June 22, 2015

We actually drove onto the Kenai Pennisula today. With lakes, streams and rivers everywhere, it is hard to imagine the fire danger here. We decided to go to Seward and leave the fire area more time to be controlled. Seward is located a the head of one of the fjords. All day a strong southerly wind has been blowing into the fjord.  We spent the day on the beach watching the sea otters. It is quite wonderful to be able to camp right at the shore even though you share it with a couple of hundred other campers. We also walked around town and booked a cruise to the Kenai Fjords State Park for tomorrow. We really hope to see lots of marine wild life but we may have to wear layers of all our clothes to stay warm.  The natives think we are odd in our jackets while they run around in shorts and flipflops!

June 21, 2015

Portage Lake is over 600 feet deep and being a glacial lake, filled with glacial silt, it is a totally dead lake. Sunlight cannot even penetrate a few inches into the water. It is also a very cold lake hanging barely above freezing on the warmest days. We took an hour long cruise on the lake to see Portage Glacier. No calving of bergs here though the glacier was quite pretty. We also saw mountain goats on the steep peaks around the glacial lake.

We decided to stay in the Portage Valley at the Black Bear Campground. This offered us the opportunity to take a few hikes along the glacial river that run through the campground. The opal colored water is very lovely and though this river was relatively clear, we saw no fish. We hiked to a view point for another glacier in the valley. The Chugach National Forest is the largest by far in the US and has a tremendous number of glaciers.

June 20, 2015
 Centennial Park in Anchorage is a poorly maintained city campground so I do NOT recommend it at all. RV camping in Alaska is either a resort with the resort prices or it is a gravel parking lot with no charm. The state parks are often very nice though but the romance of wilderness camping is somehow lost.

We had lunch in town after visiting the Ulu factory. Anchorage was totally involved with getting set up for the Summer Solstice, parking blocked off, booths going up and little bands playing on every corner. In a funny way, Anchorage reminds me of Seattle without the panache that Seattle has.

Once you get through the city traffic, you find yourself driving along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. We saw Dahl sheep on the steep cliffs bordering the highway and even a black bear with cubs but no beluga whales in the inlet. The tide was on its way out.

Alyeska Resort was a fun stop. We rode the tram to the top of the mountain where we had lunch at the deli. By the time we had finished lunch, the tide was out and Turnagain Arm was a giant mud flat. This area is famous for its bore tides but unfortunately none were expected while we were in the area.  
Tonight we are camped at the Crow Creek Mine. It is a dusty road with a hokey little gold panning spot but it was an interesting place to camp.

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.

Tonight we are camped at Centennial Campground…again, not a quiet campground but I will take it over the one in town which is right by the railroad---24 hours a day of trains! Tomorrow, we will continue on south and see where our next adventure takes us.

June 10, 11, and 12, 2015 Fairbanks, Alaska

By leaving Chena Hot Springs early in the day, we were able to arrive in Fairbanks early enough for important errands like getting an oil change for “ye olde” truck and new wiper blades. Fairbanks, as I may have mentioned, lies in a basin surrounded by hills and mountains thus making it the record cold spot and the record hot spot for the Alaskan interior. But people who live here, seem to love it and have activities for all seasons.

Fairbanks came into being in 1901 when Mr. Barnette opened a trading post on the banks of the Chena River. Gold was discovered on the Cripple Creek (named after the Colorado gold mining town) which became the richest mile of creek in Alaska and attracted gold rushers from Dawson City, Circle City and other gold rush towns in the Yukon and Alaska. Instantly, it became the third largest city in Alaska. Once the gold rush ended, oil became king in the area with the construction of the Alaskan Pipeline.

After the oil change, I finally was able to visit a couple of very nice quilt shops: Northern Threads, which is also a yarn shop, and Material Girls. I traded money for lovely fabric in both shops. Then we stopped at Fred Meyers. We were first introduced to Fred Meyers in Seattle and really like it. Like WalMart and Target, it has everything. It was very difficult not to go completely crazy in the produces department.

On Thursday, we took a ride on the Riverboat Discovery III. The riverboat travels the Chena River to the point where it joins the Tanana River with a stop at the old trading post site, Chena. Now this is a cultural education site giving you a chance to see how the Athabaskans lived in the past. During our ride, the captain slowed to a stop by the sled dog kennels of Susan Butcher. Susan was the second woman to win the Iditarod Race and went on to win it three more times. Although Susan passed away in 2009, her daughter, Tekla, continues to operate the kennel and train dogs for mushing. In fact one of her dog handlers completed the Iditarod this year…I her stats were 12 days, 12 hours, 22 minutes and 2 seconds! She brought three dogs from her team and several retired dogs from the kennel to meet and greet the boat passengers on Discovery III. Tekla gave an exciting demonstration of dogs working as a team pulling an ATV rather than a sled.

Friday, we visited the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. It is famous for its studies on the aurora. It is a beautiful campus. One of the gems on campus is the Museum of the North. I highly recommend a visit here. You may think you know all about Alaskan history but trust me, you do not. One of the things I found interesting, the aurora produces an induction current. So when building the Alaska Pipeline, the engineers had to adapt the design for this induction current to prevent oxidation of the pipeline components.

One last tidbit about Fairbanks. In August of 1967, there was a devastating flood along the Chena River destroying much of the town. The Chena is a glacial river so in August it is at its highest level for the season. Now add 6 inches of rain in 5 days and there was a major problem. When we visited Pioneer Park the high water mark was at about 2.5 to 3 feet. The problem now became getting rid of the water and starting reconstruction before the weather turned cold. It was a nasty miserable mess.

We spent three nights at the Riversedge Campground. Beautiful old cottonwoods shade the grounds and guess what I discovered…I am allergic to cottonwood! By the way, I forgot to mention, Fairbanks claims the farthest north Harley Davidson dealership and they were having a rally so Harleys were everywhere.

Tonight, we are camped on the banks of the Nenana River at the Tatlanika Campground and Trading Post, a very fun place. We will head on down toward Talkeetna tomorrow. This is the place I have been waiting for.

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.

June 2, 2015

Last night was our coldest night on the road. It was 39 when we got up this morning but it was sunny and beautiful. After breakfast, we continued along the Taylor Highway to the mining town of Chicken, Alaska. It is said the founders wanted to name it ptarmigan but no one could spell the word so they called it Chicken, the nickname for ptarmigan. It has 30 full time residents, climbs to 50 during the summer. The highway is closed all winter. Mail is flown in twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays. There is a gold mining dredge here, an RV park and 2 cafes, 2 tourist shops, and one saloon. The kids are home schooled. I guarantee their blue berry scones are outstanding.

We wandered on down the highway and rejoined the Alaskan Highway at Tetlin Junction. We are staying the night at the Sourdough Campground in Tok, Alaska. Here I should be able to update the blog and get back online a little while.

Views from Chicken, Alaska.

The Saloon.