July 24, 2007

Traveled from Fairbanks, AK, toward Denali National Park. The only highlight was stopping at Nenana. This is a small river town located at the Tanana River. This is a town of less than 600. It is the hub for the tug boat/barge shipping industry that provides goods to numerous villages not accessible by road or rail. The town is best known for it's ice classic. This is an annual event which awards cash prizes to the lucky winners who guess the exact minute of the ice breakup on the river. This is a spring highlight since 1917. Participants buy tickets for the event. Last year the winners divided over $200,000. They have a tripod on the river with a cable to a tower that trips a clock which records the official breakup time.