Alaska adventure #4 - Steese Highway

[Blue_In_AK]

The Steese Highway runs 162 miles from Fairbanks to Circle, and is the oldest travel route in interior Alaska. During the gold rush days, supplies were brought up the Yukon River to Circle City and then transported down the road to the various gold camps along the way. Today the highway is paved about 60 miles out from Fairbanks and then gravel the rest of the way to the village of Circle, population 75. We had hoped to stay the night there, but discovered that the alleged resident-maintained campground consisted only of one broken-down picnic table in a grassy area in the middle of town. The Athabascan Indian residents we encountered didn't appear too friendly, so we took a few photos and headed back out the way we came. I'm sure they get tired of tourists coming out to gawk.

Here is the mighty Yukon River.



There were a lot of really old things laying around town (not to mention residences with probably 100 years' worth of accumulated "stuff" strewn about). Here is an old Native fish wheel.



I'm not sure what this is, but it looked cool.



More old things



On the outskirts of town was a weathered wood sign with the words "Indian Cemetery" stenciled on in faded white paint. These are some of the graves.



2004 and 2005 were record wildfire years in Interior Alaska, and fire damage was apparent all along the length of the Steese Highway.



Ruins of a cabin outside of Central, 33 miles back towards Fairbanks.

[bvar22]

1. Welcome Home.

I have studied your Alaska Vacation threads with interest and admiration.
You have done an excellent job of encapusalating the overall experience of ALASKA within the limitations of DU. Something always gets lost when resizing snowcapped mountains or huge glaciers to 600 pixils.
It must be difficult to choose a handful of photos to represent such a GRAND experience.

I especially like the photos in this thread. (I have a fascination for old stuff and remnants of previous generations)
The broken wagon wheel in foreground of #4 would make a great portrait with the right lighting and background.

I may not respond to every thread, but I always study and appreciate your pics.
Keep them coming.

Bob

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Have taken the Steese all the way to Circle

And then camped outside of Circle. One of the most beautiful and interesting drives I had in Alaska.

:hi: Blue! Am still on the road. Got kind of a good pic for "A View Through", but after being offline for a few days, learned the theme this month is something about faces...?

Hopefully I'll have something to contribute, but am busy doing so much and still have a week ahead of me of living out of a suitcase.

Thanks for the great photos! You stirred up even more AK memories for me! :pals:


The pic re: A View Through...Not fully edited for definition/sharpness, but take a look at this photo I took going over Hoover Dam a couple of weeks ago. A friend of mine was driving.
And do check out the view in the side view mirror, too :)

[Blue_In_AK]

5. That's a great portal shot, Whoa...

The topic poll this month ended up being a tie, and my husband had to break it by drawing straws. He drew "people pictures-showing their personalities." I'll be taking entries in a couple of days - you still have time to go out and get one.

[JeffR]

3. The fire-damaged trees make a striking subject

I took the liberty of making a duotone version. Sorta "Blair Witch" feel, though I overdid the exposure of the sky:

[Blue_In_AK]

4. Spooky...

:) I loved the burned trees, actually. In the next set of photos, I'll include some with arctic cotton growing as far as the eye can see at the base of the burned trees. There's just something kind of reassuring about the new life coming back after all the destruction...kind of like my hopes for the US if we can ever clear out the old-growth Republicans. :evilgrin:

[JeffR]

6. Great metaphor!