Days 42, 43 & 44 - Bettles, AK

The Plan: Air Taxi to Bettles, AK, stay overnight in the Bettles Lodge, and the next day, take a flight tour with stops at Gates of the Arctic and Kobuk Valley National Parks, stay over one more night at the Bettles Lodge, then fly back to Fairbanks the next morning.

Day 42
Monday, July 31, 2017
Bettles, AK

We had a smooth one hour flight from Fairbanks to Bettles in an 8 passenger, 2 engine plane. Bettles, total population 10, is located 35 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Eric, the owner of the Bettles Lodge (The Historic Lodge and the newer, Aurora Lodge), met us at the plane and quickly whisked us into his van for a tour of the town and of the neighboring town of Evansville, also population 10. At one time the population of Bettles had been up to 63, so there were several buildings, including a school that was empty and up for sale.

After lunch, Eric took us on a 6 mile speed boat ride on the Koyukuk River to “Old Bettles”. As soon as we landed we put on “bug jackets”. It’s a good thing we did. When we stepped off the gravel beach and into the bush, we were surrounded by hungry mosquitoes. Old Bettles began with a trading post for the 1899 gold rush. Steamboats brought supplies as far as Bettles, where freight was transferred to horse-drawn barges from the trip to the mines. In the 1930s many of the residents moved to the mining town of Wiseman. In 1948 the FAA wanted to construct an airfield in the area. Old Bettles was not suitable, so the airfield was built 6 miles away and the remaining residents of old Bettles relocated to the new site of Bettles, also known as Bettles Field.

Old Bettles is a true ghost town. As we made our way through shrubs and vines, we passed by the abandoned old general store, hotel, post office and cabins. Many were sturdy log cabins that were sinking into the ground. Beds, mattresses, sofas, chairs, stoves, and equipment were still inside. It was kind of sad in a way.

Today, Bettles relies on tourism. People fly to Bettles as a jumping off point for hunting, hiking in the back country, float trips, or to see the Northern Lights. Except in winter, there is no road to Bettles, so everything must be flown in. Each winter an ice road is constructed to connect the town to the Dalton highway. It currently costs one dollar a pound to fly in food and supplies.

Dinner was a choice of salmon or rib-eye steak. We sat at a table with three men who had flown in on a private plane from New Jersey. One was the owner of the plane, one a pilot instructor and the third was a student pilot. We had quite a lively conversation, and then retired to the lobby of the Aurora Lodge, where we were staying, to watch a documentary about Gates of the Artic NP.

Day 43
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Bettles, AK

It didn’t look good when we looked out of the window this morning. A light rain was falling and low clouds hung over the airstrip. Our fears were confirmed at breakfast. Kevin, the pilot for our tour, approached

our table with the bad news. There was no chance that he could fly us to Kobuk Valley and Gates of the Arctic National Parks today. We took a minute to let this soak in and decided to try to stay in Bettles an extra day with the hope that weather conditions might improve. We got all our ducks in at row: confirmed that Kevin could fit us in tomorrow, obtained lodging for one more night, notified the kennel and the rv park, and finally, changed our flight back to Fairbanks. Now all we needed was for the weather to cooperate. It was a gamble. The chances were 50% that the weather would improve.

To help pass the time, I got out my book and made myself comfortable in the lobby area of the Historic Lodge. It was interesting watching the comings and goings at the lodge. We weren’t the only ones whose plans were changed due to the weather.

Just shortly before lunch, we got some good news. Kevin had been monitoring the weather and said that there was a break in the clouds and he would be able to fly us to Gates of the Artic National Park! We quickly got ready and hopped in to the small (only 4 seats!) plane. We flew 15 minutes at an altitude of 1500 feet, just under the clouds, then landed on a gravel bar next to the north fork of the Koyukuk

River. Hurray, we made it!

Gates of the Arctic is the least visited of all the scenic national parks. There are no roads, no facilities and no signs indicating that you have entered the park. However, we had borrowed a sign from the visitor center at Bettles, so we used that for our traditional picture by the park sign.

We walked around the gravel bar for a bit. The rain started to pick up, so Kevin pulled out some folding chairs and we sat underneath the plane’s wing for a while before flying back to Bettles. We were only there for a short while, but at least we were there.

Day 44
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Bettles, AK

The first thing I did when I woke up was to peek out the window to see what the weather was like. It wasn’t raining, but sadly, visibility was worse than ever. After breakfast, Jay watched another documentary about Alaska and I got my book to read in the lodge again. It was a repeat of yesterday morning. Small planes, whose original destinations were farther North, landed in Bettles instead. Eric, the lodge owner, was delighted by this turn of events. Small groups of passengers piled into his van for a tour of the town, followed by lunch at the lodge: more business for the lodge!

As interesting as this was to watch, we each passing hour, Jay and I knew that the chances of our getting to Kobuk Valley National Park were getting slimmer and slimmer. We had not yet heard from the pilot, another bad sign. After lunch, we finally talked to the pilot. As expected, it wasn’t good news. He couldn’t fly to Kobuk Valley today and he was fully booked for tomorrow, so that was not an option. Ugh! What a disappointment!! That means another trip to Alaska?

We saw no reason to stay another night, and so we caught the 2 pm flight out of Bettles. Before heading to

Fairbanks, the flight went North for an hour to drop off two passengers at Anaktuvuk, an Eskimo village located near the center of Gates of the Artic NP. We stepped out of the plane to get a better look at the village. It was located in a valley, surrounded by beautiful, tall mountains. Because of the high altitude, there were no trees, only shrubs. Most homes were tiny and drab. All had tin roofs. It was a bit sad, actually.

We had a lot to do once we were back in Fairbanks. We picked up the dogs from the kennel and did grocery shopping and laundry. While walking to the laundry, I saw a vehicle in the park that I had never seen before. The front looked like a big touring bus and the back was full of small individual windows, like a sleeping car. The name on the bus said Rotel touring company. I learned later that the bus had been flown over from Germany.