June 3, 2015, Wednesday

We stayed in Tok, Alaska at the Sourdough Campground. It was so nice to do laundry and take hot showers. The Sourdough is a delightful campground owned by friendly, fun loving people from Bullhead City, Arizona. Talk about going from one extreme to another! One of the clever ways they have of getting campers talking to one another is wild, weird sourdough pancake toss game with the winner or winners getting a free pancake breakfast the next morning, hopefully not of the pancakes used in the toss! Jerry actually won a breakfast but my aim was off and my breakfast cost money.

Our rig is a Four Wheel brand of pop up truck camper. Surprisingly, we do not see many of these on the road. Here we were camped with two others. One was driven up from Tucson and the other had been driven up from Brazil. What an amazing journey. Before we left the campground, I talked to the gentleman from Brazil. He imports the campers to Brazil and sets them up for people. Besides this trip to Alaska, he has been in Africa, Europe, Russia, Japan and all over the US in his pop up camper. What an advertisement for the rig.

We ran a few errands in Tok (by the way it is pronounced Toke not Tock) before leaving for Delta Junction where we stopped at the official end of the Alaskan Highway. Next door is the Sullivan Road House which dates from the gold rush time period. Originally, it was located on Fort Greely and was moved via helicopter to its present location. It is now a little museum full of items that were really in the road house when it was in use.

After lunch we turned south on the Richardson Highway which is the oldest highway in Alaska and parallels the Alaskan pipeline. We went through a pass which separates the eastern Alaska Range from its western segment. It had turned rainy and foggy by this time so our photos are rather moody and gray. We did jump a female moose, who absolutely refused to hang around for a photo session.

The campground at Fielding Lake is a free one and is very nice, right on the edge of the outlet river for the lake. It had turned pretty darn chilly by now then the wind kicked up dropping the temperature even more. A flock of pintail ducks were calling this area home and were fun to watch. No large animals could be found though we glassed the hills and marshes for them.

June 4, 2015, Thursday

A male ptarmigan raised a great fuss this morning, ordering us to leave the area. Though we had hoped for sun, we had more rain. I believe it rained all night. It was about 39 degrees when we broke camp. We had our first official glacier sighting (we missed Black Rapids Glacier in the rain and fog yesterday). This one was Gakona Glacier. Just around the corner was Summit Lake which is quite large and, even though it was chilly…cold…, people were getting ready to go out on the lake for fishing.

At Paxon, we turned west on the old Denali Highway. As the highway begins to climb, not only are you able to see the Alaska Range to the north but in the southeast you are able to see the Wrangell Mountains. There is an overlook that allows you to see the glacial erosion effects with a deep U shaped valley with lateral moraine deposits and “kettle” lakes which were created by the weight of the glacial ice as well as melt from the glacier. It is really very dramatic. An interesting fact, the Alaska Range is still growing as the Pacific Plate is grinding under the North American Plate. Tectonic action in progress.

Tangle Lake Archaeological area is a sanctuary for artifacts from first people in the region dating back 10,000 years and some even older into 20,000 year range. Also a great deal of fossilized remains of mammoths are found in the area. At the boundary of the area, a fat porcupine waddled across the road. Although he was not pleased to grant photos, he did pose nicely for one or two. Then a trumpeter swan took off from one of the nearby ponds with great fanfare. Around the corner, a bald eagle perched on the top of a white spruce and surveyed his domain as ptarmigans chattered away in the willows.

We set up camp in the Tangle Lakes BLM Campground. The lakes here form the head waters of the Delta River which joins the Tanana at Delta Junction then together they flow into the Yukon River. Dodging rain drops, we walked around the lake area and checked out the Tangle River as it made its way into the lake. We spotted fresh moose tracks but no moose. Later in the afternoon, the rain finally caught us when we hiked up a ridge trail that treks around the lake and into the mountains. And so another damp but great day in Alaska comes to an end.

June 5, 2015, Friday

Guess what, it was raining again this morning. If it were warmer, we would be growing mold by now. As we left the Tangle Lake campground, we spied a female moose up high on the ridge. She was much too far away for good photos so we simply watched her through the binoculars for a time. Our climb toward Maclaren Pass began in rain which gradually turned into a snow/rain mix then finally big fat fluffy snowflakes swirled around us. The snow actually accumulated on the shrubs along the road and the grassy areas. There was ½ inch or better on the ground. There is a winding area of the highway which meanders between two high moraines. This is Crazy Notch formed by a glacial stream cutting through the moraine. Here the snow drifts build up in winter causing the closing of the highway. After crossing the pass, the snow began to lessen and reverted to rain. Then lo and behold, a patch of sun shine graced us with its presence.

After crossing Clearwater Creek, the highway follows the ridge of an esker, a ridge of sand, gravel and cobbles deposited by a glacial stream trapped between walls of ice. You get a wonderful view of the countryside from this elevated vantage. As we crossed the Susitna River, we could see two golden eagles dining on a sand bar in the river. The Susitna is a major drainage in the Denali region. It begins at the Susitna Glacier in the Alaska Range and eventually runs into the Cook Inlet. There are some spectacular views of the Alaska Range along this highway.

We stopped for the day at the Brushkana Creek Campground which is right of the banks of the Brushkana Creek. As we drove through the campground, we came upon a moose mama and her very young baby. I saw her climb a ridge behind the campsites and was finally able to get some good moose photographs. Seeing the baby made my day but getting photos of mama and baby was the crowning glory. A whole family of gray jays came right over to welcome us as we set up camp…mama, papa and three youngsters. They later accompanied us on part of our hike.

I spent hours trying to identify a pair of warbler sized birds I spotted but could not photograph. They were lovely and the closest id I have come up with is bramling though these birds were much more colorful and pretty than my bird books show the bramling. The rains returned this afternoon, thunderstorms. Now the sun is valiantly trying to burn through the clouds. I would dearly love some warmth from the sun.

June 6, 2015, Saturday

No rain this morning! There was even sunshine, briefly. I am beginning to think a cloud is tethered to our radio antenna because clouds follow us relentlessly. We finished the Denali Highway today. It was so nice to take our time and enjoy the drive, even if our wild life sightings were few and far between. The country was distinct and exciting. We were treated to a lovely rainbow. I would very much like to travel this road again going from the west to the east. Another trip vibe is tingling away.

We arrived at Denali National Park before lunch. Luckily, we were able to get a campsite within the park. When we went back to the Wilderness Access building later in the day, they were taking reservations for campsites for Thursday and nothing was available until then. Tomorrow, we will be taking the shuttle bus into the park. Our fingers are crossed that we will be in the lucky 30% that actually get to see Denali while in the park. Apparently, it creates its own weather patterns and is not visible all the time. We will be in the area several more times so we may still have a chance to see this dramatic mountain if we are unlucky tomorrow.

After lunch, we walked to the visitor center which has a very nice display about the animals that call the park home and the history of the park. And of course, there was a book store. We did not leave it empty handed. The mercantile near the park entrance has a little bit of everything. The one thing that really surprised me was the cost of showers, $5 for 10 minutes. You certainly have to bathe fast! I didn’t dare check to see how much a load of laundry might cost.

Our one pot meals or freeze dried meals have worked quite well. Freeze dried food is so much better than it was when we backpacked in the Colorado Rockies years ago. It is tasty and variety keeps one from getting bored. The “homemade” freeze dried mixes, while not a total bust, are much too salty due to the freeze dried meats I purchased. This is one time I should have done a test run before we left home.

June 7, 2015, Sunday

Our tour to Eielsen Visitor Center in Denali Park was an amazing adventure. When we arrived at the departure point, the line was long, wrapping around the side of the building. We were 20 minutes early! What a sigh of relief we breathed when we discovered that the bus for the tour before us had not loaded yet. Our tour bus driver, Craig, gave us the spiel about Denali not being a zoo and not to expect to see many animals and don’t expect to see Denali either. But just the opposite proved to be true.

A female moose walked right up to the bus, around it, crossed the road and climbed the hill. Although she had her hackles raised, she chose to ignore 40 crazy people snapping pictures of her. A little farther on we stopped to view some caribou and saw a bull moose climbing a glacier delta. Unfortunately, he was much too far away for photos.

The first time you have an opportunity of seeing Denali is about 9 miles into the park. We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the tips of the south peak and the north peak of the mountain but the middle section was clothed in clouds as white as Denali itself. Still everyone on the bus was delighted to see as much as we did. It is an awe inspiring mountain. I hope we will catch at least one very clear day to see the whole mountain. Polychrome Pass lives up to its name. The colors are fantastic. It would have been wonderful to spend an entire day there photographing the color changes as the sun moved through the sky. Our fifteen minutes were up too quickly. A brown bear (it is totally wrong, according to our driver, to call them grizzly bears) was climbing one side of the hill as we walked down the other. It was a beautiful blonde bear when we were finally able to see it.

At Sable Pass, we were lucky enough to see a fresh caribou kill and a female wolf dining upon it. It is very rare to see wolves because the park is so big and the wolves move so warily through the landscape. Even the bus driver was taking pictures of this rare sighting. The magpies perched nearby hoping for left overs as did a big raven. When we returned to the spot later in the day, we expected to either see more wolves around the carcass or bears but there carcass was by itself. The Park rangers had already put out signs limiting access to that section of the road.

A couple of miles down the road we came to a big brown bear sunning itself on a tundra slope. When we returned, he was in the same place but had rotated around to better catch the rays. Caribou seemed to be everywhere, in twos, threes and fours but no big herds. A flock of Dall ewes and lambs were also sunning on a wide grassy slope high on a mountain ridge. A willow ptarmigan posed nicely for the bus full of photographers. On our return trip, we saw a beautiful red fox. It could care less that we were around and headed straight for its den.

Most of the road is above timberline so you are traveling through the tundra. You are able to see great distances. Once we arrived at Eielsen, we should have been able to see Denali since we were only 30 miles from the peak but of course, clouds hid it from our view. This is a steep tundra valley surrounded by high peaks. The visitor center is excellent with many interesting exhibits and get this…flush toilets!! You appreciate the small niceties in the wilderness.

Tomorrow, I hope to post this blog. While we have cell service at the park entrance, we do not have access to wifi. We plan on going to Fairbanks tomorrow.

June 8, 2015, Monday

We drove to Fairbanks and restocked the groceries and ice then headed to Chena Hot Springs. On our way we stopped at a roadside pizza bus, Wagner’s Pizza Bus, for lunch. The pizza comes in one size, large, and is very good. We had enough for both lunch and dinner.

Chena Hot Springs is more resort like than Liard Hot Springs. It offers many activities besides soaking in the hot spring. One of which is a tour of the Ice Museum, which we plan to do tomorrow. There is a hotel, camping yurts, cabins and RV park besides the restaurant and café. The most interesting thing here is the use of the geothermal activity to power the entire resort. The hot water from the spring is also cooled to 65 degrees and used to water the massive greenhouses on the property. Not only do they grow all the flowers for their landscaping but they grow many vegetables and fruits used in the restaurant and to feed the employees.

The drive north east from Fairbanks is through heavily forested country with meandering rivers and roadside lakes and ponds. The drive to Fairbanks from Denali National Park was also forested ground with rolling hills. The Nenana River Gorge was quite dramatic but unfortunately, that was exactly where the highway department was resurfacing the roadway making a photo stop impossible. Alaska has all these “scenic” pullouts, marked with a sign of a camera. However, very few of them actually have any scenery to photograph. However, if you don’t check them out, you might miss extraordinary scenery.

No photos today. It remained cool and rainy all day.

June 9, 2015, Tuesday

We soaked in the hot springs first thing this morning. It was wonderfully relaxing. The outdoor pool is surrounded by large boulders (I think to keep the resident moose out) with a gravel bottom. The water temperature is about 100 degrees. It is the perfect soaking temperature. The indoor pool is much cooler, 85 degrees, and is specifically for families with children. No children are allowed in the outdoor pool so it remains very peaceful. Several hot tubs are also scattered around both, inside and out, for soaking. This is a year round resort. In the winter there are dog sled rides, cross country skiing and ice skating. In the summer, horse rides, dog sled (wagon) rides and hiking.

The campus is lovely with beautiful landscaping and old tractors, cars and other equipment used artfully in association with flowers and plants. The gardens are tucked in everywhere as are the enormous greenhouses. Two ponds are labeled for “ducks and moose only”. Moose can read! They used the ponds daily. The Ice Museum is amazing. It is a huge building kept at 20-25 degrees with a bar, three sleeping chambers (and yes, they occasionally get used) a wedding chapel and studio space for the ice sculptors to work. The gallery is filled with wonderful ice sculptures. Even the chandeliers are made of ice. In the studio area very large blocks of ice are stored as raw material for the sculptures. This ice is harvested right on the property from the beaver pond. The signature drink of the ice bar is an apple-tini served in a glass made of ice. Very cool…literally!

Our visit to the sled dog kennel was quite enjoyable…we were the only people in the tour! The tour guide, Karen, is a musher and dog handler. She came for a visit and has been here 3 years! We got to pet the dogs and visit with them. I had the mistaken idea that they would look like Siberian Huskies but they are all mutts picked for their speed, intelligence and enthusiasm for running. Most were very thick coated and big pawed but all were very friendly. When Karen took down a harness to show us how the dogs are assembled into team, all the dogs went wild. It was like a kindergarten class going, “Pick me, Pick me”. They really enjoy their work.