Day 34 Denali to Wasilla

Another cold and rainy day at Denali.  46 degrees this August 2nd morning and the wind was 18 -25mph, gusting to 35 right out of the SW, dead on the nose of our bearing.  Boy, that drags down the fuel economy.  We left the RV park and stopped at Denali for one last attempt to see the mountain.

                           The scenery was nice but the weather was disappointing, low overcast.

                                                            No mountain, no critters.

Should you take the train into Denali (like from a cruise) you will travel across this trestle in Denali.

                      We headed out of the park SW towards our next stop, the weather dreary

                                                We had to stop for pics at Hurricane Gulch

                                  When you're driving across this 550 ft bridge, you stay focused.

                                                             260 foot drop to the river.

                                          Mother nature wasn't the only show along the way.

                                            You couldn't help but take a look at Wal - Mikes

                                                    Finally Wasilla, looking for our girl Sarah.

No Sarah sightings but we did find our RV park.  Look behind the sign - I think we found cousin Eddie!

Ever wonder what Gail and Pam do when we arrive at a destination?  Being the Ministers of Finance they handle the registration when the work of the Ministers of Transportation's work is done.

                                                                              G'nite!

Day 32 & 33 Fairbanks to Denali National Park

Remember to click on pictures to enlarge


Lon and Pam broke camp early on Sunday morning (9 am) to go to The Journey Christian Church, journeyalaska.org, at the Regal 16 Cinema where they hold their Sunday service. Interesting concept, comfortable seats, great acoustics, and for us plenty of room to park.  Unfortunately, Jerry had to change a tire on the Jeep which had picked up a nail somewhere.  We fueled up a little farther down the road and struck out for Denali National Park.

                                                   We took a scenic turnout along the way.

                                                             Heidi had Gail in tow.

We tried to get a glimpse of Mt. McKinley as we headed towards it but the sky was to overcast and low to see much of anything

We decided on an RV park about 10 miles from the park entrance.  It was a little tight for our rigs.  Jerry drove around several times trying to position his

                                                                         and around

                                                                      and around

                           He put so many miles on it trying to park it, it just didn't look the same

This was a twenty foot spruce tree that Heidi had started chewing on when JC started to park his coach

                     We finally settled in, had dinner, a few laughs, checked emails and said goodnight.

                            Monday, August 1st, started out windy and cold.  It remained that way.

        We had scheduled a 5 hour tour of Denali that started at 10am, we were glad we dressed warm

We boarded the tour bus and listened as the driver talked about the history of Denali and it's topographical features.

Denali National Park and Preserve is located in Interior Alaska and contains Denali (Mount McKinley), the highest mountain in North America. The park and preserve together cover 9,492 mi² (24,585 km²).The longest glacier is the Kalhiltna glacier. Mount McKinley or Denali (Koyukon Athabaskan for "The High One", Dghelaayce’e in Ahtna) in Alaska, United States is the highest mountainpeak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of 20,320 feet (6,194 m) above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.


The tour was interesting and scenic but unfortunately we didn't get to Mount McKinley.   The overcast was too low.  Someone said that it is visible less than 40% of the time.  We are hoping for a glimpse tomorrow.


                         We did however see what it was like to be a Park Ranger there in the 40's.

Another fact we didn't realize was despite the parks massive size it has very low density in the large animal population due to the harsh (cold) conditions and short growing season for vegetation.  We did however spot some caribou

                                                                      and a bunny.

After going back to our coaches and getting some lunch we headed out to Stampede Trail.  Sight of the tragic end of Chris McCandless, now popularized in the book and movie "Into the Wild".

The trail gained notoriety in 1992 when Outside magazine published an article written by Jon Krakauer titled "Death of an Innocent" describing the death of Christopher McCandless, who had lived in a bus parked on an overgrown section of the trail near Denali National Park.^[2] The old bus had been left behind by the Yutan Construction Company during the road building to serve as a backcountry shelter for hunters, trappers and ranger patrols. The bus can be seen on Google Earth (63°52′06.23″N 149°46′09.49″WCoordinates: 63°52′06.23″N 149°46′09.49″W) and Google Maps.

                    The bus pictured here is actually at the 49th State Brew Pub near where we're camped.  

It was probably used in the making of the movie.  The actual bus is another 20 miles back from where we had to stop due trail accessibility.  Some 4 wheelers make it back there but fording a river is involved so it's mainly hikers.

                                       Although Pam wanted to give it a try, Jerry not so much

                                        Not sure who is protecting who from the bears here.

On the way back we saw this, note the bullet hole above the right rear tire, we didn't stick around to find out.

So at the end of another hard day of adventure and exploring what's a body to do?  Have a fire....

Time for us to get to bed and you to get up, remember (Breecie) there is a 4 hour time difference.

Day 31 Fairbanks

Overcast and drizzle again today, high of 65. So we got an early start, bout 11:00.  First stop was a farmers market at North Pole. Three stands. Honey, spices, and produce (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, brocolli, squash). Pam bought 3 tomatoes, they wanted $6, but she whinned and did her cute look, and they gave them to her for $4.





                                                                       Next, off to Santa Claus House.

  

               Yes, Santa was there with a lot of Christmas stuff, most of which was "Made in China". It was OK, but didn't hold a Christmas Candle to Frankenmuth.

So, off to The Knotty Shop, a 20 mi. drive. They also had a lot of tourist junk AND nothing of wood, except the bathroom, which had knotty pine paneling.

       Out front they had great attractions. That's what attracted me, when we passed it 2 days ago.

And, of course, the flowers.

                                                                Heidi was not welcome.

Then back to Fairbanks and the Alaska Pipeline.

                     Look! One retired Pig standing next to another.  (PAM said that....not Me!)

Back to the Silver Gulch Brewery. Today they are open.

Of course.

 They'll plant flowers in anything here in Alaska.

 After the customary stop at the gift shop, to the Bar/Resturante. Great buffalo burgers.

                                                         And Gail and my first Scotch Egg.

And then to the Fur store. Lon got moccasins. They had some really nice coats, but I have convienced Gail that we will not be anywhere that cold.

              And the last stop, The Bowl Company. I didn't buy any. I have made way prettier bowls.

We got back to camp about 6:00. Exausted. Early to bed.

Tomorrow, after church, we are on the road again to Denali National Park.