on the gravel road from Fairbanks to Central.
Welcome to Circle and the Yukon River
A branch of the Yukon River (more of it lied behind the island). A popular adventure is to build a raft in Dawson in the Yukon Territory of Canada and float downstream to Circle. A makeshift stove can be seen in the forward left corner of the raft.
Residential area in Circle. Notice the flood water level about half way up the house. Large ice dams form on the Yukon River in the Winter and break up in the Spring, sometimes causing rapid and widespread flooding.
Food is stored outside the house and well above the ground to keep polar bears away.
Private property sign in Circle -- reflecting the independent spirit of life in the ultimate wilderness.
Camp for a lode gold mine. Lode gold is dug out of veins inside mountains.
Placer mining - tailings from the digging up of gold from river beds
This dredge gradually makes its way down the river sifting through the gravel looking for gold.
A large placer gold mining area.
The Alaska Oil Pipeline - from Prudhoe Bay to Prince William Sound
About half of the pipe is underground. It rises above ground in areas of permafrost. The supports are built to allow the pipe to expand and bend as temperatures change from very cold to very warm.
This is a pipeline cleaning 'pig'. These pigs are periodically sent through the pipe to clean it.
Farming in the Delta area south of Fairbanks. Farmers from Montana and the Dakotas were encouraged to migrate here by the US government in the 1930s. The early settlers lived in quonset huts, like this one. Most today live in very large and well insulated houses.
Wheat and cattle in the Delta area
Bison (American buffalo) herd
Piglets are kept warm by a heat lamp. Adult pigs are able to get by in 20 degrees below 0 F, at least for a while.
The growing season in Alaska is short, but the long days of sunshine can produce quick growing vegetables of huge proportions.
* All photos copyright by Alan A. Lew, (2002, All rights reserved), except those marked by an asterisk (*) which come from other sources.