June 13, 2015, Saturday
After leaving Fairbanks, we stopped at Tatlanika Trading
Post and Campground on the banks of the Nenana River. We spent a lazy day
poking around in the gravel of the river bottoms and photographing all the
interesting treasures scattered around the property. I had time for some
sketching. Jerry watched the owner takeoff in his plane from a short grass strip.
These bush planes are amazing how little runway they need to take off and land.
The Nenana River is a glacial river that forms the eastern
edge of the Denali National Park. It is quite interesting because the Nenana
goes through a steep, deep gorge just north of the park. The river did not cut
the gorge through the mountains. The mountains actually rose up around the
river. True!
June 14, 2025, Sunday
So as you continue south along the Parks Highway, you
suddenly round a corner and whoa, there is Denali in all its glory. Amazing! We
stopped at every overlook after that first sighting. Each one presented just a
little bit different view of the mountain and its sidekicks. At one of the
early stops, we met a fellow camper from our Tok stop and caught up with him on
what he had been up to. He went fishing in Valdez and caught a 94 pound
halibut!
If you remember the Griswolds and their family vacations,
this next scene might bring a chuckle. A bus load of about 12 people pulled
into the overlook. Everyone jumped out of the bus, cameras at the ready, click,
click, click then leaped back on the bus and tore out of there. It was such a
fast stop, it made my head spin. At least they can show photos of Denali and I
guess that is what counts.
We spent the night in the Byers Lake Campground. This
actually was a wonderfully quiet campground and very enjoyable. Jerry hiked
back up to the Veteran’s Memorial at the highway and took more pictures of
Denali. Here he met two young men from Poland who had just finished climbing
Denali. They had allowed themselves three weeks for the climb and finished in
nine days, so they were excited to have more time to see more of Alaska before
flying home.
June 15, 2015, Monday
We drove on down to Talkeetna. Since the Willow fire was
still causing problems, we decided to spend a few days in Talkeetna before
heading on south. Jerry had the foresight to fuel up before we headed into
town…of course, half of Alaska was at the station fueling up as well. It took
30-40 minutes to fuel up because the pumps were so overtaxed. Later we heard
the station ran out of fuel so we were glad we had been patience.
A lady at the Pioneer Park in Fairbanks had told us that she
though the best views of Denali were right in Talkeetna. She was not wrong. The
mountainview is spectacular as you walk through town. What an amazing sight to
wake up to each morning. Talkeetna is an artsy little town and totally tourist
oriented. The shops are fun to visit. It is at the confluence of three rivers:
Susitna, Talkeetna and Chulitna. It was founded in 1916. Its current mayor is a
cat named Stubbs who is quite friendly. It is the primary base for all climbs
of Denali. It also has every known adventure to participate in while in town,
summer or winter. We are camped at the Talkeetna Camper Park. This is not the
most restful camp. It is at the trail depot and airport and cruise ships buses
pollute the air constantly. After 3 nights, we were more than happy to say
goodbye. I walked to town one day with an EMT who rode the train up through the
fire area. They decided extra EMT’s would not be a bad idea going through the
smoke in case people had breathing problems. She was from Eagle River and said
the ride was not a problem. Although the air was smoke filled, it was not so
thick to cause problems.
June 18, 2015, Thursday
We left Talkeetna early in case the delays through the
Willow area might be long but there were no delays. We followed a pilot car
through the burn area. Patches of heavy burn were followed by nothing then
heavy burn again. We did see loss of homes or at least buildings along the
highway. The smoke was hanging more to the south and we saw no flames.
After lunch in Wasilla, I got to visit a very nice quilt
shop then we picked up a few things in Walmart then drove to Palmer to visit
the musk ox farm. Now this was fun. The musk oxen were gentle, fun and
entertaining and the tour guide was great. I got to feed a treat to a one year
old male who was very sweet. They told us about qiviut, the undercoat of the
musk ox. It is extremely soft and strong and makes wonderful yarn. I bought
some for my sister-in-law to play with. I wanted to take one of the baby musk
oxen home with me but I figured Texas would be way too hot for them!
Independence Mining District was our next stop. This, too,
was extremely interesting. A great deal of the town has been preserved plus it
is in a beautiful locale. After hiking around the area, we drove over Hatcher
Pass and did a little exploring. All this area is above timberline. It looks
like you should be above 9,000 feet in Colorado but here you are at about 3400
feet. It is that latitude again. After our exploring, we returned to a small
camp area for the night. Here we met an interesting couple from Idaho who have
our same brand of camper. They bought it unfinished and finished it themselves.
We also met an elderly gentleman who moved to Alaska in the 60’s and recently
relocated to Tucson. Every summer he and his wife make the trek to Alaska to
see their kids and camp all summer in Alaska then return to Tucson for the
winter. He told us some tall Alaskan tales and advised us on places to see
while we are here.
June18, 2015, Friday
Today we visited Anchorage. Town was crazy getting geared up
for the Summer Solstice on Sunday. We visited the Ulu Factory. Ulus are
traditional native knives are popular for hunters and cooks alike. I think they
are wonderful tools that still look like they have for 1000’s of years. We
walked around town, had lunch and need I say, found a quilt shop which I did
visit.
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