John and Petra's Diary

Along the way from Fairbanks towards Nenana.

In late October John and I took a 2 hour drive to visit Trusten (one of our Hidden Hill co-residents) and baby daughter Robin at his homestead near Clear. On a crisp morning we went along the Parks Highway down to Nenana. There the highway crosses the Tanana River right near the confluence of the Nenana and Tanana rivers. Part of both rivers had frozen up. There was lots of brash along the sides of the water flow. With the temperatures dropping it won't be much longer till the middle channel will have frozen over.

The Tanana River is freezing up.

We pressed on south on the Parks Highway, and after another 30 miles we were near the "Clear Sky Lodge", which signalled our turn. There had been little snow fall this season (just a bit more than half the long term average). We could easily drive our car on the labyrinth of trails that leads to the homestead. We had to park he car about one mile short of the property as there are no parking spots cut into the bush and low growing forest around the homestead.

Once there Trusten offered us some hot tea to warm us up, which we very much appreciated after the short walk at -25°C. Robin, just short of two years, had not taken her afternoon nap, hence we took turns in entertaining her. After some chatting we went out to explore the property. There is a creek about 20 metres behind the cabin. It had not quite frozen over, so our plan to walk on the frozen surface fell through. Instead John and I started hiking along the narrow road that connects to other properties. The creek seems to wind its way through the area, so we seemed to see it at several locations near the road. And again, it was mostly not frozen over. And this despite the fact that October 2001 was on average a few degrees colder than the long term average.

Just before dusk we got back to the cabin. We had another quick drink, and then we headed back towards Fairbanks. The drive was quiet, so we decided to have a look at Nenana. From the highway it always looked like a nice little place. Indeed when we meandered through the few streets that make up the township we got the impression that small Nenana had more nice looking houses/places than we were ever able to find in Fairbanks.

The last part of the way we enjoyed a magnificent aurora borealis, which unfolded in the sky in all directions. It was a colourful spectacle. John, studying the aurora as part of his job was having fun to once more see the "real thing" after spending most of the year looking at satellite data of auroral events.

John and Petra's Alaskan Diary

29th November, 2001

A day at Trusten's homestead