June 8th Fairbanks and the "Rest of the Story"

Well, I suppose I can now tell the rest of the story of my Denali Adventure. We all know when I arrived it was still cold and snowing and tough conditions, but I was not happy with what I saw. The "camp" was a disaster, snow piled everywhere and no running water, thank goodness I had my trailer, because the "crew" facilities were a joke. Beat up leaky cabins all located in literally the middle of a junk pile.

As the snow began to melt the huge piles of snow were actually piles of junk. Old boats, old school buses, old camper trailers, old cars and trucks etc. All used for storage...which was where the tools and extra parts were to try and piece the boats back together for the summer. I understand in remote Alaska you don't throw anything away that may be of use at some point in the future...if you need something it is a long way to get a new part, so you salvage from your scrap pile, but it needs to be organized and not just left in piles to rot away.

I was NOT HAPPY, but bound and determined to tough it out Alaska style. Until the river went crazy and flooded the river camp. At that point in time I knew it was not going to be a good safe summer, so when the owner started talking about money problems and having to cut back...I decided it was time to bail. So I told him I would take some time off and see how things were going and if they didn't get better I would move on...well it didn't get better so he asked me if the offer was still on the table for me to leave and I took the smart and safe way out and told him I would end my season right there, to pay me for time served and I would be on my way, check cleared and was deposited yesterday so I figured I could wrap up the real story.

He took me up on my offer and now I am in Fairbanks at the Wal-Mart parking lot and will catch up on laundry here and do some shopping before heading down to a month long gig at a beautiful campground on the water in Haines, Alaska. It is a 642 mile drive from Fairbanks and it will take me a few days, I am going to enjoy the trip this time with most of the snow gone and ice there should be some interesting scenery along the way, so stay tuned for some more adventure.

Before leaving I took a walk around with my new little GoPro camera to try it out, real wide angle lens so no real close up pics, but this will give you an idea of the "camp".

My trailer beside the crew shack and office - I am parked on top of the septic system, note the vent stack which gave a certain tang to the air around my trailer, but at least I could use my own bathroom and not the porta potti or shared sometimes working bath in the crew shack...





Storage Trailers for tools and supplies...













So I will chalk this up to a learning experience and be happy to move on, I did want to run the river, but wanted to do it safely and in good equipment...the bailing wire and duck tape was getting a little worn.

I am happy to be gone and look forward to the rest of my summer, the change in location will be a welcome relief!

HERE is where I will be soon! Click the word HERE for link!

Stay tuned for more of my adventure....



Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest