One of Many “You Have to See It To Believe It” Ice Sculptures
It’s amazing how wiped out we are, but I guess a day of hiking, getting cold, and soaking in 104 degree water can do that to you. I sat back at the cabin we’ve been calling home for a few nights, remarking how much living I fit into five hours today.
Dan and I hit the road at 8:30am to Chena Hot Springs, knowing it would take about 90 minutes to get there. We had the pleasure of driving at dawn and watching the sky slowly shift shades of blue, with a healthy dose of orange and yellow swirled in there. Paws for Adventure is out Chena Hot Springs Road, but close to Fairbanks. We took the same road all the way until it ended at the Chena Hot Spring Resort. I had many opportunities to smile at the road signs that mainly consisted of “Shooting Range, turn left”, “Moose Crossing”, and “No Shooting, next mile”. It was one of those “you know you are in Alaska when” moments.
The Morning Sky Ablaze
Last time I came to Alaska, in my research I came across Chena Hot Springs and was highly interested in what the experience could offer. It was not at all practical for me to go there on a twelve day trip on the Kenai. Way too long to drive and not enough time to enjoy the area even if I was willing to fly. Yet, it did get me thinking and in some ways, was the basis of my wanting to visit again, thinking I could base a trip around the Fairbanks area. And then combine that with the high probability of seeing the northern lights and well the rest is history.
So we checked in when we arrived and, since we were just guests for the day, we were told that we could sign up for activities at the Activity Center and at the pool. The gift shop had a lot of tchotchkes, not so much my thing. But I did happen upon some birch syrup caramels and got some to share at home. Birch syrup is similar to maple syrup, but not as sweet and a bit earthier flavored, if you will. Maple trees run sap for about ten weeks a year and birch trees for only two or three weeks. Also, while it takes 50 gallons of maple sap to get one gallon of maple syrup, it takes 100 gallons of birch sap to get one gallon of birch syrup. Some sources say there are only 1,500 gallons made annually. So it’s a precious commodity and very indicative of Alaskan culture.
An Antler Sculpture Is a “You Know You Are in Alaska Moment”
Having been in the car for over an hour, we both were in the mood to start our day with a hike. We found some trails on a map and headed upwards with no particular destination in mind. Upward and onward was the theme. Like so many places where tourists gather, if you are willing to just take a short walk, you can access total and complete solitude. And so it was, Dan and I trudged the snowy mountain and the further we went, the less we could hear anything but the birds and sled dogs in the distance. I am not sure exactly what elevation we were at. Fairbanks is at 446 ft and we did slowly go higher as we headed east, but in short, we were in the some gently rolling hills – and yet, the scenery and vegetation was highly reminiscent of what I think of when I am in 5000 ft elevation in the Oregon. Small spindly trees, brushy woody plants, cold nights, and mountain air. Being in Alaska, even at low elevation is very much like living high in the mountains in more temperate regions. It reminded me of when I used to live in New Mexico and it occasionally snowed in June. We were on a trail called Ridge Trail and I believe if we followed it for a long time, we would have indeed gone up and down the rolling hills for many, many miles and never looped back around. So we just adapted our walk to last about two hours round trip. We did find a couple clearings and took a few minutes to enjoy the 360 views and quiet. Picture Aspen or Lake Tahoe, minus the people. We felt very lucky.
Picture Having Lake Tahoe All to Yourself
We came down and hung out in the cozy lodge until the tour of the Ice Museum began. We met a young woman, Kristen who had been working at the resort for two months. She grew up in LA, and knew she wanted something different for herself, so she simply took off, and moved to Fairbanks. She had never experienced cold and snow in her life. She wanted to work and travel a bit before making the commitment to go to school. For age 19, she certainly seemed to have herself together.
We could only enter the Ice Museum with a guide. Since the climate is controlled and the art (the ice) is subject to melting with exposure to outside air, they really need to control the flow of people. Perhaps there were about 20 people on our tour. We were instructed not to touch anything and to listen to the ten minute talk and then we could move around on our own. The tour guide let us know that everything in the museum was created by a couple, Heather and Steve, who together hold 23 titles for winning ice sculptor contests. They are considered amongst the best in the world and they have landed themselves full time jobs at the Chena Hot Springs Ice Museum.
Heather Is Standing Next to Martini Glasses
Even though the temperatures remain between 25-28 degrees, the ice can still degrade over time and so the sculptures we see are always on a cycle of being touched up. The ice is harvested once a year from a nearby lake and is stored and used until the next harvest.
Ice Cougar
Again, just like with seeing the northern lights, my words are not going to do this place justice. So let me say we were enveloped in a Narnia like fairy tale. There was a wedding chapel toward the back that can be and is rented out through the year. Behind it, are four rooms, some of which have beds made of ice, with blankets laid on them. Originally, Chena was going to use it as an ice hotel like they do in Scandinavia, but there was too much bureaucracy to overcome (don’t ask!) and instead, it’s now a museum. I went inside an igloo with a xylophone made of ice. I sat at a table made of ice near the ice fireplace (which was not emitting heat). I admired the intricate horses, which were recreations of statues that Heather and Steve had won contests for. I absolutely loved seeing the designs within the clear ice balls. Some designs were textural and looked like a bunch of grapes. Others were objects like a martini glass or flowers, embedded in the ice ball.
The Aurora Ice Bar was the centerpiece. Every component of the place was made of ice. The chairs were covered in caribou fur so the patrons don’t freeze their tushes. The martini glasses were made of ice and the guide served appletinis in them. Dan and I both concurred that this was simply one of the coolest things we have ever seen. It was like being inside of and part of, an incredible living masterpiece.
Aurora Ice Bar
Heather was whipping out martini glasses, she can make up to 180 a day. She was working steadily but was open to answering questions. She has always been an artist and has worked with different mediums though the ages, yet years ago she found ice and has stuck with it. She and Steve have worked on sculptures together in the past for competitions and for this years’ world championships, which are at the end of the month, they will actually be competing against each other.
A Re-creation of a Prize Winning Sculpture
So, we left the ice museum and it actually became apparent that we were much warmer inside, as we step out into zero degree weather. We purposely saved the best for last – the hot springs. We are the save the best for last type people, but also we didn’t want to contend with wet hair during the day. There is basically one large pool, big enough to do laps and the pool is surrounded by boulders. The rocks provide privacy and beyond that, I liked crawling up on them to be able to moderate my body temperature. It was a bit of a dance getting so hot in the water and cooling down by taking one arm out or sitting on the boulders and keeping my legs in, so my body could find homeostasis.
The Springs Are the Main Attraction
The spring was not super busy, but certainly there were others there. Dan chatted with some of them and the diversity was broad. A couple from Arkansas, a tour of people from Japan. The Japanese have hot springs they refer to as Onsen and so culturally there is a connection to what Chena Hot Springs has to offer and that probably explains why there are more Japanese than Americans there. We spent a good while in the springs and while neither of us really wanted to leave, neither one of us wanted to drive back home on the icy roads. So, we got ourselves together and got back on the road by about 3:30pm.
We did catch a magnificent sunset on the way home and of course, I had to stop to take pictures. With both of us being tired from the hike and cold and hot tubs, we opted for having leftovers and retiring early so we could set the alarm for every 30 minutes to check the northern lights. With feelings of disappointment I have to report that again the clouds were obscuring the lights and the air was full of fog and not a northern light was to be seen by us.
A Phenomenon Known as Hoarfrost Envelopes Branches
We Bid Farewell to the Sun From Tom’s Porch