North to Alaska: July 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Mt. McKinley

Leaving Denali with our sites set on Anchorage and eventually to Homer (The Halibut Capital of the World), we were traveling along Alaska Highway 1 enjoying the beautiful scenery and sunny cloudless sky when we looked ahead and there was Mt. McKinley. We were approaching Denali State Park, which Alaska Highway 1 dissects, where we were told you could see some great views of Mt. McKinley. Great views were an understatement, we not only stopped to take some pictures but wound up staying all night watching the sunset and colors change on the mountain. The next day we were again blessed with a beautiful clear day and more views of the mountain. We left the state park early heading to Anchorage when we decided to stop at Talkeetna, another place we had been told you could view the mountain. Not only was Talkeetna a neat little town with many shops and places to eat; it also had fantastic views of the mountain from across the river.

Here are several pictures we took from different locations of Mt. McKinley and the two mountains next to him. As Native legend goes; his wife Mt. Foraker and their child Mt. Hunter.

Mt. McKinley

Early morning, Mt. McKinley in the clouds

Here are some pictures we took giving some facts on the three mountains.

Four Nights in Denali

As we stated in an earlier post, we spent our first night at Denali National Park in Riley Creek Campground and the next three nights at Teklanika River Campground. The park provides a bus service for people wanting to go further into the park for a moderate cost. This is an excellent way to observe the many different types of wildlife that live in the park. The bus goes all the way to Kantishna which is 90 miles into the park; however, most people only go as far as Wonder Lake, 85 miles, where if you are lucky you will have an excellent view of Mt. McKinley; however, less than 30% get to see the mountain. On the day we took the bus to Wonder Lake we were in the 70+% who did not see the mountain. We did see a lot of wildlife which we have posted pictures of below along with some other pictures from our bus trip and campsite. We think Denali National Park is a must see when in Alaska. The beauty of the park is unbelievable, with all the mountains, valleys, rivers/lakes and of coarse the abundant wildlife living in the park. The bus ride is also fascinating with the narrow road and curves. Our bus driver did an excellent job of narrating for the passengers on the bus. Although we didn't see the mountain the day we took the bus we had a great time. The campgrounds are very nice with private sites that have a picnic table and fire rings. The campgrounds also have pit toilets which are very well maintained.

This is our campsite in Teklanika Campground

A couple of young moose posing for us...

Another young moose

One of several Brown (Grizzly) Bears we saw

A couple of pictures of the road into Denali. We found if you closed your eyes the curves weren't too bad?

This picture was taken from inside our bus window; mountain on one side and sheer drop off on other side of bus.

Our last day leaving the park we got a look at Mt. McKinley peaking through the clods

Monday, July 18, 2011

Fairbanks to Denali

We left Fairbanks on July 1 heading to Denali National Park. It is only around 120 miles, so we had a nice leisurely drive stopping often to enjoy the scenery. The roads are very good with only some minor construction in a few places. We arrived early at Denali and were able to check in at our reserved campsite in Riley Creek Campground. Riley Creek Campground is in walking distance of the registration and mercantile building. There are no hook-ups at the campground; however, there is water and bathrooms with flush toilets in the campground and bathrooms with showers at the registration building. There is also a laundry room where you can do laundry. The next day we left to move to our new campsite at Teklanika River Campground located 29 miles into the Denali National Park. This is as far in the park that you can camp in an RV. There are no hook-ups. They do have pit latrines and water available

These next few pictures are along the route to Denali

The town of Denali. We stopped and enjoyed seeing all the tourist? that flock to this little town. There were large numbers of tour buses in the town of Denali which supports the many tour groups that come to see the Denali National Park. Here are several pictures of the town...

Back at the camp, me and Gypsy are discussing what's for dinner

Monday, July 11, 2011

The End of the Road - Manley, AK

On day 26 of our trip we left Fairbanks heading north to a little place called Manley Hot Springs where our friend, Danny has a hunting cabin. Manley Hot Springs is approximately 160 miles from Fairbanks and at the end of the road on the Tanana River. Although it was only 160 miles, it took us approximately six and half hours. The last 100 miles was dirt and gravel and not what you would call smooth, more like a washboard. Once in Manley we checked out Danny’s hunting cabin and then went to the only place to get a meal in town, the Manley Roadhouse. Linda and I stayed in a little campground right on the river across from the roadhouse (for $5 per night). Nice campground, but again no hook-ups. Up early in the morning I walked down the river bank to check out fishing possibilities and there was the biggest Bull Moose I have ever seen. I told him to stand fast while I got my camera for some pictures. After taking a few pictures and having breakfast we left for a little place called Eureka which is only 32 miles from Manley (with the last 12 miles being single lane dirt). There was nothing in Eureka except the remains of a hunting lodge where Larry Csonka (NFL football) used to moose hunt. There were a few small log cabins used by hunters and personnel searching for gold. We spent about a day and half in Eureka site-seeing and fishing. We traveled 5 1/2 miles on four wheelers to get to where we fished for Arctic Grayling. It was unbelievable how you could catch these fish. They are small, 1 to 2 pounds, but very good eating. After a dinner of fried fish and good night’s sleep we left mid morning to return to Manley where we met Joe Redington Jr. and his wife, Pam. Joe’s father was the person who started the Iditarod dog race. We visited Joe and Pam’s home where they showed us their little museum filled with artifacts, crafts they had made, pictures from some of the first Iditarod races and much more. We also got to see their sled dogs, 43 of them, down from the 100s they used to have and several of the sleds they used. They have both the old wooden sleds and some of the newer fiberglass ones. I only wish we had more time to spend with Joe and Pam, they are such great people who are fun to be around. After leaving Joe and Pam we returned to the campground in Manley and grilled steaks where Danny and Jay joined us for dinner. The next morning after a good breakfast ( frosted honey buns} we left to return to Fairbanks. What a ride, the first hundred miles rain and more rain. Ever wonder what rain does to a dirt road in the mountains, slick, slick and slicker. Some places where the road was on the edge of the mountain, Linda would close her eyes and I was driving around 5 MPH. Anyway, it took us most of the day to return to Fairbanks, but we made it and our new campsite at Walmart looked great.

These are pictures of the road on the way to Manley

Our first morning in Manley and guess who came to see us?

12 miles of this road was interesting, seemed like 112 miles... On the way to Eureka

This is Eureka and where we stayed... To get here was quite a challenge; however, we read somewhere that with a "Truck Camper you can Go Anywhere, Camp Anywhere, Tow Anything" Right Gordon???