Fairbanks Snow Travelers

Definately a shovel. The lexan avalanche shovels are compact, unbreakable and cheap. Yes, you can dig yourself out by hand but then you are all wet and sweaty when you are done and just begging for hypothermia. In a pinch you can tunnel into the side of a drift with it and get out of the wind. If yo...

The trails off Murphy Dome into the Chatanika valley are barely runnable. Be prepared for lots of rocks up top and dirt and ATV ruts as you drop into the treeline. The Chatanika is mostly runnable on the shelf ice but is not yet frozen bank to bank. Not a place for a pleasure run. Unlike past years,...

I am happy to help - but I would also coordinate with Ralf at 1st Alaska. He lives down there and runs those trails daily. He also has a place big enough to hold a pretty big group for a warm-up. He should be back on the river by Mid - September. I don't know how many you have in a ride.

You bet - i'd be happy to assist. I think on another site i provided links to maps of the area trails. I realized my initial mileage was off by 7 miles. The loop i described included the 7 mile trail which is (surprise) 7 miles long. The total loop is 37 miles. The river is usually runnable (at leas...

You could do a 30 mile loop from Murphy Dome down to the lower landing on the Chatanika (15 miles), possible sideloop to Washington Creek, then upstream to 7 mile or Blueberry, then back to the Dome. Start and finish at your truck. You could coordinate with Ralf at 1st Alaska Outdoor (lives on the r...

The problem here runs deeper than can be easily explored in this forum. There are only a handfull of yearlong residents in that valley. They have divided themselves into two camps, one centered around trapping and the other centered around tourism. As you might imagine, the trappers don't want alot ...