We made it into Alaska today! On our way out of Whitehorse we spent an hour in the very nice Yukon transportation museum. Among many other things, they had some great Yukon bush pilot pictures from back in the day. Here's a personal favorite:



Another for good measure:



We're camping tonight in a wooded area at Tok. Life is good!

If you stop in Whitehorse on the way down and have time to check out the dinosaur museum that is right next to the transportation museum, i think the kids will love it. Also if you have a chance take the boat ride up Miles Canyon, it leaves from the floatplane dock.
Following your trip and seeing the pictures shows you folks are definitely making memories big time.
KenW

Hey KenW, where are you based out of?
David

Langley regional airport CYNJ

Ok, right on. I'm a ways north east. Eaglesham south, CGL4. On a private strip about 5 miles from there.

Flew in to Fairbanks today and will be camping here tonight. The air camping area at Fairbanks is pretty awesome! Highly recommended.

Wooded area with your own little tie down area, picnic bench, fire pit and nice flat tent space. They also have showers, toilets, group BBQ areas and bikes you can borrow. Nice!

If you need groceries or supplies, grab a bike, turn left out of the airport entrance, then straight through the light. About a half mile on the left is a huge Fred Meyer store....grocery, hardware, etc.

Wander through the bushes to the west and you'll find the float pond. Great fun watching arrivals. Got fishing poles? Little known fact: there are some Large Pike in the float pond. Technically not legal to fish there but when I was there Airport Security never gave a rip, as long as you weren't fishing from someone's float.

I scared the dickens out of a guy one day when I walked up in uniform and asked him if he'd had any luck.....I had to quickly tell him I wasn't writing citations. He then pulled his stringer out, and showed me a 44 inch northern pike. Impressed I was.

Lots of stuff to do in FAI, if you're staying a bit. For weather brief and flight plan, grab a bike, exit the airport entrance to the right, and maybe a half mile south on the left is an FAA Flight Service Station. Right across the street from the tower. Those folks know the country and the weather patterns. Welcome to what FSS used to be in the Lower 48.

Used to was a local CFI would come by the campground every Thursday evening to answer questions, etc..
MTV

Very, VERY cool stuff!

I just flew essentially the same route with a friend of mine in his TU-206 last summer from Redmond, OR (KRDM), except we went west from Tok to Anchorage.

Glad to see you ran the Laird River to Muncho Lake route; that's an incredibly scenic portion of the flight! Landing Watson Lake isn't so bad either.

Have a blast up there; I'm taking my wife to Denali next week (via airline though).


Our trip: For those interested.
Day 1: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 6e1c6e9836
Days 2 & 3: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... 19171c8125
Tons of videos here as well...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... EGbbR4Xqjp

Oregon:

Get the kids some Hot Licks homemade ice-cream and head up to the Large Animal Research Station to see musk ox, reindeer and caribou up close. I've never done it, but I've heard from locals that the Riverboat Discovery is surprisingly good, if that's your thing. And if you get rained out, the Museum of the North at the university is very good. Drop a PM if I can be of assistance in the Denali area.
Cheers,

-DP

The Riverboat Discovery is a little touristy, BUT my wife and I took the trip at least once a year the twenty years we were in FAI and enjoyed every one of those trips....very well done and succinctly tells you a Lot about interior Alaska, its history and Native community.

Burgers on the deck at Pikes is a great evening program.

Museum of the North is great.

Kids like Alaskaland.....

MTV

Burgers at pikes or food at the Pump House are both pretty dang good. If you're into Thai then check out Lemongrass on Chena Pump Rd. Best we've ever had.

I second all the above recommendations! The riverboat does a floating wine tasting once in a while that's a pretty good time, and wasn't a non-kiddo event last time I went. My Sister worked the Lance Mackey booth last year at the Discovery's port gift center.

Lots of great hiking along Chena Hot Springs Rd (Angel Rocks is my fav) and then there's the springs themselves that shouldn't be too crowded this time of year. The Ice Museum there is pretty neat!

Make sure you sample some Silver Gulch beer, available at most places that serve up there, and if you're a beer connoisseur, you'll regret not hitting up the tasting room at HooDoo Brewery. In the summer they have a hot pretzel stand outside that serves EXCELLENT food. Also very kid friendly.

I hope you get a chance for a couple of $100 cheeseburgers at Bettles while you're nearby! It's a great flight and a really cool place just to walk around, hang out, and talk to folks!

Hey guys, thanks for all the great suggestions!

We're having a great time here in Fairbanks! My wife grabbed one of the bikes and rode over to where she could get a somewhat reasonably priced rental car. We headed straight for Hoodoo brewery, which was fantastic as mentioned.



We were all hungry and ended up having small plates at the Pump House, sitting on the deck overlooking the Chena River. Beautiful!

We also went to Pioneer Park and rode the train. We might go back and check out the aviation museum there today.

We're also thinking about renting a canoe and paddling on the Chena.

Mosquitos are definitely hungry at camp, but the locals seem unfazed.

I've been taking lots of pictures with the "good camera" of the float base, etc. I'll add some later.

Thanks again! We'll check out all the suggestions!

-- Kristian

Pikes is fine if you're not in a hurry. Stopped there this Spring, it took them an hour and a half to get 4 cheeseburgers out. We thought about eating the napkins.

Kristian, I'm really enjoying the Fuji shots. Very nice!

Kristian,

So glad/jealous you made it to HooDoo!



Hope ya'll're having a blast!

More exploring around Fairbanks today. We did the tour at the university of Alaska large animal research center and got to see the muskoxen caribou and reindeer. The kids really loved it.




Chena River last night:



Here are a couple pictures from the float base and parking area at Fairbanks.

I talked to the owner of this lovely old Stinson on floats. He apparently flies for the Discovery Channel's Yukon Men show:


This Super Cub is ready for hunting season:

Looks like you guys are really having a great time. Not sure how long you're going to be in town, but if you need a car or any assistance I can help you out. I'm not currently using one of my vehicles. Lately, the food that's been on my mind the most is BBQ from Big Daddy's in downtown. Thanks for all the updates on this TR.

My brothers old -12 we completely rebuilt a few years back every mod you could put on a -12. I wish I had just sold my 170 and bought that from my brother. Good to see its getting used. Actually was with friend doing touch and goes last night at international saw it over by the float pond.
Paul

That Stinson and its owner, Mike, is my neighbor on the lake here in Homer. It is a really cool airplane, he is rebuilding an AN-2 as well.

Last day in Fairbanks today. Heading to Talkeetna tomorrow. We've had a great time here. I'd really recommend it for anyone flying to Alaska with kids. Tons of stuff to do.



We even got to meet Lurker Larry!

Today we went to the farmers market for breakfast, which was great, and then headed out to the old gold dredge north of town for the tour. It's a bit touristy, but still well worth it. Our son had an awesome time learning about mining and getting some more panning practice.



The dredge is really cool.



Off to Talkeetna tomorrow. Looks like we'll be getting some good weather for the next week!