Talkeetna -Denali's launching point

The destination today is the tiny town of  Talkeetna where approximately 1000 mountaineers begin their arduous ( and dangerous ) journey up the steep slopes of Denali. (Only about 50% will make it to the peak ). It has an unpaved main street that contributes to it's Wild West feel.  It promises some interesting conversations with those that have a keen adventurous spirit. A must see.

 We woke to brilliant sunshine (not very different as when we went to bed) and I instantly thought – Denali!

 Denali (formally known as Mt. McKinley until recently) is the largest mountain in North America, and the crown jewel of Denali National Park.

Oh my gosh! Could one of these mountains be it? Denali? Hardly anyone gets to see it during their visits! 

   However because of the clouds that seem to take residence around the mountain, only a lucky 30 per cent of its visitors get to see any part of it. Only 7 % of the time is the mountain completely clear.  I didn’t really expect to be among the lucky, but to see it would be akin to seeing moose mating, or perhaps grizzly bears giving birth.  Lucky we were!

There were a few things we really needed, so we got up early and headed to the nearby Walmart. We literally ran around in there, hating to take a chance that the clouds would blossom around the mountain.

I had done a lot of research on this trip, and had written down exactly where the best viewpoints were to see this magnificent mountain.

Armed with two-way radios, we drove a few hundred miles toward Denali National Park, and then low-and-behold, there it was in front of us!  Around the first bend we thought this great mountain ahead must be it!  I took pictures, not totally sure, but if it was, I didn’t want to have regrets.  A few more miles down the road, and …. Oh my!  Look at that!  Without question, this was the great mountain… covered in snow, looking so utterly magnificent it took my breath away.  I was so excited- I jumped up and down like a child!  We hit the “scenic lottery”!

There was a camaraderie among the excited visitors who are here at the right place at the right time.  We talked, laughed, and took each other's pictures. 

 Granted it was far away, but to actually see it?  The chances were so slim!

We proceeded to stalk this Mountain View as we continued on, taking side roads to higher elevations (a little daring in the huge RV) and stopping at each turnout.  Sometimes a cloud would obscure the peak, so we would wait until it passed.  Then race off for another, hopefully even better – view.

After "stalking" this mountain for the better part of the day, I guess you could say I "cheated" a little with my zoom lens, but this was the most clear, and best location we got. It was somewhere prior to Mile Marker 99

When we finally came to the last viewpoint at Mile Marker 99, just south of Talkeetna, the clouds and haze had started to sneak in.  I imagined at this point it would look like the magazines, or perhaps the National Geographic photos.  Not so, but Norm and I were not giving up, and vowed to get up very early the next day and hope it might be better.

Our great site at Talkeetna RV Park and Boat Launch. 

We got to our campground, Talkeetna RV Park and Boat Launch, and discovered that it was basically "rough camping" ( no sewer, water or electricity ). Norm and I have not had the opportunity to RV camp in the wild, but we were certainly up for it!   We were told to just find a spot and take it, so we walked around and found a couple of suitable sites on the riverfront.  This campground was the most strategically situated so we could walk to town.  Now that we are without a car, this was important. Other than that I could not recommend it due to the very rutted roads and small and uneven sites.

Norm and I ( well, I ) wanted to go back up the hill to the Denali viewing spot and have lunch there and perhaps find the clouds had cleared.  The view was about the same, so after about an hour we went back to the campground, set up, then headed out to see what Talkeetna is all about.

It was really pretty sunny and hot, and the atmosphere was a throw-back to the 60's and 70's.  Plenty of tattoos were proudly displayed as people sat enjoying the rare sunshine, as others carrying huge backpacks strolled into town, looking for a place to stay and perhaps get a bite to eat. Add in a few bus loads of people from cruise ships, and that's Talkeetna on a busy, summer day.  I would venture a guess it is entirely different in the sub-zero winter.

 Norm struck up a conversation with a couple of guys playing guitar, and was quite surprised when he was offered some of their marijuana.  (He said no, of course.) Can you imagine?  I had no part of this past culture, so I was totally shocked.

This is basically downtown Talkeetna. The residents absolutely love it, and would live nowhere else in the world. 

It's after 9PM and the sun is still so strong and hot!  Unusual for Talkeetna  since Denali looms in the distance and tends to collect the clouds and rain.

We went back to the campsite for dinner, then returned to hear a singer we thought was going to play at the local inn.  Since we got the dates mixed up, we had ice cream instead.  By now it was past 9PM so we headed back again.

Jeez, 3 seconds to pick a flavor of ice cream? But it's a huge decision! They must have known I was coming, and how I tend to hold up the line.

Can you really tell if the train is coming this way?  I'm not hearing anything- I hope Norm will warn me if it is!  Had to cross these tracks to get in and out of town and back to our campsite.

Northward to Denali National Park and Preserve

We left our Talkeetna campground at 6am to check and see if the cloud conditions over Denali may have improved. We drove just up the road at a rest stop where the view is about the best. Norm and I had breakfast in the parking lot waiting for the mountain to clear. After about an hour or so the Little's joined us, but we all gave up in order to get to Denali National Park and Preserve  while stopping at any turnouts that promised a good view.

June 20th - 26th  

We nearly got into trouble as we turned our large, cumbersome RV's down a dirt road labeled "view point". The further we went, the worse the road got, and we began to doubt if we could get out at all.  Well, there certainly was no view but for the worried sweat on our brows, but when the GPS said "turn left in 300 feet for the Richardson Highway" we were very relieved. We won't do that again! Not in these rigs!

This 6 million acres of wilderness is called Denali National Park and Preserve; Denali means "The High One" for the Athabascan Indians north of the Alaska Range and is Alaska's most visited attraction.  Lying 120 miles south of Fairbanks and 240 miles north of Anchorage on the George Parks Highway the park has so much to see and do. The most obvious geological attraction of the park is the Alaska Range, a 600 mile crescent of mountains that separates Southcentral Alaska with it's Interior. We are going for the hiking.

A quiet moment at the Visitor's Center in Denali National Park and Preserve.

 We drove straight to the Visitor's Center to get the lay of the land.  Norm and I went to do the campground registration and get the bus tickets for the ride to the Eielson Visitors Center, at mile 66 on Denali Park Road, the day after. We seriously considered changing the date due to the weather predicitions, but we were told the mountain, over 60 miles away makes its own weather, and not to ever bother trying to guess it.  We decided to keep things simple and leave dates as they were.

We went across the street to a full service campground, Denali Rainbow Village RV Park and Motel. All the RV's were jammed in there, but it didn't really matter. Norm dumped our tanks, filled water, and we all  went out to dinner at the Prospectors Pizzeria and Alehouse which boasted a huge selection of locally drafted beers and incredible pizza ( plus gluten free ).  Well, the beer was great, but they were out of gluten free, and other than the reindeer sausage pizza, no one liked theirs. Oh well, we  browsed the many gift shops ( which were about the best I had seen, but still didn't buy anything ). Got back about 10pm. Still very light out.

Nearly 10PM and it looks like the middle of the day!

Trails closed due to aggressive bears

About 9:30AM we headed down the Denali Park Road toward our campsites that Norm procured on December 1st of last year. First in first served, so we wanted to get there early to pick the best spots, which unfortunately, were not terribly close to one another.

Scored a great campsite here at Savage Creek in Denali National Park

 No big deal, it was just a little inconvenient, with no cell service to make plans and eat meals together.  We did it the "old fashioned" way. Walk and talk. Wow, that works!

We camped here for 3 nights.  Aggressive bear (s) in area. Yikes!

We had planned on a great hike here at Savage Creek, that is why we chose this campground even though it had no services - it was all about the hiking.  We soon learned that all trails in the area were closed, except down by the river due to "bear activity".  I wondered why not the river too, because bears do walk around - perhaps they might like the river view, too?

We did take a "stroll" by the river, talked with a young girl who was taking surveys about the National Park visitors, and took a longer route back to the campground, eavesdropping on a tour guide speaking with a group.

There were many stories as to why the trails were closed, but I found this article online from The Alaska Dispatch News:

Aggressive Denali bears injure 1, prompt trail and parking lot closures

•  Author: Jeannette Falsey
 
•  Updated: June 25
 
•  Published June 25

Aggressive grizzlies have prompted officials in Denali National Park and Preserve to close trails and parking lots.

The Savage Alpine Trail, the Savage River Loop Trail and both Savage River parking lots were closed indefinitely as park wildlife technicians tried to teach a bear in the area to avoid approaching humans. The park has also stopped issuing backcountry permits for the Savage River area.

The small grizzly early in the week charged vehicles near the Primrose area and chased visitors near Savage River along the Denali Park Road.

The same bear also charged hikers on the Savage Alpine Trail on Wednesday and consumed two candy bars and bottles of soda from a daypack one hiker threw as a distraction.

Dave Schirokauer, resources and science team leader for Denali National Park, called the situation "very serious" because the bear was rewarded for aggressive behavior and may have learned to associate humans with food.

A grizzly sow and an older cub walk down the road in Denali National Park in May. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News)

Wildlife technicians hope to find the bear and lure it into a similar scenario, but instead of providing treats, they plan to fire paint balls, beanbags and rubber bullets at the animal to make it wary of people.

The drive into the heart of Denali

This post is written by Norm:

We stayed at Savage River Campground at mile 13 and went as far as the Wonder Lake, Mile 85

We had booked this bus trip into Denali Park last year, obviously taking the risk that the weather would be good.  But better to have a shot at it than to arrive and have it sold out.  Turns out – we were right.  People inquiring about availability were told to book a day or two out.

 You can only drive about 29 of the 89 miles into the park to get to the various campgrounds, of which only 13 or so miles are paved.  Anything further requires passage on a bus. You are allowed to get off any time you want to hike ( if you knew where to go without a trail ).

The roads were a little wider than one bus width, with no guardrails. Some people's stomachs could not tolerate being on the cliff side of the bus.  Norm and I had our noses pressed to the glass.  Absolute incredibly beauty - as far as the eye could see!

 The last stop into the park is almost 90 miles from the entrance.  We had booked a trip to the Eielson Visitor Center which is at mile 66 on the Parks Road.  This was going to be roughly 8 hours of round trip driving in a school bus on a pretty rough dirt road.

View of Denali peeking in and out of the clouds from the Eielson Visitor Center. The tallest mountain in North America with its peak at 20,310 feet

A very comfortable school bus

We arrived at the bus stop ahead of our 7:30 departure time and were rewarded with a pickup on the 7:15 bus.  The bus was not very crowded and the seats were surprisingly quite comfortable.

  The bus driver shared various insights about the park’s history and was vigilant in spotting wildlife along the way.  Any time she or a passenger spotted something moving she abruptly brought the bus to a halt so everyone could share the sighting.  Problem was that most of these “sightings” were so far away you needed binoculars or one of those 2’ long camera lenses to see them closely.  Our phone cameras just weren’t doing it justice.  Anyway, we spotted herds of caribou and Dall sheep and a couple of grizzlies.

 The scenery was gorgeous with green meadows on both sides of the road leading up to low ridged mountains with a backdrop of higher snow capped mountains.

The landscape was so varied as you traveled around each bend in the road

We stopped about every ½ hour for a potty break and a chance to get out and stretch our legs, taking in the great Alaskan wilderness around us.  We arrived at our destination and realized it had an awesome vista through a very large picture window to the mighty Denali.  Problem – clouds.  Lots of clouds, but at least you could see it through them.  That’s OK though because we had already been blessed with many earlier unobstructed views of Denali the previous few days.






 We toured the visitors’ center and decided to travel further down the road to Wonder Lake where there was a 2 ½ mile scenic hiking trail.  We were told to just jump on board if space was available and pay when we returned to the visitors’ center.

We got off about ½ mile before the next stop so we could get right on to the trail.  As soon as we got out the bus driver mumbled something about lots of mosquitoes.  Then they hit us.  Lots and lots of them!  A few people were coming off the trail and they assured us that if we moved quickly enough, the buzzing pests would be less of a nuisance.




There were no significant elevation changes here but the first mile was a densely packed path of fist sized rocks that hindered our forward progress.  Then we came upon some narrow boardwalks that gave us passage over streams and bogs.  No animal sightings, but nice to be with nature.

 The trail abruptly ended at a river where we stopped for a break before the 2 ½ mile trek back.  On the way back, Alison lost her footing over that stretch of rocks and went down.  Sore for a few days but no major damage done.

A crystal clear stream on the McKinley Bar trail near Wonder Lake 

As we approached the end, the clouds thickened, then the rains came.  We quickly donned our rain gear and within a few minutes had reached the road.  The couple we are travelling with had gotten ahead of us and they saw a bus coming by so they rushed to the road to flag it down.  Unfortunately, the bus drove right on by.  It didn’t take too long for the next bus to come by and rescue us.

 On the ride back the rain stopped and we were treated to an up close encounter (we were on the bus) with a grizzly that happened to be meandering down the road.  The driver stayed about 50 yards back and kept alternating to the right and then the left so that everyone on board could get those oh so important grizzly butt shots with their cameras. The bus driver insisted that everyone stay absolutely quiet. She explained, in a whisper, that it is vitally important that the wildlife there in Denali not become accustomed to human voice or noises. If they do, they will no longer run when they hear us. Not good.

Mr. bear lumbered unfazed down the road 

After about a mile the bear strolled into the woods and we returned to camp, totally satisfied with our sighting of the day.

Last day in Denali

After nearly 4 weeks of a pretty hectic and a rather physically demanding schedule, the last day in Denali was rather low key, and I hate to admit it, we did not take advantage of some of the opportunities available to us. Since there were a lot of trails closed due to bear activity, I didn't feel quite as guilty being a little lazy today.

Norm got up and went to the Visitors center to get us all a refund since we were leaving a day early, which was not that easy a task from where we are camping.  I followed behind him after I finished some of the “household” chores.

 Norm was all excited when this cow (mother moose) and calf strolled up to the porch of the Visitor's Center which allowed people to safely take pictures. 

 Not knowing the schedule, we both waited for our respective buses for nearly an hour, but it was made quite enjoyable just talking to different people, from all walks of life.  That is one thing about Alaska – everyone loves to share a story or two with you. Some Alaskans have quite a "gift of gab" taking as long to tell a story as you have time to listen.  RV’ers are very sociable in the lower 48, but here people are even warmer- more open- they seem to actually listen to what you are saying, and care what you think!

This couple flew with their bikes from France to ride from Alaska to the tip of South America!  They just picked up their delivery of food and clothing sent to the local postal station for re-stocking their supplies!  Amazing! Although we find it fascinating and certainly marvel their ambition, it is not our idea of fun! (Even if we physically could.)

After meandering around the different Visitor Centers, we had lunch at the deli there. Unfortunately the service what so incredibly slow, we missed the dog sled demonstration. I was disappointed but not enough to want to wait around a couple more hours for the next one. We decided to get back to the campsite to get ready for Fairbanks in the morning.

This beast of an RV came to camp in Denali. Wow, this could go ANYWHERE!

Check out the road clearance of this monster!

Getting acquainted with Fairbanks, Alaska

We arrived at Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground, which had full service, including a lovely laundromat, but was quite uneven and RV's were placed extremely close together.  Norm and I have gotten very competent at leveling this RV with the nailed- together boards I persuaded the rental company to give us.  In fact, we like these so much we plan to build ourselves a set when we get home!

Travel in Alaska over the last month took us nearly 1300 miles

Norm and Dennis ran off to pick up the beautiful and comfy Kia Sorrento 4x4 we rented for the week.  I reserved this car back in December for the week, for the same as it would cost for a sub-compact for a single day if I had not, so it really is good to reserve things early.

  The weather was rather dismal as we all headed off to the  Morris Thompson Cultural Visitor’s Center.  We enjoyed the many displays as well as the film on Alaska’s history, nature and cultures. The young, but very informative workers there helped us plan the next few days.

Internet photo of one of the exhibits in the Visitor's Center

That night we walked to Chena’s Alaska Grill Restaurant right at the campground, and enjoyed the best meal of the trip, served by the most opinionated yet hilarious waitress we have ever encountered!

When one of us wanted to order the Seafood Chowder, this very robust waitress said “Oh, you don’t want that! I hate salmon with halibut!” She was so funny as we went down the menu – “Oh yeah, I had that – it’s pretty good- OK, you can get that!” or “No, you don’t want the dark beer – I don’t like dark beer!”   Was she sampling along the way? She strongly urged me not to get the salmon with the sauce I was interested in (she didn’t like that either) but I held my ground and it was fabulous.

 When asked for separate checks,she laughed and said “Oh, you’re so funny!” as she walked away.  About 20 minutes later she actually brought two checks which were totally incorrect.  When we brought it to her attention she waved her hand and said, “Yeah, I know.  Don’t worry about it. Just figure it out, and give each other cash!”  We all hooted with laughter.  We still do, when we think about it.

Everyone really enjoyed their meal here. Was it so good because of what she recommended? Does she judge culinary cook-offs in her spare time? Perhaps she should get “waitress of the year “and not get fired, after all! I must say, she does have a unique style you probably will not find anywhere else.

June 27th, 2016

Every time we mentioned to someone that we will be in Fairbanks, Alaska they ALWAYS say we HAVE to go to The University of Alaska Museum of the North. The modern exterior was said to have been inspired by the alpine ridges, glaciers, Yukon River and the northern lights, but unless you were really using your imagination it won’t jump out at you.

Internet photo of the architecturally beautiful University of Alaska Museum of the North. Inspired by the Alpine Ridges, the Yukon River and the Northern Lights. 

The exhibits at the University of Alaska Museum of the North were terrific!

 No imagination necessary for the inside, however.  The moment I walked in, I was in awe. Thousands of years of Alaskan art, culture and nature surround you.  Fabulous (although quite technical) educational movies were offered every hour about Dinosaurs, the Aurora or perhaps the Arctic Currents.

I couldn't resist this selfie! Convincing? 

 The Aurora Borealis is high on my bucket list, but after watching this movie with its incredible photography displaying one after the other, I actually think I might lower its priority on my list not that it isn’t breath-taking, but I saw so many on this huge screen that I almost feel as if I had been there. Norm has already seen it, so it’s not on his list at all.

See the Aurora Borealis on a huge screen in high definition was almost as good as being there! 

We roamed around the various exhibits for several hours then headed to the highly rated restaurant “The Cookie Jar”.  As we entered there were many photos of different celebrities including the infamous chef Guy Fieri seen on television’s Food Network. He was raving about this place, so our hopes were high.  The deserts as we passed them looked really good, anyway.  Well….we were all very disappointed. Chowders were so thick they were pasty, sandwiches overall were tasteless.  The gluten-free cookie I bought on the way out to share with Norm, however, was great!  I guess the name “Cookie Jar” fits!

Norm and Dennis went to the Fountainhead Auto Museum in Fairbanks, Alaska while Vikkie and I did a little shopping. 

From there the guys went to the auto museum, while we woman folk headed out to find some quality gift shops.  We must have been in the wrong part of town, but I did enjoy one shop that had some beautiful handcrafted things, but none were purchased.

We picked up the guys and went back to the campground to share a cooked meal together.

Norm and Dennis cooking outside the RV's one night in Fairbanks. Notice how close the RV's are at Rivers Edge RV Park and Campground.

Chena Hot Springs

The plan today was to go on the highly touted  Discovery Riverboat  tour but our being uncharacteristically impromptu did not work out.  Yeah, you know where this is going- it was sold out.  The same with a gold mine tour.

In the spirit of spontaneity, we made a last minute decision to drive to Chena Hot Springs and hike the Angel Rock Trail.  We quickly had our lunch, packed our hiking gear, dug out our bathing suits, and headed out.

A beautiful fork of the Chena River 

We started way down by the river

It was so long ago that I had researched this trail that I didn’t remember its details other than it was really nice, and something we should do.

What we found was that it was really nice and steep! It does not sound like much, but 900 feet of elevation gain in a mile feels like a lot! I’m sure age and physical conditioning has a lot to do with it, but man, I had to dig deep to get myself up that hill! I kept thinking of the amazing people on the reality show “Biggest Loser” who manage to do the toughest workouts, and thought “ if they can do it, I can do it”!

Well, I guess I was a little crazy scrambling up here, but it was calling me! Not bad for someone over 60 years old!

It was really a beautiful hike with fantastic views far below.  Norm and I were dying to climb the rock outcroppings at the top, but chose to be responsible adults and not take the risk. (It truly would have been quite risky). It would not be fair to the others to have to carry one of us down.

The view was great up here at 1750 feet for Norm and I . Yikes, we better not step back!

By the time we reached the car, all but Norm was whipped.  I was even considering going into the hot springs up the road, which I normally never would (or ever have).

When we arrived at Chena Hot Springs it was a little after 5PM, so we went to the activities desk and got the information we needed.

I am not sure if this old tractor was an antique, or a sculpture. 

  The springs were running hot today – between 108 – 115 degrees Fahrenheit.  Of course I had to ask about the germy-ness of this natural phenomenon that all sorts of people go into (including the group of flushed faced, very strangely tattooed 20-something year olds roaming around.)

I really can't keep from wondering how dirty this water is.....

We were told they drain the pool every couple of weeks – not to worry, it was going to be that night!  Ok, let me think here…… that means right now, it’s the “dirtiest” it gets? Hmmmm....  Well, the measly $15 charge for a day pass, combined with the weariness of my bones, I overcame my paranoia of a few nasty germs possibly getting somewhere unimaginable.


We had a hasty but delicious meal at their restaurant, then started our Chena Hot Springs experience. We first took a tour of the Aurora Ice Museum which was originally intended to be a hotel with all the rooms and furniture carved out of ice. After the malfunctioning of the hotel’s sprinkler system ( which ruined everything ) they decided it would be much more lucrative as a museum.

This "icy workshop" is where they make repairs and make new sculptures

Ice bar. Thankfully the bar stools are covered in fur

We were able to roam around the many rooms in the Ice Museum

One of many ice sculptures inside.  

 It was a balmy 38 degrees when we entered this unique building to observe the incredible ice sculptures. We were prepared to dress for the artic, but others were provided heavy coats.

 The first thing I noticed was the awesome “smell” of the dry, cold air which gave me an incredible yearning for a New England winter and was reminded again just how much I miss them.

They carve 12-15,000 of these annually. A woman took hers outside where I took the opportunity to take a picture of this cold glass. It was quickly melting.

Martini's don't get colder than this! Sipping one as we sit on an ice-carved chair in this ice house was really special!

After checking out all the icy bedrooms the best part was yet to come. An Apple Martini is served in one of the 12,000 to 15,000 iced glasses they carve a year.  I have been dreaming of this for months now, and it was every bit as good as I imagined it!

Interesting note:  They must check everyone’s ID in order to serve.  If, by chance, you are an Alaskan resident convicted with a  DUI ( driving under the influence ) you may not be able purchase alcohol in ANY store, restaurant or bar!  Your driver’s license will have a very distinct stripe on it.  Awesome!  It must be quite the deterrent.  I wish all states had that!

Now that we felt the cold, and were refreshed with the coldest of martinis, it was time for the main attraction – the Chena Hot springs.

Beautiful flowers encapsulated in ice blocks.  Amazing! 

We changed into our suits and headed down the ramp to the springs.  Now I enjoy our hot tub at about 104 degrees,(which most consider too hot) but I tell you, these springs felt capable of cooking a lobster! It felt good in a painful sort of way as we gingerly stepped into the water.  Yikes, it was hot!  What part of this is good for you?

With water temperatures at 115 degrees Fareinheight, Norm's internal body temp is probably reading medium-well by now.

After about 20 minutes we figured our internal organs were cooked to medium-rare, so we got out. I then discovered to my horror, that the key bracelet to my locker was gone! It had to be somewhere in this huge hot spring!

At this point we were all so darn weak from the hot spring, that we could hardly make it back to the locker room, much less get back in there and look for my missing key.

 Dennis, Norm and I mustered up enough strength and courage to enter that water again. It felt so much hotter than before! When we were all convinced we were going to actually DIE if we don’t get out of there, I went to the main desk ( leaning on the walls for support ) and discovered that not only would it cost $50 to replace it,and worse, they would have to clear out the woman’s locker room to do it! No one would be happy about that!

Refusing to waste money as well as inconvenience others,  I was determined to find my keys, However, when I stepped into the water yet again, I realized there was NO WAY I could do it. Yes, I would die, I was sure. ( I refuse to die in my bathing suit ). Luckily, a few more people had just entered the pool and were willing to help me look, and it was quickly found.  Thank God! Saved!

I staggered back to the showers, put the water on the coldest setting and eventually got the strength to dress.  Sort of. At that moment, underwear was over-rated.

We were such a pathetic bunch exiting the locker room, practically crawling to the nearby bench. Faces beat red, slumped on the bench we waited for Norm as he sauntered out looking like he took a stroll in the park! Yeah, Norm! He was the only one capable of driving the more than hour back to the campground.