Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Day 113, July 23, 2019, Tuesday. Anchorage, AK ( miles)
Departed Wasilla and said good bye to our great hosts, Dan and Mary Ellen. Arrived in Anchorage and checked into the Creekwood Inn and RV Park (fhu 50 amp). Picked up Aaron from the airport and went dinner at the Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria which was highly recommended by Dan & Mary Ellen. We had two 14 inch pizzas for the three of us, one with reindeer sausage which was particularly good. I washed the pizza down with a Prince William Porter from Anchorage’s Broken Tooth Brewing. We then did a hike in the Earthquake Park and also drove downtown and watched the salmon run in the Ship Creek Overlook.


Day 112, July 22, 2019, Monday. Wasilla, AK
Independence Mine. Hatcher pass; salmon
 We visited the Independence Mine and had a picnic lunch before beginning our self guided tour of the former gold mine. The mine closed in 1951 and is now an Alaska State Park. It is in a pretty remote area. Over time the mine and its community were powered by diesel generators totaling 900 horsepower. The single largest generator was 275 hp which is less powerful than my coach. The mine buildings are being restored as funds become available but many buildings have collapsed before they could be restored. On the way back from the mine we drove through Hatcher Pass at an elevation of 3,886 feet. Many paragliders were floating around the mountains making me jealous as that experience has not yet been checked off my bucket list. We visited Dan’s lakefront 18 acre property in Houston, AK, with his very partially completed cabin which he is building. To say it is going to be very rustic would be a gross understatement. No municipal utilities anywhere near and power only by a 7kw generator (my coach generator is 8kw). The road to his property, although a public road, is not maintained and will require much work. Well, at least it is on a beautiful lake. Dinner at home was salmon on the grill followed by another late night of conversation.









Day 111, July 21, 2019, Sunday. Wasilla, AK
We had lunch with Dan and Mary Ellen at the Palmer Ale House. I was a bad boy and had a ½ lbs. blue cheese burger with a Bearpaw Mat-Maid Milk Stout. Both were very good. We visited the Musk Ox Farm where we learned much about the social life of the musk ox. Then we visited the Ididatrod Trail Race headquarters where there was a film and museum about the race and the dogs. We also took a ride in the “summer” sled pulled by a team of huskies. It was a blast! Dinner at home of king crab and caribou steaks was fantastic. Another late night talk session as we never seemed to realize how late it is with the midnight sun.









Day 110, July 20, 2019, Saturday. Wasilla, AK (48 miles)
We arrived in Wasilla, AK, for a visit with my college buddy, Dan Beardsley and his wife Mary Ellen. I had not seen Dan since 1977 but we seemed to pick up right where we left off and filled each other in about our lives for the last 42 years. Lunch on the outside lakefront patio at Everett’s Grill. For dinner, Dan grilled up some halibut which was delicious. With the abundant daylight, we talked late into the night.

Day 109, July 19, 2019, Friday. Willow, AK (6 miles)
After several days without a campground and expecting to visit my college buddy in Wasilla tomorrow and desiring to be full of fresh water and empty of waste water, we checked into Mat-Su RV Park at mile post 90.8. After laundry and a thorough clean up of the coach, we drove the car to Talkeetna. Lots of touristy shops but also Denali Brewing Company. I had a Chuli Stout on draft which was very good. This beer also is available in cans so I also bought a can to take home for my collection. A Friday afternoon farmers market had 3 small vendors and took up about 30 seconds of our day. I would rate Talkeetna not a must see and perhaps a must bypass.


Day 108, July 18, 2019, Thursday. Mile post 97.4 on the Parks Highway (120 miles).
After a quiet night, we continued south on the Parks Highway on another sunny day. We pulled into a turnoff at 183.2 which offers a view of the Alaska Mountain Range and there before us was Denali (formerly McKinley), the tallest mountain in North America at 20,310 feet and growing 3/4 of an inch each year due to plate tectonics. After many photos and much excitement, we continued south and stopped at several pull outs with views of Denali. Most of our stops were in the Denali State Park which runs about 36 miles along the Parks Highway. The State Park boasts better views of Denali than the National Park and I cannot dispute that. It seems the southern view has fewer clouds surrounding Denali as we noticed clouds to the north where the National Park is located. The State Park is also closer to Denali than we were able to go in the National Park. At mile 98.7 we took the Talkeetna Spur Road, a 14 mile road ending at Talkeetna. Along the way we stopped at Kahiltna Birchworks for a tour and tasting of 4 types of birch syrup. It takes 100 gallons of birch sap to make one gallon of syrup, as opposed to maple which is 40 to 1. We bought some late harvest syrup and also had birch ice cream, delicious. We drove into Talkeetna and could find nowhere to park. We tried a campground but they had no vacancy. We tried another “campground” a few miles away but the 30 amp service was a 15 amp extension cord running out of the woods as was a green garden hose which had no running water (cheaper green garden hoses are not intended for potable water, only white or blue). We did not stay and found a pull out back on the Parks Highway.











Day 107, July 17, 2019, Wednesday.  Mile post 185.6 on the Parks Highway, East Fork Chulitna Wayside (53 miles)
A rare early start for us as we arrived back at the Denali NP Visitor Center at 9 am to a bright sunny day. We parked the coach and took the car along Park Road to the farthest point allowed at mile 15. To go beyond that one must take the fairly costly park bus from mile zero and which takes 6 to 12 hours depending on how far you want to go on the 92 mile Park Road. Given the forecast of now 60% chance of rain and after rangers informed us that Denali is only visible 30% of the time we decided against the bus trip. At mile 15 we hiked the beginning of the Savage Alpine Trail which lead us to a rock formation which we climbed a bit. From that vantage we saw a female moose with two babies in tow. Then we hiked the Savage River Loop Trail and went a little beyond the trail end over a hill to get to a beautiful vantage point of the river carved canyon. We then drove to mile 13 and hiked the Savage Cabin Loop and the Mountain Vista Trail. We took photos of what we thought was Denali but it was very faint and there were a lot of clouds. Later we attended the sled dog demonstration. This is the only National Park in the U.S. that has utilizes dogs and has a kennel. The huskies help the rangers maintain the park in the winter and minimize the footprint of man and his machinery. The huskies make a lot of noise but they really like to run as was demonstrated by pulling a wheeled “sled” around a track very fast. We departed Denali NP without seeing Denali and continued heading south and spent the night in a pull off that welcomes rv’s with some facilities and a loop drive among trees to allow a nice quiet night. It never did rain.






















Day 106, July 16, 2019, Tuesday. Mile post 246.8 on the Parks Highway - “Denali National Park” (120 miles)
We departed Fairbanks and headed south on the Parks Highway. This was the best road we have experienced in Alaska so far. Although some areas of frost heaves the pavement was mostly good. We arrived at the Denali National Park around 3 pm and went to the visitor center, 1.5 miles into the Park Road. Saw a film on the park and viewed the display area which had a section on the animals of the park, the natives and the park’s history. The Denali mountain was not visible this day and the forecast for tomorrow is 80% chance of rain so we may not be able to see it during our stay.  With the knee mostly better, we hiked a moderate trail, parts of McKinley and Triple Lakes Trail, and crossed a suspension bridge. Rosemary had full knowledge of this bridge before the hike and handled it very well - even posed for a photo in the middle. We parked for the night at a pull off of the Parks Highway at mile post 246.8. Dinner was leftover Lemongrass, still delicious.



Day 105, July 15, 2019, Monday. Fairbanks, AK
After a lazy morning, in the afternoon we visited the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum of the North. It was a very well done history of Alaska including the history of Fairbanks. Interestingly, the museum confirmed much of the Fairbanks history we learned the night before at the Palace Theater, minus the comedy. We then did a short hike at the Creamer’s Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge but did not see many birds. Dinner for the second time at Lemongrass Thai Cuisine was good again, this time avocado green curry with chicken, Param with chicken and vegetables and pad thai.