One of the touristy things to do when visiting Fairbanks is to make a trip out to the Chena Hot Springs. It located at the end of the 56-mile Chena Hot Springs Road.
Well, our friends Rowdy & Missy, fellow RVers, have a cabin and a few acres in the woods out in that direction, and we've been planning to visit them since the early stages of preparing for our Alaska journey.
With only about 60 miles to go, we didn't start early plus we stopped at Walmart where Linda had to pick up a couple things while I fueled up the RV and topped off our propane. We would be parking without hook-ups for a few days, so we wanted to make sure we were fully prepared.
Rowdy told us the first 20 miles of the Chena Hot Springs Road is terrible with frost heaves, so Linda took it easy. He was right - it was really bad for a house on wheels. But after we got through some bridge construction, the rest of the trip was nice.
We were meeting Rowdy at a little spot around mile marker 55. We had options for where we were going to camp, so the plan was to evaluate and go from there.
Well, it started raining right at mile marker 50, so it looked like we were going to get a little wet.
We turned into Gabe's Boondock Camping right at mile marker 55. It's a new dry camping campground in part of gravel pit that sits on a pond.
It's a self-pay campground and the sites have picnic tables and firepits with free firewood. There is a pavilion and barbecues for group outings. And Missy is managing the place for the owners since it's not far from their place.
So, that was one option. We parked there and then loaded into Rowdy's truck to explore options 2 & 3. You see, their cabin is a half-mile back what they call a "trail" - it's not an official "road". And due to recent rains, the trail was a mess and Rowdy recommended that we not bring the RV all the way back. So, option 2 was to come in on the trail but park in an opening near the road but not visible from the road.
Then we proceeded to option 3. If we were brave enough and willing, we could drive the RV all the way in on the narrow, muddy trail through the huge puddles filled with water. Had it not been raining, I would have taken pictures. And had Rowdy not vouched for the hard rock surface under the mud, there is no way we would have ever considered taking our rig in there.
We made it to the cabin and Rowdy showed us where he would park us if we decided to take the chance. Their lovely cabin sits on a bend in the North Fork of the Chena River, and we both wanted to be back in that setting. Linda & I ruled out option 2, and were leaning toward option 3.
Eventually, after chatting with Rowdy & Missy at the cabin for a while, the rain stopped. And we decided to drive the RV back the full half-mile. After all, it was only a half-mile, we had all the time in the world, Rowdy was very confident we wouldn't get stuck, and if we did, he could pull us out with his tractor.
We went back to the gravel pit, and we unhitched the Jeep. We'd return for it later.
Linda was going to drive and Rowdy and I were going to walk alongside in the worst areas. But once we got on the trail with the RV, Linda & I both determined it wasn't as bad as it looked and there was no need to walk in the mud. There were two rather tight turns, but those weren't a problem. With our low clearance, we did hit one rock near the door, but we made it back to the cabin much quicker than any of us expected.
Rowdy had us back in next to their guest cabin and we were all set. We could stay in the RV or in the guest cabin.
Now, keep in mind that we're off-grid. There are no toilet facilities in the guest cabin or the main cabin. There is just an outhouse, which happened to be close to our RV.
It's a very nice outhouse, mind you, but in the middle of the night we decided we'd use our own bathroom.
For power, Rowdy runs a 3000-watt generator all day. And he allowed us to plug in an extension cord for our chest freezer. Any other power we needed we could get from our batteries and inverter and our spot was open to the sun for solar. Of course, we have our own generator if necessary.
Once we got settled, we got a tour.
This is their fishing hole in the bend of the river.
Looking downriver - apparently, the river is quite a bit higher than normal.
And this is the view of their cabin from the fishing hole.
Back up next to the main cabin is this nice firepit on the river.
Next to that is a wood-heated hot tub.
And in the background of the above photo is a sauna, with an attached shower room.
So, you might begin to see why we wanted our RV back there.
If that weren't enough, they have satellite internet that we can log into to keep up with email, upload photos, and make postings. There is no cell service out here, so that was an unexpected bonus.
Now, for those that aren't personal friends, you can still enjoy the serenity of their place if you are a member of Boondocker's Welcome, a membership site where RVers with property host other RVers. Rowdy & Missy have listing as a host site called The True Alaska.
In addition, they recently built a small "river cabin" that they plan to list on the HipCamp website in the future. And they have plans to have a couple of tent camping sites later on as well.
That's pretty much it for the introduction to our home for the next few days.
Now, for dinner, Rowdy planned to cook some caribou backstrap on his pellet grill. He killed his first caribou about a week earlier, so tonight we were going to have a sample.
Well, it was going to be a little more complicated than just the caribou meat. It was going to be caribou stuffed with a cream cheese, spinach, onion, and mushroom filling .... wrapped in bacon.
We have photos.
After it cooked on the grill, he put it in the broiler to crisp up the bacon, and this was the result.
And yes, in fact, it was every bit as good as it looked. The combination was fantastic.
After the wonderful dinner, we began the nightly routine of having a campfire in that big ol' firepit.
We listened to music and set out amongst the many colored solar lights. And, since bears are an issue from time to time, we kept an eye on the edge of the darkness and hoped the motion-sensing lights and music would deter any curious visitors.
Yeah, I think we're gonna like it here.
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