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Showing posts from September, 2018

Salmon spawning season in Alaska. We visit a site where salmon swim from the ocean.

It's a natural phenomenon that happens every year in Alaska (and elsewhere that have salmon but we're talking Alaska right now). Young salmon make the trip down the river to get to the ocean. When they're about two years old, mature salmon leap themselves up the creeks of salmon country to spawn and die. Then it begins all over again. It's a perilous time for a salmon egg. The sea gulls know and they come up to where the eggs are and try to get some of them. Only a fraction of the eggs that are laid ever make it to become baby salmon and make the trip down the river to the sea. It's a cycle of life for these fish. The spawning part takes place from about mid-July to mid-September, so we're right at the end of the season.  So, Linda and I are on a fabulous trip to Alaska that began with an overland trek to the interior of Alaska. You may have seen some of our posts. If not, you should look at them. You'll catch some glimpses of life past and present in

The Fairbanks Gold Rush: Panning for gold is much harder than it looks

The gold rush around Fairbanks started in 1896, and even with crude implements, hundreds of  thousands of dollars worth of the mineral was taken out. Then, in 1927, technology caught up and these dredges were deployed. That's when the gold really started to flow – for 15 years. Yonda, our guide, and her family have been mining this area 40 years. We toured the Goldstream 8 Dredge near Fairbanks. It operated until 1959, and in its active years produced 7.5 million ounces of gold. It's now on the National Register of HIstoric Places. We learned that panning for gold is much more difficult that it looks in the movies. Most people panning with us ended up with a few flakes. We each got about $25 worth.

Fairbanks, Alaska: Day 1 of our 12-day journey in the 49th state

Linda and I cruised Alaska in 2015. This time. with Princess Cruise Lines, we put together a tour that starts with five nights in the interior. Day 4 and it is an amazing experience. Come along with us and feel the magic of our 49th state! That's Denali in the photo at the top. At more than 20,000 feet above sea level, it's the highest peak in North America. Denali had been the traditional name for generations but in the Alaska Gold Rush days in 1896, a prospector is said to have named it Mount McKinley, to show his support for William McKinley, then a candidate for president. McKinley won and the name stuck, at least until 1975, when a state board tasked with naming places decided the old name, Denali, was better, and made it official. The Federal government kept on calling it Mount McKinley right on up until 2015, when the name was changed to match what Alaskans had been calling it all along. We're told some folks in Ohio weren't too happy about that name chang