Days 15-16: Tok, AK to Fairbanks, AK
We arrived in Fairbanks, drove around a little bit to get the lay of the land, then headed over to our Airbnb, located in a fairly residential area but very drivable to just about everything. We dropped off our stuff, showered, and got a ride over to the Tanana Valley State Fair. It was about what you’d expect from a state fair, complete with rides and food stands and vendors, a nice beer tent and live music. We walked around a little, took a stroll through the large fairgrounds building that held the goat, rabbit, and guinea pig contenders vying for a prize that day, fascinating in their variety (if not a little strange for a Chicagoan who’s never been to a state fair).
After that, we stopped by the highly reviewed Lemongrass, tucked into an unassuming strip mall (which is characteristic of Fairbanks, on the whole, but not always in a bad way). The food was delicious, especially the panang curry. Overall, we both really like Fairbanks. It’s unassuming and relaxed, the people are generally friendly, and it has its quirks. We headed back to home to rest up, still marveling at how ridiculously light it is outside at 10:34PM (see below).
Rested up and ready to go, we woke up the next day and decided to do a little exploring around the area. We’d read about Circle, a tiny town not far from the Arctic Circle, but had received unenthusiastic reviews about driving up there (mainly, people didn’t seem to be sure if it was worth the effort). The Steese Highway up to Circle begins as a winding road through tree-covered mountains, passing by a few historic gold rush sites. It’s striking in its desolation, then turns to a decently maintained gravel road that climbs into the tundra. We made a brief stop at Mile 107, where there’s a trail up to Eagle Summit, then continued up the road a little. We happened to notice an even rougher side road that led up, and—hoping for the best—took that up to the top. Amazing. Up there, you really feel like you’re on the edge of the world, surrounded by nothing, the ground laden with low, tundra vegetation, spiky little purple bellflowers and bizarre mushrooms. We climbed to the top of some of the rocky outcroppings for a better view.
We begrudgingly descended, considered turning back, then decided we might as well continue on to Central, the only other tiny establishment before Circle. Things level out a bit on the way to Central, but the road is no less interesting. Once we got to Central, we spent another thirty seconds considering turning back, then once again said we might as well continue on to Circle.
Along the way, we had a brief stop when a small dachshund/husky family ran out into the road. We stopped and chatted with the owner of the dogs and her young daughter, who were very nice if not genuinely puzzled why we were driving all the way up there. And even more shocked when we told them we’d driven from Chicago, to which 9-year-old said, “REALLY?” We got back in the car, drove up to Circle, and yes, there really isn’t much up there. A beautiful lake, a handful of people, what appear to be a lot of abandoned buildings, and that’s about it. In the days of the Gold Rush, it was dubbed "The Paris of Alaska," home to eight dance halls, an opera house, 28 saloons, and a population of 1,200.
The drive back proved to be even crazier. The altitude and the 360º views of the gravel-and-tundra part of the Steese allowed us to see some weather down the road, in a way you can’t really ever see weather when you’re in a town or a city. The angle of the Alaskan sun, our distance from “storm,” and the density of the rain created a series of rainbows that often seemed on the brink of becoming a double rainbow, one actually completing a full arch. Combined with the way the light hits the mountains in different spots, it’s almost too much to absorb. We drove through the heart of it, which was much stronger than we’d expected, then pulled over to look back at it. A cartoon-ish lightning strike and an impossibly loud crack of thunder the next hill over got us back in the car and on our way, still fairly mesmerized.
We stopped in Circle at the local roadhouse/gas station/watering hole/grocery store/video store to get gas, a little surprised by their small crowd of regular patrons relaxing in the bar, then continued our drive back to Fairbanks.