Denali Highway and Denali

Friday, 6/27 – On to Denali - Pictures to follow - bad internet connection

We woke up to a light rain at the Lake 14th Street Campground. There were some concerns that the motor homes would have trouble making it up the slick hill, but it worked out o.k. Took a break a much-needed outhouse break (there are not many along the highway and our campground site suffered as a result) at Clearwater Creek where we saw swallows’ nests under the creek bridge peeking out of their little mud nests. The rain continued, causing mud, which resulted in our average speed being about 20 mph because of the potholes. The potholes and washboard road was particularly hard on the motor homes because they are sitting in their kitchens with rattling pots and pans and everything else. At one of the stops, they discovered the usefulness of a bed pan in that they (the pans) all went on the bed, resulting in a more pleasant ride. The low ceilings cancelled out any spectacular views for the whole day. The rugged terrain and desolate country still gave our travels a thrill. We spotted a bald eagle that launched off a tree and flew parallel with us for about a ½ mile at a steady speed of 23 mph. The motor homes stopped at Gracious House, a lodge and restaurant for wonderful homemade pie. It turns out the friendly owners wanted to sell the place and retire a mile down the road. Lodge, restaurant, airplane and the recipe for the pie crust were included in the price. Bill and Di briefly thought about new career opportunities, but decided to press on.

The sense of accomplishment and relief of mastering the Denali Highway was palatable when we hit the pavement at Cantwell. We arrived in Denali’s commercial strip and camped at one of those famous over-priced Alaska gravel parking lot campgrounds, the Denali Rainbow and Village RV Park. After three days of no showers for most of us, token-pay showers were priceless. It was also an opportunity for everyone to get laundry done. Mickey finished hers up at 11:30 p.m., as there were only two washers for the whole park. We did dinner at the Salmon Bake, where Mickey and Sandy finally got their Alaskan King crab dinners. (It was fabulous, by the way!) Some of us made arrangements for a jeep safari the next day. The really brave made arrangements for a raft trip on the Class 4 Ninana River.

Stats: 119 miles; 9.3 gal; 12.8 mpg; 24 mph

Saturday, we checked into Denali National Park, Riley Creek Campground. We went on the Savage River hike right away. We say caribou and several small critters, but no brown bears. The Jeep tour was a drive-it-yourself tour along the same road that Chris McCanlis from Into the Wild took to his Alaskan desolate experience and eventual death. The road was rugged, and they weren’t pot holes, they were mini lakes that we traversed. Nathaniel, our guide, told us that the last people from Michigan named the big one Lake Superior. We couldn’t go too fast through Lake Superior or the others because your bow wave would flood the engine. At the end of the road, we were hosted by the cook, Scott, a Wisconsin native. Nathaniel said that Scott has lived in Alaska for 19 years, half of it in a tent! Scott lives in the bush six days a week and cooks for three tour groups a day. His peppery Alaskan stew and fried bread were fabulous. He told us he doesn’t walk from the tent to the kitchen area (a distance of 10 feet) without his two pepper spray canisters on the ready in case of a bear. In addition to the pepper spray he always has two air horns handy. One of the first things he did when he set up came was build a homemade ladder into a tree to escape the brown bears (Grizzlies can’t climb). Black bears can climb, but they’re not nearly as aggressive as the bigger browns and are easily scared away by the air horns. We asked him what he did on his day off and he said, go to town, buy supplies, do laundry and go to the bar.

Scott, along with other stories we’ve heard and read, leads us to believe that Alaska is a home for lower 48 adventurers, characters, a few misfits and others with colorful pasts. Nathaniel says that he heard when Federal marshals find out wanted lover 48 people are in the bush in Alaska, they make minimal effort to find them. They are hard to find and as long as they stay, why spent $35,000 a year to incarcerate them? We switched drivers for the trip back, crossed “Lake Superior,” survived the “Bobble Head” and were doing pretty good when Nathaniel said we had to stop for a moment. The motion got to one of the ladies in his jeep and she need to relieve herself. Afterward, Gary complemented Nathaniel on the professional and delicate way he handled the passenger with motion sickness. Gary also suggested they carry barf bags because getting in and out of the back seat of a Jeep at all, much less quick, is challenging for us old people. Nathaniel thought it was a good idea and would bring it up at the next management meeting.

Vander Veens (helped by no sightings of Denali and the continued forecast for dismal weather) decided to head back on Sunday morning. This was reason enough for a wine and cheese and cracker going away party with our friends who would be going on to Talkeetna and down to the Turnagain Arm. On Sunday morning, one more goodbye to the rafters who had a 7:30 a.m. date with cold, rough, silted-gray river water and gray skies. We did the campground cancellation paperwork and got ready to head out. Because it was Sunday and a new phase (home-going), it was appropriate to take time to remember to Whom we belong. We got the pictures out of Ike and Nan and her card and we gave thanks for their life together.

The shorter way back was up to Fairbanks instead of Anchorage. It’s shorter and much better road conditions. Like we did four years ago, we stopped at the North Pole for lunch and sign pictures. Mickey heard from Sandy that there’s $50 for a picture of you and your JP’s cup at different places. We were going to do this with Sandy, but we split up sooner than we thought. We might have to split the money, Sandy! Weather has improved considerably and the view of the Alaskan Range to the south was spectacular. Once again, Laurel, shortly after Delta Junction, we spotted a moose. And once again, Gary promised he’d stop for the next one!!! (It was right by the road, bigger than life…and he drives by!!!)

Stopped in Border City Lodge and RV Park for the night. Actually have grass on our site!

Stats: 422 miles; 35.3 gal; 12 mpg; 50 mph

Chitna, Liberty Falls, and Denali Highway

Chitina and the Liberty Falls hike; Start of Denali Highway

After leaving Valdez on Tuesday, we stopped for more picture taking at the Thompson Pass, had lunch at the Worthington Glacier, and proceeded to Chitina. Chitina is half way to the Kennicot Copper mine at McCarthy. The last portion of the road is over an abandoned railroad track, and as a result a lot of flat tires from the railroad spikes. We had hoped to take a rental van in but none was available, so instead on Wednesday we did the Liberty Falls hike.

A description of our Copper River campsite: The spots that were treed and had fire pits were owned by Ahtna Indians and they charged $40.00 per night. So, being Dutch, we went to the flood plain along the river for free. We had a beautiful view of the river, eagles catching salmon, and the numerous fish wheels that Alaskan’s use to try to get their fill of up to 500 salmon. These are strictly for personal use and the way the guy talked, for a lot of families a necessity to put bread and fish on the table. In the morning a rafting company set up for a trip down the Copper River with six customers for seven days – maybe next time.

Gary’s been reading a book on the Civil War by Bruce Caton where he describes the challenge that the army of the Potomac had in conquering Richmond. General Grant was hard-pressed to get his four top commanders to do all those things that are required to conquer a city, as in supplies, pencing movements, where to put the Calvary, what to do with the infantry and in a General-ly sort of way, keep the politicians happy. Well, with that lead-in, the 14^th Street Brigade set about conquering Liberty Falls trail. Campground departure time slipped from 9:00 until 10:00. And a quick visitor stop for information turned into an hour long shopping stop at a Chitina local art store. Of course, we also had the usual morning post coffee potty stops, but we finally got going toward the trail. We passed the park entrance and it said closed. But the persistent efforts and observations of one of the Generals noticed that the trail was open. This required a complex outflank and reversal of men and women and equipment. The three pig pieces of equipment were corralled at a scenic lookout and all crowded into the smaller scout vehicle which, because of it’s nimbleness, could penetrate deeper towards the goal. After preparations, hiking poles (homemade and store bought), cameras, canteens, field glasses and bodily sustinence, we set out to conquer Liberty Falls.

Like Grant’s generals, we found the unexpected to be the norm. We expected horizontal; what we got was vertical. Our concerns for enemy carnivour were unfounded. There was, however, signs of their passing on the trail, similar to previous pictures you’ve seen. The view from above of the Copper River Valley, Mount Drum, Mt. Sanford and the active volcano, Mt. Wrangell, was inspiring. Inspiring enough for several to burst out in “Jesus is Lord!” “Halleluah!” and “Awesome God!” praises. After reaching the summit with almost all of our troup in tact, we rested up for the downhill campaign. As is always the case, downhill’s harder on 50 and some 60 year old knees. The hike once again proved that listening to suggestions from all the troops has great value. It also confirms that telling people where to go and how to get there is not gender-specific. However, there are some genders who do it better than other genders.

After a short drive up the Richardson Highway and a change of plans that dry camping, i.e., no showers, really wasn’t appropriate, we went for the high class, $15 a night campground at Sourdough Roadhouse. Along with the campground, the restaurant provided great blueberry and apple crisp pies that we bought whole for our dessert. It being Wednesday, we had a 14^th Street potluck. Everyone brought their meal to the community picnic tables between the Ryckbost and Vander Veen campers. A good time was had by all. The excitement after dinner was provided by Mama Moose and her baby ripping through the campground. The baby did a 180 around Frieswyk’s picnic table, knocking off their gas grill, sprinted through the narrow opening between Frieswyk’s and Day’s campers, rejoined Mama, who then feinted toward Vander Veen’s, slid left toward the outhouse and exited out the back. The showers were cold, so some did and some didn’t, and it’s easy to determine who is whom! The other campground across the bridge that we turned down because it didn’t offer showers was a much prettier campground. However, we would have missed Mama moose and her baby, so it was worth the $15 fee.

Stats: 106 miles; 9.1 gals; 11.7 mpg; 36 mph

Thursday, June 26

We planned for a 9:00 am departure, and we were off at 9:05! We stopped in Paxon, the beginning of the Denali Highway, for supplies: water, beer and bread (and a cup of coffee). The café owner reported the road conditions as being dusty, go slow, which we found to be true. Our post lunch hike was the Maclaren Trail, two hours round trip. It was a valley walk between snow-capped peaks and on the way back, Lois met her first caribou. It had a small rack and a white butt, just like a white tail deer. We also saw a ptarmagon, male and female and chicks. Great colors and it was fun watching the male sneeking along, trying to hide in the bushes.

Our next pull-off was crossing the Maclaren River, where we toured the Crazy Dog Kennels. These are dogs who run the Ididerod. They breed one pair a year. The puppies were 25 days old and we each got to hold one. The dogs need to be held by humans if they’re going to make good sled dogs. At six months old they put the harnesses on them and see how they respond. If they are eager to run, they’ll make good sled dogs. If not, then the owners put them up for adoption. The kennel is also a rescue place. They take dogs from the Humane Society and from people who don’t want them anymore or are going to put them down. We talked to Lucas Peterson, who just moved here two months ago from Wisconson. He had gone to school with the woman owner and she had been wanting him to come work for them for some time. He finally came and loves it. He took his two dogs with him and lives in a little cabin on the property.

We dry-camped at Milepost 46.9, a large area between two unnamed lakes. After spending twenty minutes getting te motor homes level (because if they’re not, the refrigerators will “blow up”), we grabbed our chairs and started serious scenery watching by the lake we have not named Lake 14^th Street. The lake on the other side also provided sightings of a wide range of water fowl. Trout were rising for the numerous bugs. Suddenly there was a strange sound and we looked to the south and there a water spout swirled into the air! It started with pulling water up into it, but it progressed across the lake in a circle (no water in the air) all the way to the other side. The ducks that were in the way of it moved or went under water. It was incredible!! Later, Bill was glassing into the distance when he spotted the moose. Even though it was long way away, we all were able to observe its beautiful rack as it bathed in the lake. It was a huge moose! After dinner we gathered at the Frieswyk RV to review the last couple day’s pictures. Instead of popcorn we had leftover pie from the Sourdough Roadhouse. It was just as good the second time around. We were even able to gather some brush for a fire that night. Didn’t see any more wildlife.

Stats: 85.9 miles; 7.6 gal; 10.7 mpg; 19 mph

Cruising Prince William Sound

After enjoying the Saturday night salmon fish fry and pot luck, we went to church Sunday morning at the Epiphany Lutheran/Episcopal Church. Jean the Episcopal Pastor warmly greeted us and we heard a great message from Lutheran Pastor Phil. After church we did a drive up Mineral Creek and as Gary took a nap, the gang showed up. After warm greetings and refreshments and war stories, we read a note from Nan Vanden Berg, causing us to remember Ike. Nan, it was a Sunday....Great is Thy Faithfulness/Amazing Grace!
On Monday morning we did the Stan Stephens cruise of Prince William Sound. We all agreed it's the best money spent so far. We saw humpback whales, sea otters, harbor seals, bald eagles, horned puffins, steller sea lions, black bear and amazing glacier shots. It was nine hours long but a great lunch was provided. If you're going to do Alaska glacier cruising, this was better than Seward or anything else we've been on. Long learned personality characteristics are being displayed along with the joshing and joking that goes with a fun group of funny people - with that lead in can you spot the picture of the "two queens and a princess," and who's who?
It was cool at the end of the day, so we jammed into Rykbost's RV for the cheese and wine post picture review. First Gary's computer pictures of the day and then Bill's. It was great fun and a little old people crazy - good thing our kids weren't there. After the morning hike we're headed up to Chitna today to do the bush. Next p[ost in a couple of days.

Anchorage, Seward and back to Valdez

Anchorage, Seward, and back to Valdez

Thursday/Friday, June 19/20

On Thursday morning, we had breakfast at our campground and Mickey got to talk country /bluegrass with both waitresses, comparing the merits of Vince Gill, Carrie Underwood, Trace Adkins. But according to the bluegrass waitress and Mickey, the best groups are Nickel Creek and Bela Fleck! (Ahh, someone speaks my language!) We hit the Glenn Highway (there are only five of them in Alaska—highways, that is) and proceeded to the big city. We had about a twenty minute wait for construction - at night they close the Glenn altogether for blasting.The incongruity of Anchorage with its traffic, commercial, not-very-pretty setting versus the rest that we’ve seen of Alaska made us hurry on through. We did stop at a Fred Meyer (think Walmart, but three times more upscale) and bought some staples: caulking gun, putty knife, tripod and the wine was10% off if you got six. The Turnagain Pass, also known as the Turnagain Arm, was named by Captain Cook when he had to turn again because this wasn’t the right passage to wherever he was going. The Turnagain Arm is noteworthy in that if you walk out on the tidal flats, the glacier sand and silt has a quicksand quality and over the years several tourists have been lost to a terrifying drowning death as the tide comes back in. The local rescue department has developed a device that pumps air down around the legs to break the terrific suction. Like with so many things in Alaska, it’s beautiful but also potentially dangerous. We saw several mountain goats along the cliffs and had lunch at a beautiful turnout setting.

The drive to Seward is spectacular and special for us in that it’s our fourth time traveling to Seward. We stayed in the same campground that we did eleven years ago, right along the water, with sea otters eating lunch right outside our back door. The first time we came, we camped in a small tent and the wind was so bad and the tent was so small, we both got beat up. Tonight, after a wonderful crab and halibut dinner at the Crab Pot, we enjoyed the small boat harbor walk around and saw the results of the returning fishing boats. Seward is home of the Mt. Marathon, where a marathon is held every 4^th of July. It’s a climb up a steep slope of 3,000+ feet and back, and the record is 42 minutes. Look closely at the one picture and you can see the thin outline of the trail. In the past we’ve seen a movie of the race and when they come down, they’re not running but doing 15 foot leaps from spot to spot. We saw our first bald eagle on our way to Seward! He was flying and so graceful.

Stats: 238 miles; 20.6 gal; ll.4 mpg; 46 mph

Friday morning Gary tried unsuccessfully for an oil change while Mickey slept in. Keep in mind, sleeping in meant 7:00. Six am wake-ups have been the norm for our entire trip. The Alaskans refer to it as “you can sleep in the winter time; play in the summer.” We experienced the usual construction traffic stop of twenty minutes for road paving, waiting for the pilot car. We buzzed through Anchorage again and found a Midas in Palmer for an oil change. While driving up the Mat-Su Valley, Gary missed a fantastic show of a mountain because he wouldn’t stop…he was too busy composing this journal entry. Even with Mickey typing for him, she was able to see the beautiful possible-picture and was looking for places to stop. She told him to stop in a driveway, for crying out sideways (Kristina’s favorite saying), but his brain was totally focused on dictating his journal!!! As is often the case, we’re on the road going to “we don’t know where!” Rough planning, but not exact “where are we going to stay tonight” has served us very well. We were especially happy to hear from our friends last night, that they have arrived safely, and we look forward to meeting them in Valdez Sunday. And for you 14^th Streeters, we were excited to hear about the apartment building vote. For us especially, the email voting option was much appreciated.

You know you’re in Alaska when:

· There are bullet-riddled road signs

· Classifieds have more airplanes than RV’s

· Fishing report is front page news

· High prices for everything

· Frost-heave roads

· Friendly people

· Constant road construction

· Big Beauty

· The lady governor’s as good-looking as our lady governor

Our evening stay was Squirrel Creek Campground…unbenounced to us, the same place that our friends had stayed at four years ago. It had the usual: rushing water sound, mountain views, even a pond outside the door. Just a normal Alaska camp sight for only $12.00. Actually, Mickey picked this spot. Gary had picked the RV place just across the Creek because it had WiFi, but it was a dusty parking lot! Nuts to WiFi!

Stats: 370 miles; 32.5 gal; 11.4 mpg; 42 mph

Saturday morning we departed for our shortest travel day yet. First stop was the Worthington Glacier. The beauty’s a given. What is noticeably different for this spot and most of our trip compared to four years ago, hardly anyone is here. During our 40 minute glacier observation walk, there was one other soul hiking the glacier. Excitement for the morning was Gary getting dive-bombed by a seagall; must have gotten too close to the nest. Education for the morning was on types of glaciers: cirques, inside and outside crevasses, moraines and other interesting facts. We did see a moose and her calf, having just crossed the highway and entering the woods. The calf was bigger than we would have thought.

Thompson Pass and this whole section of the Richardson Highway is the most beautiful drive we’ve been on, so far. Shortly after the Pass, we passed through Keystone Canyon, home of Bridal Veil Falls. We’ve seen several bicyclists tackling incredible hills on this trip, but the first one we got to meet was Fuzzy Mitch, a 60+ year old classic Alaskan. Fuzzy lives in Homer, but over here to kayak the Copper River. He drove to Valdez and dropped off his bike, then went back to Cordova. He then did the 60-some mile Copper River run. At one point he said he was thirty miles away from any civilization and was concerned because he was in a side channel and the water was getting shallower and shallower. Fortunately he made it all the way to Valdez and we saw him biking from Valdez, sea level, to Thompson Pass, 2,160 feet and the rest or the way to Cordova. He let us know he was originally from Colorado, but continued the theme that we’ve heard so often on this trip ” it’s too close” in Colorado so he moved up here six or eight years ago because it’s more open. We’ll add “open” to “clean air” and “more air” as reasons for moving up north.

We are in the Eagle’s Rest RV Park in Valdez for the next three days. The "look up to the Heavens sign" was at the local Catholic Church. We did our short afternoon hike on Mineral Creek. It was somewhat disappointing, so we’re back at the camp, typing and drinking. We’re looking forward to the campground-sponsored fish fry tonight, king salmon they caught just this morning. We bring a dish to pass. Having a wealth of experience on church potlucks, I’m sure we’ll come up with a possible dish (meaning Mickey will). They're preparing the gas grill for the fish right ouside our camper. Mickey over heard the two employees talking about a camper who was complaining about somebody's dog stealing his sirloin right off his grill. The complaining camper was obviously not a dog lover. The employee and pointed out to the Raven with a satisfied look on his face as the real thief- watch out for those birds. Once again, we ran into Hollanders, as in The Netherlands, Michel (a guy’s name in The Netherlands. Mickey liked it because it was spelled with one “l”! She told him that was her name, too!) and Cindy. We told them about Holland, Michigan, and when they get back from their cruise, we’ll show them Tulip Time pictures. Just can’t get away from those Hollanders! It was a beautiful day for traveling today. We had sunshine the whole day and the views were spectacular. We haven’t had this good of a day since we left. However, the weather hasn’t stopped us from doing anything we had planned to do. Our God is an Awesome God!

Stats: 85.6 miles; 6.9 gals; 12.4 mpg; 46 mph

Top of the World, Chicken, and Nebesna Road

We left Dawson City on Tuesday and took the ferry across the Yukon River. At six in the morning we were the only ones on board. The Yukon was running about 12 knots of glacier gray water. On the far side it's a rough gravel road that goes up and up. The one up being the furtherest point north that we've traveled, and the other in elevation - pictures of both. Rough road, slow going, and a little eerie feeling of being out of touch with civilization, but just beautiful scenery. Chicken Alaska was colorful. The name came when the locals couldn't spell or pronounce the local bird -Ptarmigan, so the gave up and called the town Chicken - close enough. We traveled through a hundred miles plus burn area from 2004 when we were up here last. I know it's nature taking it's course, but it sure looks bad.
We did our first dry camp next to Kettle Lake on the dead end Nebesna road. After dinner we watched and listened to "just us and God" nature. The quiet was loud. The mountain is Mt Sanford, part of the Wrangel St. Elias National Park. The four hour hike up Caribou Creek was easy to begin with but hard at the end. We crossed the creek on two foot of frozen snow/ice, with some amount of trepidation. Mickey had a CRS moment when as she was doing her thing she referred to swatting the skeeters away from her pearly whites. O well pasty white or pearly white, the skeeters love it just the same. We saw a snowshoe hare but no other critters. The two pictures are evidences of them though, one from a eatee and one from a eater. Karis look up that book that Mickey gave you and tell us which is which.
We're overnighting close to the Mantanuska Glacier, and have decided to do Seward tomorrow.
We're anxiously looking forward to seeing our friends on Sunday, for the obvious reasons but here's one we've discovered. After being on the road for a couple of weeks with just the two of us, it's apparent that that Miss Manners wouldn't approve of certain habits. Nothing really gross, just things like hair care (no problem with me - Mickey shaved it off), paper towel face baths, and certain other niceties of life. Anyway I'll clean up my act when you get here Lois.