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Chena Hot Springs

The lot of us went to Chena Hot Springs, which is about an hour drive from Fairbanks. Walked around a bit, went in the water (there are hot tubs, pool, and the outdoor spring, which gets to 160°F (70°C), which is damn hot), and had lunch there. It's a nice place. They have various activities, including tours by horse, plane, and ATV (not all at once), an ice musuem, a green house, and more. They also are a big draw for Japanese tourists looking for something to do in the winter. And in the winter, the aurora borealis is supposed to be quite impressive (as you boil and freeze simultaneously).

Click on the thumbnail images to get larger ones (around 100-300K). Click on the "huge" link to get the full size pictures (around 3M). Around 30 pictures included.

Alaska Pictures
Part I: The Trip Out and Fairbanks
Part II: Farmer's Market, Univeristy, Museum
Part III: Midnight Sun Run
Part IV: The Alaska Pipeline
Part V: Bug Collecting in the Tundra
Part VI: Ester Dome
Part VII: Chena Hot Springs
Part VIII: Eagle Summit
Part IX: Denali
Part X: Seward
Part XI: Exit Glacier
Part XII: Anchorage B&B's
Part XIII: Flattop Mountain, Anchorage
Part XIV: Flying in Fairbanks
Part XV: The Trip Home

Arrival

I should note that while I took pictures of the area and the facility around Chena Hot Springs, I didn't actually take pictures of the springs itself. We did go there, but since I was just wearing a bathing suit, I didn't want to wreck the camera. And also, I didn't want to take pictures of people bathing (seems rude).

[Entrance gate to Chena Hot Springs]
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[The road leaving Chena Hot Springs]
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[Looking out from Chena Hot Springs]
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There's a nice arch-ish thing over the entrance to Chena Hot Springs. The first shot is looking at the entrance, the second and third are looking back along the road. It's a pretty drive.

[Stream by the hot springs]
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[Stream by the hot springs]
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There's a little stream in the area. I don't think it's a hot spring but I didn't check.

[Ice house]
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[Ice house]
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[Ice house]
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They have an "Ice House" there, with all sorts of ice things in it. I guess originally it was made of ice, but since it actually gets warm in the summer, it turns out not to be the greatest, long-lasting idea. We didn't go in, as there's an extra charge. Apparently you can get an ice martini in a souvenir ice glass that you can keep (until it melts). The clever part is that you'll have to keep on buying new ice glasses—it's not like you can run them through a dish washer. Marketing genius!

[Butterfly]
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[Butterfly]
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Stephanie loves bugs (as well as all other animals and plants). She found a butterfly on the road.

[Butterfly in flowers]
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[Butterfly in flowers]
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And then she put the butterfly in some flowers. I imagine it was happy for its sudden positive change in fortune.

[Stream]
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[Stream]
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[More stream]
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A few more shots of the stream in the area.

[Hot spring]
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[Stack of moose antlers]
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[Hot spring]
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Some hot spring action! The first and third pictures are of an outdoor pond that is geothermally heated. It had steam rising up from it, but it wasn't captured in the picture. But this is not the place where people swim. I decided not to take pictures of that one, since there were various people there, in bathing suits, bikinis, and the like (some fat, some thin), and it felt like it would be a bit rude and intrusive to take photos with them in it, without permission.

The second picture is a fairly tall stack of moose antlers. I found it intriguing.

The Trip Back

A few pictures on the road home from Chena Hot Springs. There are a lot of scenic areas, ponds, streams, and the like.

[Panorama of pond on Chena Springs road]
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Here's a panoramic picture of one of the ponds. Note that the 'bigger' and 'huge' links will show the same picture, since the stitched-together picture I generated was only at a medium resolution. Amazing what photoshop can do.

[Another small lake]
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[Pretty flowers]
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[Another small lake]
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Some other pictures along the road.

[Yet another pretty lake]
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[Another pretty lake]
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[Chena Hot Springs road]
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Roger and Carrie had told us to keep an eye out for moose and other wildlife along some of the ponds we'd pass. At one point on the drive back, we noticed a car and van pulled off the road and a few people looking, with cameras, out at the water. I pulled off, got my camera and walked towards where they were. By the time I got there, the people had got back into their car and left. I looked and, while it is a very pretty area, saw nothing in terms of moose-age or other wildlife. But I decided I would still take some pictures because it was a pretty area. The first two pictures are of that pull-of, andthe second is looking back down the road heading towards Chena Hot Springs.


Alaska Pictures
Part I: The Trip Out and Fairbanks
Part II: Farmer's Market, Univeristy, Museum
Part III: Midnight Sun Run
Part IV: The Alaska Pipeline
Part V: Bug Collecting in the Tundra
Part VI: Ester Dome
Part VII: Chena Hot Springs
Part VIII: Eagle Summit
Part IX: Denali
Part X: Seward
Part XI: Exit Glacier
Part XII: Anchorage B&B's
Part XIII: Flattop Mountain, Anchorage
Part XIV: Flying in Fairbanks
Part XV: The Trip Home



This page last modified Aug 08, 2011.
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