North to Alaska: The End of the Road

On day 26 of our trip we left Fairbanks heading north to a little place called Manley Hot Springs where our friend, Danny has a hunting cabin. Manley Hot Springs is approximately 160 miles from Fairbanks and at the end of the road on the Tanana River. Although it was only 160 miles, it took us approximately six and half hours. The last 100 miles was dirt and gravel and not what you would call smooth, more like a washboard. Once in Manley we checked out Danny’s hunting cabin and then went to the only place to get a meal in town, the Manley Roadhouse. Linda and I stayed in a little campground right on the river across from the roadhouse (for $5 per night). Nice campground, but again no hook-ups. Up early in the morning I walked down the river bank to check out fishing possibilities and there was the biggest Bull Moose I have ever seen. I told him to stand fast while I got my camera for some pictures. After taking a few pictures and having breakfast we left for a little place called Eureka which is only 32 miles from Manley (with the last 12 miles being single lane dirt). There was nothing in Eureka except the remains of a hunting lodge where Larry Csonka (NFL football) used to moose hunt. There were a few small log cabins used by hunters and personnel searching for gold. We spent about a day and half in Eureka site-seeing and fishing. We traveled 5 1/2 miles on four wheelers to get to where we fished for Arctic Grayling. It was unbelievable how you could catch these fish. They are small, 1 to 2 pounds, but very good eating. After a dinner of fried fish and good night’s sleep we left mid morning to return to Manley where we met Joe Redington Jr. and his wife, Pam. Joe’s father was the person who started the Iditarod dog race. We visited Joe and Pam’s home where they showed us their little museum filled with artifacts, crafts they had made, pictures from some of the first Iditarod races and much more. We also got to see their sled dogs, 43 of them, down from the 100s they used to have and several of the sleds they used. They have both the old wooden sleds and some of the newer fiberglass ones. I only wish we had more time to spend with Joe and Pam, they are such great people who are fun to be around. After leaving Joe and Pam we returned to the campground in Manley and grilled steaks where Danny and Jay joined us for dinner. The next morning after a good breakfast ( frosted honey buns} we left to return to Fairbanks. What a ride, the first hundred miles rain and more rain. Ever wonder what rain does to a dirt road in the mountains, slick, slick and slicker. Some places where the road was on the edge of the mountain, Linda would close her eyes and I was driving around 5 MPH. Anyway, it took us most of the day to return to Fairbanks, but we made it and our new campsite at Walmart looked great.

These are pictures of the road on the way to Manley

Our first morning in Manley and guess who came to see us?

12 miles of this road was interesting, seemed like 112 miles... On the way to Eureka

This is Eureka and where we stayed... To get here was quite a challenge; however, we read somewhere that with a "Truck Camper you can Go Anywhere, Camp Anywhere, Tow Anything" Right Gordon???