The land of the midnight sun was 77f in Fairbanks just before I left for the airport. 3 hour flight back to Seattle and it was dark!!! Quick change of gate for the short flight to Vancouver. Arrived at the Travellodge at 01:30am and sleep

Visited Gold Dredge 8 today and panned for gold again. Found some nice flakes and held a nugget worth $75,000!

Today, after a sturdy breakfast at the Diner, I ventured along to Pioneer Park where there were all manner of old mining town memorabilia and even an Air Museum. Bought some reasonably priced trinkets which would have been many times their price in Juneau! Light lunch of kebab and ice cream followed by the old time music hall show (pic) which showcased Fairbanks history, starting with how it got its name- a store set up on the banks of the river. Farebanks!! The...

Caught the train from Talkeetna to Fairbanks -a 9 hour journey! Some impressive scenery including mountains, valleys, rivers, girder bridges etc. The photo is the train crossing Hurricaine Gulch bridge- a long way down to the river! An impressive feature, as well as the rail track meandering 470 miles from Seward to Fairbanks is the old telegraph system which follows the track with approx 40 telegraph poles per mile making approx 20,000 poles all erected by the...

Today my flight to the top of Mt McKinley was cancelled due to high winds at 20,000 ft. They upgraded me to the top flight in a DH Beaver in which we flew around Mt McKinley at around 13,000ft then landed on a glacier and got out to experience the feeling. Abso-buddy-lutely marvellous. I flew as P2 on the first part and felt the thin air at altitude. An experience to cherish. I was one of only 13% who take this flight to get the whole trip. The sky was pure bl...