The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line encircling the earth. This line is located at latitude 66 33′ North. In the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set on summer solstice (June 20 or 21) and is does not rise on winter solstice (December 21 or 22). There are eight countries which extend into The Arctic Circle. These are Greenland, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and Alaska (USA).

Approximately 4 million people, of which 10% of the inhabitants are indigenous, live with in the Arctic circle today. It had been on our ‘bucket list’ to visit and understand some of the cultures of those who live within the Arctic circle for sometime. We decided to achieve this by flying from London to Vancouver, cruising from Vancouver up to Whittier, Alaska, and then take the train to Denali and continue by coach to Fairbanks, from there we decided to take a small plane into the Arctic Circle. It was all going swingingly well up to Fairbanks. We had magnificent views from the train, which slowed for us to take, evidently, unusually clear pictures of Mount Denali.

The weather was kind to us and we got further views of the majestic mountain from the early morning bus to Fairbanks.

Alas! arriving in Fairbanks we were not so lucky…we had allowed two nights in Fairbanks thinking that we would be able to fly in to The Arctic Circle on one of the two nights….more fool us!!! The weather was appalling and we were told on our first night that they were not flying so on our second night as we waited in the small office on the edge of the airstrip we had high hopes. However! It soon became obvious we were going nowhere……they only charge ( it was about US$1000 for two people) if you can actually land in The Arctic, so although we didn’t loose any money by trying, we were bitterly disappointed…we couldn’t stay longer because we had restrictions such as return flights and work to consider……we returned to the UK without completing our ambition..

Two years later we took exactly the same route only this time, on advice, we booked into a Fairbanks hotel for a week. On our first night we found ourselves back at the office on the runway…our chariot awaited us..it didn’t half look small as we boarded our 6 seater plane. Handbags were stashed in the lockers in the wings. We squeezed ourselves in, with John next to the pilot and me behind him, 4 others joined us and we were soon in the air. The flight time is just under an hour. Looking down we had a good view of The Dalton Highway and the Oil Pipeline.

About 40 minutes into the flight the pilot told us he was detouring to circle another small town, which had a landing strip, because some heavy weather was moving in. We circled for about 30 minutes before the pilot said it was safe to continue. We were heading towards ‘Coldfoot’ a town within the Arctic Circle. As we entered into the Arctic circle the pilot told us we could take pictures of the planes dials..which we did.

Again we began to circle and the pilot said he couldn’t land until he could see the landing strip. The weather wasn’t great and the pilot said he’d circle once more before taking us back to Fairbanks and we could try again tomorrow!! We had been in the air nearly 2 hours and he said he had enough ‘gas’ to get us back to Fairbanks….we were just a little nervous!!! Suddenly the pilot said he could see the strip and he was going in…….all we could see was the Yukon River!!! Or was it a fork of the Koyukuk River ??? So we just prayed for longevity!! Thankfully our skilled pilot landed us safely and we disembarked in Coldfoot.

Coldfoot reminded me of some of the towns Dana Stabenhow writes about in her Kate Shuga Novels!!!!! Coldfoot came about when In 1899, gold was discovered in Slate Creek, and a small rush began as prospectors arrived to pan for gold. As winter approached, many of the prospectors got “cold feet” and decided to turn around and head back to warmer climates. The name stuck, Coldfoot’s gold rush only lasted around 5 years and the small town was quickly abandoned when gold was discovered in Wiseman only 10 miles north in 1908. Many of the buildings in Coldfoot were hauled north to Wiseman and rebuilt there. However Coldfoot was resurrected in the 1970s as a construction camp for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and as long-haul truckers began driving the Haul Road (later renamed the Dalton Highway), a full-service truck stop was established in Coldfoot. Coldfoot is now a place where travelers can find lodging, dining, gasoline, air service, and even a post office. It is situated nearly 200 miles away from the next largest community. We used its facilities, which could only be described as basic….this really is a ‘one horse town’ with the truckers stop being the one horse!!

Having used the ‘Ladies’ in the truck stop/bar/restaurant/lodgings…we got into a vehicle which took us down the highway for thirty minutes and then off to the right to a place called Wiseman. Wiseman is situated in the Arctic Circle, Northern Alaska it is on the edge of the beautiful Brooks Range mountains near the Gates of the Arctic National Park, along the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River. The community population has fluctuated over the years from a robust mining/trading outpost to current times, with a few families making it their home, when we visited it had had a population explosion!!! Increasing from 12 residents to 14!!! There are no services in the town. We were greeted by one of the residents who took us into the meetings/community centre…it’s still used for village functions but also for tourist group talks.

Another of the huts is set up as a museum. We browsed the village. The residents grow their own vegetables…they are hunters/gatherers. They hunt their allocation of meat..usually Caribou and Moose, which they store in areas deep under their huts, this space acts as a deep freeze all year around. They also store fish they have caught. This helps see them through the winter months when they are snowed in and the river turns to ice.

There are also a few huts which act as Bed & Breakfasts for tourists wishing to experience a few days “off the grid” in the middle of nowhere.
After a couple of hours we returned to Coldfoot. Our pilot was waiting for us. The weather was still not good. I nervously asked how he would see to take off…his response was he didn’t need to see to take off only to land!!!!! 52 minutes later we landed back in the modern day town of Fairbanks.

We were totally delighted to have achieved our ambition. Learning about the way the small population lives was amazing. Wiseman is a village where time has stood still…a wonderful adventure.