Captain Cook SP

A lovely state park at the end of the road! There are small lakes along this road perfect for boating and fishing as well. This park is a gem! It is lush with growth, tall trees providing shade and lots of undergrowth carpeting the gravel soil. Sites ($12/night) are very nicely spaced and a bit grassy/gravel. Some are level and there were many open ones we were able to chose one perfect for us. They have nice tables and fire rings and firewood is available here too. Some of the sites are alongside the ridge overlooking Cook Inlet.

There is a narrow path which leads to "beach access" but it is an overlook. The beach is some 40 feet or more below. We enjoyed the benches and use our binoculars to observe the birds antics. The gulls were "fishing" for worms!

(This is when the tide was coming in.) One site hooked a rope to a tree so they could gain access to the beach. Beachcombers look for agates and rock specimens and walk along the mud and climb large boulders that appear with low tides. There was a bald eagle perched on one of the larger ones for the longest time. Gulls also rested on the stones and refused to leave them until the water came up and washed over their feet! The high tides come in quickly though and you have to be on the alert. Certainly don't want to get "stuck in the mud!" and then have the tide come in. They say it comes in 4 x faster than you can run and I take that seriously! The views are just beautiful. But can easily become hazy and cloudy with the moist weather this area receives. There is a beach access road and picnic area just before entering the park and many trucks with empty trailers were parked at the intersection leading to this road. Apparently they use ATV's along the beach. For what we are not sure. (Fishing/entertainment?) At least they are not allowed in the campground which was nice and quiet. Several families with children, some biking were tenting and having a wonderful time. It is often overlooked by out-of-state visitors as it is at the end of the road but well worth a visit! We spent Saturday night there and I stayed up to take pictures of the lovely sunset. There haven't been many to view either due to high mountain ranges, low clouds on the horizon, weather factors or just the fact that I was sound asleep when it finally descended. When I returned to the camper and loaded them into the laptop, Bob "woke-up" and had to see them too. It was beautiful!

Nikiski, Cook Inlet and surrounding (volcanoes) mountains!

We next traveled up through Kenai. Saturday was such a beautiful day that as we approached their visitors center we could see Mt Redoubt.

It was magnificent, tall peaked and snow covered. Illiamna was standing proud towards the left and Spurr over towards it's right. They were formed by volcanoes, one of which last erupted in 2009. They are the beginning of the Aleutian Island Chain and the volcanic "Ring of Fire." We were given some great tips on where to view and came alongside the north edge of Conaco Phillips property line. Down a gravel road lead to the "beach". It is gravel stones! Different than I expected. But there were a few people there soaking up the sun none the less. We could see pipelines elevated and extended out into the water so docking vessels could attach to load fuel. There was a refinery and a Nitrogen plant also along shore here.

As I walked the shore I found some "pretty rocks" that I think are green jade or jasper, and some red ones that I will have to check on. Most were grey, blackish and blueish rocks. There is supposed to be aggates that are collected here too, I will have to look that up! I did see someone pick up a black rock that I think was hardened lava.

We stopped at a Nature/wildlife conservancy with viewing platforms near the marshy estuary areas. Migrating birds often nest here and there is a world-wide following that come to check this and Homer Spit areas out each year in May. I could see a grouping of sand cranes and Plovers. But they were quick to move among the taller grasses.

The town docks had several boats in the river with fishermen at work. Two colonies of gulls were resting along the gravel bed at the rivers edge.

Kenai Peninsula and the Russian and Kenai Rivers are "Running"

Red Salmon are running and the fishermen say that at first there was a 3 fish limit/day but that was increased to 6/day. You have to be up on all the regulations. Also some stretches where Rainbow Trout are catch and release only, and I would just love to try some Dolly Varden! The trout around here get to be 22 lbs! The day we drove down (was last Wednesday from Hope) was rain and the mountains were covered in low clouds. But breaking through we could see lovely green alpine meadows and spruce trees in sparse groups. Very picturesque! But with the mist no pictures were taken there. We hope for clearer skies when we come back past. We stopped at Russian River SP but they were full. The fishermen have booked this one up for months online. But we were able to dry camp (as we generally do) in their overflow parking lot. ($4 for 24 hours)

And awoke to a fisherman parking next to us. I asked him for direction to the trail head to the Russian Falls and Salmon viewing deck. A few minutes later when I was back inside the camper he came to my window and called out. "There's a bear right behind your camper, beware!" Sure enough there was a little black bear. We looked for the mother and she was not around. The camp concessioners at the "entrance" said he was spotted all week roaming alone. We kept on the alert as usual. Hiked to the trail head and back was a good 6 miles. But the viewing there was very special.

These fish were resting in the backwaters at the bottom of the falls. After the heavy rains we had yesterday and last night the rivers were "up" and flowing much harder. But some were still making it up! Truely amazing to see. Even the gulls were getting in on the act. One here was swimming in the circle of fish and would peck on them grabbing a bite most times!

We left Russian River and drove about 10 miles to Paterson Lake, alongside Kelley Lake.

They both had 4 sites (half were available in each site! Room for us!!) and were free. They were gravel circles and would accommodate any size vehicles/campers. Having picnic tables, fire rings and composting toilets. Both areas had a nice sized lake perfect for non-motorized crafts. Canoes and Kayaks. Wish we had one here! Lake fishing at its best.

We visited several visitors centers, Soldotna and Kenai especially had such wonderful exhibits. Large stuffed animals, large bears, head mounts of Dall Sheep, Moose and such. Also a huge variety of stuffed birds. Eiders, Puffins, Harlequin Ducks, a bald eagle and many I'd never seen before. There was a recent addition to Soldotna's of many ivory and jade carvings. These included tusks with sled dog teams carved on top, baleen woven baskets with carved ivory handles. And my favorite a jade carved wooly mammoth with ivory tusks about 18 inches long and say 12 inches high. (these were in a glass enclosure). The women at these centers were so nice and helpful too. We got some great information and even tips on the best restaurants. We ate a dinner at Louie's Seafood and Steakhouse. (alongside Louie's Uptown Motel!) Inside was on the dark side, but as your eyes adjusted you scanned the large dining area and saw the entire walls were covered in wild animals! Lots of mounted heads, some whole animals. And skins on the walls. The booths were upholstered and comfy, and the tables had "barrel" shaped upholstered chairs that looked comfy too. We shared a dinner. Halibut with king crab and asparagus garnish and Hollendaise Sauce.(sp?) It came with wild rice, green beans and salad (or choice of house soup which was a cheddar cheese and mac.) They had a seafood chowder but we wouldn't have had room. As it was just sharing this meal we still had no room for dessert! After a night in Kenai's Walmart we headed up to Captain Cook SP.

Hope AK and Porcupine USFS Campground

What a wonderful blue sky day. The forecast was for rain but we wouldn't believe it. We headed out on our 10 mile hike, 5 miles down Gull Rock Trail which begins at our campground. It is rated "easy" and "relatively flat" but warns of lots of rocks and tree roots along the trail.

There were some hills at the far end of the trail and after scaling across 2 woody and 2 stoney avalanche fields cut into the steep mountainside our legs were crying for mercy by the end of the day!

The trail reached the Gull Rock point overlooking the Northern end of Turnagain Arm. We could see the snowy mountains in the far distance beyond Anchorage and the windmills on one of the islands.

We enjoyed a quick lunch of granola and an apple and headed back. There were large moose tracks along a good section of trail and we met one hiker on his way back that said he followed the moose along! As we were heading back we noticed that the tide was coming in.

You can see in this picture the huge mudflats left behind at low tide slowly fill in. And on the other side of the water is the highway from Anchorage South on Seward Highway. The tiny white dots are mostly campers and cars along the base of the mountains. The Alaska railroad also parallels the highway. That is the route we took yesterday to come around the "arm". We also took it last week to go to Whittier. It is very scenic. We continued on the hike and about 2 miles from the end spotted 2 women hiking. They were waiting for friends who were slower. We spotted them at least another mile down the trail. After we passed them we could really feel our legs tiring out! We slowly walked into our campsite and got our chairs and beverages. As we were cooling down a suburban and a big Class A camper pulled up and said she had reserved this site for the night online! Neither of us could barely move! I explained that we had just returned from a 10 mile hike and would do my best! There were 3 upcoming "reservations" on the site post and they were for future dates. Her reservation was not posted. It is first come first served for vacant sites and we gracefully let them have this one as it was a pull through. We only had to go to the other side of this loop and back in to the site we had had just the night before. Thankfully we didn't have to take any tents down! It was easy enough to make the switch. (Only our legs were groaning!) We didn't have to go anywhere and had easy grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches to fix up for supper. A few cold ones to replenish lost "nutrients" and liquids helped too! The Campground is quite high on the slopes above the waters. Becca and Aaron both called to check on us regarding yesterday's Earthquake, 7.9 on the Richter scale. And subsequent tsunami warnings. But Alaska is a very large state and the quake was near one of the Aleutian Islands. The tsunami warnings wouldn't effect us. We will sleep soundly tonight! I can already hear Bob's soft breathing.

Whittier Alaska, 26 Glacier Cruise

Whittier is about 60 miles south of Anchorage. It is sitting at the head of a passage canal and is accessed through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. This 2.5 miles World War II - era railroad tunnel was transformed into the longest vehicle-railroad tunnel in North America by June 2000. It is shared by trains and then Auto's including tractor trailer trucks and campers. There is a schedule that allows travel from the Black Bear Valley east to Whittier about every hour on the half hour, and the reverse at the top of each hour, each for about 15 minutes. But some trains may also impact that schedule as one arrived just before we were to head out. We camped in the valley (before heading through the tunnels) at a fantastic campground. It is part of the USFS, and half price for senior gold card holders ($9/night). As the main road was just put in in 2000 everything here is in excellent shape! The campground has paved sites, large picnic tables and you feel that you are surrounded by rain forest. Very spacious and private sites with fire-pits and compost outhouses near by. There was moose evidence along some of the paths and you had to be bear aware. After the first night we hiked about 1 1/2 miles to the Begich-Boggs Visitor Center and saw a nice film. There were nice displays there as well. And great views of Portage Lake. Yes, that is an iceberg behind Bob. We then hiked back along a small stretch of road to the trail head to Byron Glacier. That trail was an easy 0.8 miles long and gravel. You could get fairly close to the lower snow field and view the foot of the glacier at a safe distance. Then we hiked back to the campsite and prepared our supper. We hiked about 7 to 8 miles hiking that day. Friday, after camping the 2 nights in Williwaw Campground, we journeyed aboard the largest, fastest catamaran in Alaska 145 miles through rugged wilderness, towering glaciers and pristine waters. Prince William Sound is 2,100 square miles of islands and fjords, carved by 15 million years of glaciations and surrounded by the Chugach National Forest. Only about 7,100 people live in the entire area, (only 200 in Whittier) which is larger than the entire state of Vermont. It is America's largest intact marine ecosystem and North America's northern-most rain forest. This is also one of the most active seismic regions in the world. We traveled very close to the epicenter of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake that measured 9.2 on the Richter scale. The first people who lived here were the Chugach Eskimos, now known as the Alutiiq, who migrated into Prince William Sound about 7,000 years ago as the glaciers began their retreat.

This is a twin serpentine glacier. You can see the medial and lateral gravel lines. That is caused by the crushed stone that it pushes. There were several fishing boats with nets set out and a few shrimp pots with floats, but we didn't see any fish coming in. After we left Whittier we also didn't see any houses, power-lines, or any other of man's influence marking this pristine area. Occasionally we could see some "dead trees", these were caused simply by the fact that there are so many and there aren't enough nutrients available for so much growth. So when some get stressed they die. There are no beetle problems here, yet. There was one area way back in the valley that had a section of dead trees and that was due to the Earthquake in 1964. It caused the ground to drop 10 feet in that area and the sea water rushed in. The salt water is what killed those trees. All along the sound there is rich green forest, and tall rocky hillsides. There was a fresh snowfall on these peaks just a few days ago! And it is mid-June! The glaciers were wonderful to see. They are bigger than you would imagine. They appear blue due to the light passing through their crystals. Kind of like in a rainbow. Except the blue light rays have a shorter wavelength and they are the only color that makes it through. They have some dust and dirt on top of some, due to volcanic eruptions and just dirt over time. Flakes morph into denser material. It takes 100 feet of snow pack to have enough weight to (compact/pressure) form 10 feet of glacier ice. The seals and sea lions were hanging out on the ice flows that were shedding from some of the tidal glaciers. You could hear the cracking and squeaks as the pressure built and some of them calved while we watched. I even saw a pretty good wave of water after one splashed in! The sea otters were the cutest of all. They were floating on the backs, alternatively flipping their rear feet or tails and turned their heads to check us out as we passed. I even saw a few babies on their mothers stomachs. One was napping!I hope you can zoom in on this mom like I could. At the end of our voyage we passed a Kittiwake Bird rookery located just across the bay from Whittier. More than 10,000 birds inhabit these rocky cliffs each summer laying eggs, fishing and teaching young hatchlings the survivals tips they will need before they fly south for the winter. There were even a few bald eagles perched in one of the trees. They like to eat some of the Kittiwakes! Plus there are plenty of fish for them to catch here. We really enjoyed our voyage!

Hiking Flattop Mountain

This past weekend while I was enjoying my convention, Bob has been walking for miles at a time getting in-shape for some big hikes. On Friday, after he picked me up we went to the Moose's Tooth Specialty Pizza Restaurant. They brew their own beer though now under the name of Broken Tooth Brewery. Very good samples! We settled on an IPA for Bob and their Pipeline Stout for me. The pizza and the beers were superb! On Saturday, Bob walked 3 1/2 miles on the Chester Creek Greenbelt. A very nice walk besides a stream among the trees. Tunnels under roadways added to the feeling of being off the beaten path. Bob picked me up and we went to Sourdough Mining Company for dinner. We split a seafood sampler for dinner. The decor was rustic with stuffed grizzlys, mounted caribou and mining artifacts. The food was nothing special. They had a storyteller/musician for a show after dinner. He had been in Glen Campbell's backup band for 13 years. He did a pretty good job, encouraging sing-a-long songs and talking about the gold mining days. It helped that he also gave out "prizes" of boxed chocolates! Sunday Bob did some serious hiking. He started with over 3 miles at the Campbell Creek greenbelt, then headed over to the Kincaid Park. This is a forested park with over 65 Kilometers of trails. The park has some lit trails (for evening winter use/ no need for lights in the summer!) for hiking, biking, X-Country skiing, and some for motorized use. It was quite a jewel of a park for Anchorage. For about 20 years from 1950 to 1971 the park was a Missile Defense Base. Sunday night we made a nice spaghetti with meat sauce dinner Very good and you can't beat the price! Monday was our Big Day! Back to the Glen Alps trailhead. Bob had his sights set on climbing Flattop Mountain. I was game to give it a try. Driving there Bob felt pretty good. Temps were in the mid 50's. It was cloudy but didn't look like it would rain much. By the time we got to the parking lot it was 43 degrees and very windy. Instead of Back-packing our extra clothes we put them on. One good thing about this trail is that it starts out fairly easily and gets more and more difficult. By the top it really is a scramble up the rock outcroppings. We both made it! Very tiring but a satisfying result. The Views were worth it at the top.It turns out that the trip down was as slow and difficult as the trip up. We took our time and made it back to our truck around 3:30pm. Both of us were pretty spent. We went back to the campground for showers and a change. Now it was time to head downtown for a dinner out to treat ourselves. We stopped first at the Glacier Brew House, but they had a 90 minute wait. We walked 2 blocks and came to Snow Goose Restaurant and their Sleeping Lady Brewery. Food was good, seafood chowder and fish and chips especially, but the beer was nothing special. Today, (June 17th)was our last full day in Anchorage with water and electric hookup for a while. We started with a nice blueberry pancake breakfast and got caught up on our laundry and chores. Our leg and back muscles need a warm up so we drove up to kincaid park. It was a beautiful day with lots of sun and blue sky. We walked 1 to 1/2 miles here and enjoyed many scenic overlooks for rest stops. Next we went off to search out 2 more brewers we hadn't yet checked out. First we stopped at King Street Brewery where we shared a 7 glass sampler. All of the beers were good to excellent. They had no food except popcorn. The owner gave us a tour. They are a small but growing brewery that seems to know what they are doing. It was such a beautiful day and we were close, so we drove back up to the Glen Alps trailhead and checked out the views with clearer skies. Then we made our last stop at the Midnight Sun Brewing Co. I tried the 4 glass Belgian Delights sampler, but was not delighted. Bob had the 4 glass IPA sampler and found two (Pleasure Town, and Sockeye Red) that were pretty good but not as good as the King Street brews.

Ahhh! Anchorage.

Today we awoke to a blue sky and light breezes. We could see the fresh snowfall layer lying straight across both the Talkeetna and the Chugach mountain ranges where the temps cooled below freezing last night. It was in the 40's at our lake level. We gathered everything together and headed out from the Lake Lucille Campground. It is owned by the town of Wasilla, kind of rustic. Lots of green growth, low shrubs, tall grasses and plenty of shade trees in the park. And due to the recent 3 days of showers, lots of mosquitos. Bob checked out the bathrooms and said "don't bother" very stinky! We first headed into town and filled our propane tanks at the Tessaro station on the corner. One tank was empty and the other quite low. Between the two we used 8.25 gallons of propane for $33. (cheaper than swapping tanks) Then headed down the Parks Highway (Route 3) to Route 1, Glen Hwy all the way south to Anchorage. We had booked a week at the Golden Nugget because we really wanted to have some consistent showers and I had my special convention of Jehovah's Witnesses this coming weekend. We found the campground readily, but drove the block around it first as we were on the early side for check-in. The side roads were very bumpy and lots of small run down trailer homes surrounded this area. We were a little leary. I walked onto the grounds to check the bathrooms out. They had coded locks but a grounds keeper gave me the code. I was able to check them out. They were clean and spacious and had free showers. There is also a large laundry room that is a bonus at about $2 a washer and dryer. We decided to pay the 7 day, discounted rate (AAA< AARP< Senior Citizen) instead of the discounted week rate. It was a little cheaper and allows us to perhaps cancel after 4 or 5 nights if we wish to. It came out to $43.20/night. As we know there are options out there. Chugach SP is calling us! And there are both Camp Walmart, and Camp Fred Meyers in the city! After dropping the camper off the truck we headed into Anchorage proper to explore. Driving south-west past the international airport and 3 hospitals to Earthquake Park. It is a small park with a very long bike/pedestrian trail that runs along the city side of the Cook Inlet. Lots of historical information is displayed. It is the site of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake that devastated the hillside in that area. There were homes and businesses sitting on the bluff. The subsoil many feet below the homes was primarily a silty clay that became liquid when the quake shook. It caused lots of damage but surprisingly only 4 deaths attributed to it. However there was a related tsunami that occurred and that caused lots more damage to the ports of Seward and Valdez devastating them. Today Anchorage is a great shipping port that still services 75% of the population of Alaska.

The trail goes on for several miles and we walked a good stretch. It is heavily shaded and the mosquitos were abundant here as well. Had to keep moving! The bicycles were motoring past but everyone was cordial. We even saw a Policeman on Pedals. When we returned to the truck it was supper time and I had spotted an ad for Yak and Yeti, an excellent Indian/Tibetan, and Nepalese restaurant. They had two locations, the one on Spenard Road was full menu, the Cafe was on West Northern Lights Blvd. We chose Spenard and were quite surprised. It was voted best world cuisine in the last 2 years! We enjoyed it.

Mat-Su Valley

On Sunday we headed South from Denali NP after doing Laundry chores before leaving the park. Our Grey water tank was so full that it began to seep into the floor of the "shower"/Bathroom of the camper. We had a small rug there and a small pile of laundry which then needed to be washed. Fortunately there was a laundry room at the mercantile at Ripley Campsites. $2 per washer and dryer and we were all set! We had a double scoop of ice cream (caribou caramel and moose tracks, yum!) while we waited. Then the rains began as we left. We drove south on the Parks Highway (Route 3) down the valley and wished we could see the mountains we were passing. The clouds hung low and there were just glimpses of them. It is a very beautiful area. We will probably return in a few weeks. We did gas up just south of the park in Cantwell, but decided after $80 we would wait for more, it was $447/gal. It would be $4.03 to $3.94/gal in Wasilla and Palmer. We continued on in rain and it began to let up half way to Wasilla. The whole trip was about 200 miles. We went straight down the highway until we reached a Fred Meyer's. We picked up needed groceries and camped in the lot. It was quiet. At 11:08 we stepped out for a walk to stretch our legs and noticed a string of mountains just south east of the town with a vertical bar of rainbow colors reaching up from the ground to the clouds at the top of the mountains. The sun's rays were turning the clouds golden hues. It would not set fully for at least another hour, and then rise at 3:15am! This being said, the sky would not get very dark. Kind of like a state of twilight. I wished I'd gotten a photo of that! Monday (June 9th), we awoke to dryer skies. We went back into town but the Dorothy Page Museum and visitors center was closed, so we headed east to Palmer for their Visitor's Center. It was situated in a log cabin with 2 acres of gardens. It was just precious! There were many fine exhibits inside detailing the "New Deal". Where in 1937 about 250 families from Minnesota were encouraged to leave the farms they were starving on and relocate to this valley, expenses paid and provisions provided, with low interest loans. The majority did very well and lived in a kind of paradise. The growing season was actually given a huge boost from long hours of daylight and they discovered they could produce record breaking large veggies! Such as a huge head of cabbage that would not fit into a grocery cart! We asked about Hatcher Pass as Bob wanted to head over that narrow dirt road and also visit the Independence Mining Buildings on the Palmer side of it. We found out that they'd had a snow storm about 3 weeks ago and the road still has not opened for the season as a result to that. So we headed to nearby Finger Lake SP and camped there $15/night. The road loop for camping was very pot-holed and bumpy but we found a spot and backed in. The mosquitos surrounded the truck! It was cool and moist and lots of greenery all around the site. A short walk over to the lake and boat access was nice and we appreciated the strong breeze heading over the waters. That kept the area mosquito free. There was a family with 2 small children camping here along the day use area. The children were a bit "screechy" and Bob said he wanted to sleep back over in the trees with the mosquitos instead. ;-) Tuesday (June 10th) we awoke to rain so moved slowly. It was quite damp too! So I made a hearty breakfast of Oatmeal, blueberries and maple syrup. (couldn't find the darn pecans!) Then we headed back to Wasilla (about 10 miles) and stopped into the Dorothy Page Museum. We stayed for just over 2 hours. The exhibits were very well done. The "basement" area was partially set up to give you the feel that you were in a gold or silver mine. It was quite cool and damp with no heat on to boot! Exhibits included a 1930's and 1940's kitchen, and things a housewife would need around the house. A camp area that miners might have, a Miners Assay office. Then there was a good section on the Iditarod Dog Sled Race including a movie about the 2013 Race. We stayed and watched the whole movie! It was quite interesting to see what the teams had to go through. We left there at 2pm and headed to the Mexican Hacienda for a good hot meal! It was raining up until we left the restaurant and headed to the south-east side of town on the Knik-Goose Hwy to the Iditarod Headquarters.

When we arrived we found a string of dogs ready to pull a "sled" on wheels. One of Bob's classmates "Mellon" Shea had raced in 1992, and was able to finish! She came in 54th, and I don't have her exact time now, but it was 15 days! The weather was brutal in that race as it can often be. Sadly we lost her to cancer a few years back. She will always be remembered for her strong spirit of accomplishment. As we are discovering about this wonderful state Alaska, the people who settled here and eek out a living had to have a strong spirit.

Denali NP and Magnificient Mt McKinley!

We'll spend a total of 4 nights in the park and each day has had something different to offer. When we made our reservations we had that clerk double check the weather pattern and as Saturday, June 7th was supposed to be the only "sunny" day with no precipitation, we booked our "sight-seeing bus trip" for that morning. And the first bus of the day at that! Mt Mckinley is the highest peak from it's base to it's summit, in the world. There are a couple of others whose base starts at a higher elevation, making them "taller" however there is a much more dramatic rise at McKinley. It "makes it's own weather" and even when the sky is blue and mostly clear it can be obliterated in clouds by mid morning and only barely visible then at that. Such a day was Friday, but we patiently awaited todays beautiful views by taking in some hikes in the park. On Thursday, we started out and met fellow campers eager to share a glimpse of the white tipped cross-bill feeding its young one. (It was a dapper red and black bird with white bars on it's feathers, it's fluffy youngster was in drab colors) They also shared the tip that a mother moose and her calf have been bedding down near site #49. We headed right over and soon spotted them as well. Then we hiked on up to the Visitor's Center to check out the information available and the dioramas. There was a beautiful movie to watch too! Next we hiked over to the Wilderness Access Center (WAC) where we would have to meet our bus (Sat morning). And onward we hiked to Horseshoe Lake, which appears to have been made by beaver dams, and intricate ones at that. On Friday morning we did chores waiting for the weather to clear, and it didn't on the mountain, but it did become sunnier everywhere else so we drove out to the 14 mile marker. It is as far as a private vehicle may travel without a special permit. There at Savage River are two trails an easy to do loop along the river and a foot bridge, or the more strenuous Savage Alpine Trail, 4 miles long with steep 25% grade the first 1 1/2 miles if you travel from the river back. I could tell Bob really wanted to do that one, but my knee would give me trouble. I started up with him but had to turn back. He said he would go up to the top and return. I did enjoy the 2 mile River loop trail. I met a nice man from Ohio at the end. He had spotted my Findlay Equestrian T-shirt and started a conversation. When his bus arrived to return him to his campground I walked over the bridge back to the truck/camper and was greeted by a couple from Mt. Dora, Florida. They had met Bob as they were just descending the steep portion of the trail and it was giving their knees some trouble. (they did the whole 4 miles in the reverse direction that Bob had started.) They convinced him (it didn't take much) to continue in the direction in which he was heading and they would notify me. (which they did) I drove the 2 miles by roadway to where he would come out. I parked at the lot for the trailhead of Mountain Vista Trail. It's name called to me and I knew I had just enough time to check it out, and possibly Mt. McKinley would be seen from it. It was so deep in the white clouds it was invisible! I walked back out to the road and met up with Bob. He was so happy to have done the whole trail! Though he was a bit nervous with the last 2 1/2 mile portion. After cresting on a mountain top, he went along the edge of the alpine tundra and shrubs. The path was only 2 feet wide and there was fresh bear scat on it! The shrubs were 2 to 5 feet high and could easily hide a mother grizzly and her cub(s). We actually saw 2 females on Saturday each with twins! The first group were newborns this winter, and the second were yearlings.)You can see the difference in the size here in these two pictures. We've gotten to see lots of wildlife! Several moose, caribou, Dall Sheep, Grizzly Bears, and even a Golden Eagle. There are Mews too nesting on the gravel beds of the "braided" rivers here. They are a smaller inland version of Sea Gulls. They really work for their suppers, not like the "beggars" at the beaches in Florida. I was able to take lots of photos. Except for the Eagle which quickly soared over into the sun and I could no longer see it. Today we were able to see a grouping of the sheep that doesn't usually occur! The batchelors (male rams) were laying in the sun in a grassy section of hillside near the road, and the ewes with 2 new lambs were grazing very nearby. They are usually at a much higher and rockier altitude, but today apparently they wanted to get out of the stiff wind.They are usually so high that they look like tiny white specks on the stone face of the mountains. We were blessed today with these near the road. I even saw one of the caribou in the afternoon as it warmed to 53 degrees, take a cool break sitting in the snow drifts that hadn't yet melted. He was trying to evade the pesky flies and mosquitos.The only "big" animal we didn't see today was the wolf. Today was just a wonderful day in that we realized our dream and were able to see McKinley in the clear! It is a rare day when you can and it makes it all the more special. We will never forget our days in Denali!

Tok to Fairbanks to Denali

On Monday June 2, we woke up to Cold, Windy and Cloudy temps only in the mid 40's. We had breakfast but were not moving very fast. I went to the laundry to do one last load and finish my blogging. Bob went to the Post Office and picked up the two packages we were expecting. Over lunch we talked about spending another night in Tok. It was so cold and threatening rain we couldn't even go out for a decent walk. Tomorrow looked to be quite cold also. We decided to move on to Fairbanks. We had plenty of heat in the cab. It rained most of the way. The scenery wasn't anything special so we didn't miss much due to the weather. We found a Fred Meyer's (kind of like Walmart) and bought some needed groceries. Back in the camper I made a nice chicken dinner. We planned on spending the night in "Fred Meyer's" parking lot. After supper it was still early so we headed off to find a tire store. On the east side of town, in a more industrial section we found Alyeska Tire. We decided to stay in their parking lot and be there when they opened at 8 AM. The next morning I'd set the alarm for 7:10 am. We got up, had breakfast and Bob went into the tire store. He says his "luck" didn't change, three or four phone calls later and we still had nothing. Next we tried the Chevy dealership, they really didn't want to bother with us, "no tires our size". We tried another dealer, Alyeska had called them earlier, and they sent us down the road to talk to the Goodyear dealer. The Goodyear dealer thought they had one in Anchorage. NO, wrong style, not 10 ply. We talked for a while and suddenly he had a revelation. He had 2 used tires the exact one's we were looking for! He brought them out. Your choice he said. $50. We couldn't believe it! The tread was pretty good on both tires. It was only to be our spare. We picked one. They swapped our spare onto the good rim and put our new spare on the steel rim. We were finally set for the grand total of $86! A new tire was going to cost $350-400 Installed. In the process a new little problem did emerge. Our remote control for the electric jacks on our camper quit. We had to remove the camper to get the spare back under the truck. Bob had to hand crank the legs down. A bit of a drag and much more time consuming but we are finally set. After getting the camper back in place we had lunch and made plans for the afternoon. First, we went to Pioneer Park, There was no entry fee and it was interesting, and a good place to stretch our legs. Many of the early 1900 homes had been moved to this park. There was a small train museum and a train ride around the park. Also, there were many early steam shovels, tractors, etc; that were used in the early gold mining days. Many young families were there with a playground, mini-golf and a carousel. I learned how the pioneers kept their Cache of food safe from bears. Next we went to the Cultural and Visitor's Center. A US Parks rep gave us lots of info and explained how we needed to make camping and bus sightseeing reservations for Denali. Good to know! Now to relax. We headed to Fox, (a tiny village on the outskirts NE of Fairbanks). On the way we stopped at the access point to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. You could walk right out to it. Neat for Bob as Texas Eastern Corp. had been involved in the project. (His former employer!)

On to Fox and the Silver Gulch Brewery. Some very good Beers and Appetizers as well. (Seafood Hushpuppies and crispy fries!) Then onto Chena State Forest and the Rosechip Campground. Around 30 miles east of Fairbanks. We had a very nice and quiet night there. Almost no one else, just the host and two other campers. We planned on staying in the Fairbanks area another day but when we woke up on June 4th the weather was so beautiful, with a bright blue sky, we decided to head to Denali and spend 4 nights instead of 3 there. After breakfast I set up a Beef Stew in the Crock Pot (we would have a great meal shortly after we arrived.) I did this while Bob was out chatting with a friendly man from Michigan with a lovely story. On our way from Chena River to Fairbanks we could see white mountains far off in the distance and I thought I could see McKinley but there were plenty of clouds too. I wasn't sure. (After arriving there I read that it is visible from both Fairbanks and Anchorage in clear conditions.) Once we got south of Fairbanks we stopped to top off the gas tank I found some Silver Gulch Fairbanks Lagers, and Bob was out of Ultra's so we stocked up. Travel was very good until we were about 25 miles away from Denali (150 miles total for the day). The next 15 or so miles were being completely rebuilt. Some sections were farther along than others so the total slow down wasn't too bad. It probably added 30 to 45 minutes to the trip. We checked into the park around 4 to 4:30 pm. Our reservations and bus passes were already at the main desk! (We called to make them about 1 to 2 hours prior to arrival!) There are 3 loops with campsites. First come first served to choose the exact site you want. We drove all 3 loops to find the perfect spot. Next we settled in for a comfortable stay.

Tok, AK

Today (5/31/14) we got up at 6 am and made breakfast. We headed to the ferry at 7:30 and were on way to Chicken on the other side of the Yukon River just before 8 am! Sky's were grey but visibility was pretty good, although not great for picture taking. As soon as you leave the river you climb to the top of a mountain and stay at a high elevation, hence the name "Top of the World Hwy". The road is often dirt with no shoulders or guardrails and hair pin curves and narrow stretches! I was not comfortable at times. This went on for 60 miles to the border crossing. Note: Population 3 at the top! We passed thru the border without any difficulties. On the way, we came upon a moose and her baby. They were trotting up the road the same direction as we were headed and wanted to continue on their path at their own rate of speed. The sides were so steep the baby couldn't get off the road so they kept going up the road. This went on for 1 to 2 miles. The baby was very tired and they took several short breaks. Three times the mother got off the road but the baby would not follow because the brush on the side was too thick. Finally when another on coming vehicle approached they had to make a move and after 2 more attempts the mother convinced her little one it was time to move through the brush on the side. She seemed exhausted. After the border crossing, the next 13 miles were what Bob was most concerned with. The road was being completely rebuilt and is very rough. Much of this section was 10/15 mph. By the end of this summer it should be paved. (The road crew has already spent over $30,000 on tires!) After this section most of the rest was in better shape than we had expected and we made pretty good time. At a pull-off before chicken we stopped for lunch. I had started a crock pot of chili when we left in the morning (it was ready) and Bob says it was quite good! We got into Chicken around 1 pm. We found the main downtown business district. All three businesses are owned by Susan. (She was there, though she says she now spends her winters in Nevada.) She is the Baker and all around task master. At the Chicken Creek Cafe we bought brownies. At the Chicken Mercantile Emporium we bought post cards and momentos. Bob really liked a T-Shirt but "enough was enough". Bob had to go into the Chicken Creek Saloon and have a beer. Excellent Alaskan Beer on tap. It was quite the Bar! Like none we had ever seen. It made Pixie's place look like a classy pub. I must say Bob wouldn't mind going back for a longer taste. You can camp for free in their parking lot. 80 miles later we were in Tok. Checked on Tires. Perhaps in Fairbanks we will find our size. We washed the truck and settled into a small campground (Alaska Stove Campground, the cheapest in the area!) $15/night, Free showers and laundry for campers it was a steal! We spent the next 2 nights here doing cleaning chores and taking a break. Monday, June 2nd we picked up our mail. Did another wash and our banking then after lunch the rain that threatened began and we headed off to Fairbanks, 205 miles north-west.