More Tales from Alaska

It's been a while since we posted - we continue to work and to sightsee up here.

Last week we went on a ranger led hike in the park. It was a beautiful day - we got to see Denali several times on the ride out. Quite a hike too - we went out one stream bed, crossed over the end of a small mountain and back up towards the road on another stream bed. Wet feet and aching muscles at the end - a success. Sally got a good close look at a ptarmigan. It's a male; you can tell by the red eyebrow.



Bus ride out to hike

Hiking up stream

Ptarmigan

Last Sunday we went up to Fairbanks to see the Red Green Regatta. It's a float down the Chena River in craft that are built and/or decorated by the participants to reflect the theme of the Red Green show and Red's favorite handyman's helper - duct tape. It looked like so much fun that we wished we had entered a boat ourselves. The weather was warm and the water didn't look like it was too cold (though Sally would have probably turned blue). We saw everything from Santa to the Loch Ness monster to 3 Men in a Tub. The course was only a couple of miles, but there is no telling how long it would take to float or how many of the craft actually made it. Many of them didn't appear to be under control at the starting line.

Santa in the Red Green Regatta

Finally we took a ride on the Alaska Railroad down to a little town called Talkeetna. It was supposedly the inspiration for Northern Exposure. A very interesting place - it has 800 year round residents. There are about 10 flight-seeing companies in town and a bunch of gift stores featuring crafts made by the residents. It looked like they must spend the whole winter knitting, painting and making jelly. It has spectacular views of Denali and lots of old historical buildings. We enjoyed our stay in a local lodge and a great breakfast in the Roadhouse - sourdough berry pancakes withe fireweed jam. Yum!

All Aboard

Coming round the bend

Talkeetna store and visitor center

A different view of Denali from the south

We'll sign off for now - only a few more weeks before we have to head towards southern Alaska for more of the great adventure.

The Artic Circle and more Denali

Official Arctic Crossing Certificate
As we left you last, we were headed up to the far north - past the Arctic Circle. And now we have spent a night in the true land of the midnight sun.


We left on Sunday and drove first to Fairbanks on the Parks Highway, then on the Elliott Highway. Both of these are paved and as good as roads get up here - only minor frost heaves and potholes.



"Bushwhacked" and visiting real Alaska in Joy

As we passed through the town of Joy, we stopped at a little gift shop for some lunch. While we were there, we were "bushwhacked" - a friendly highjacking by two ladies who live in the backcountry in a house they built of materials they scrounged, bartered for or bought as cheaply as possible. They took us home with them and showed off their rustic home, complete with screened in porch, greenhouse (with tomatos growing strong), outhouse (a two-seater with men's and ladies' side), bear proof doors and LARGE woodpile for the winter. They even gave us a jar of moose meat from their stockpile.

Dalton Highway and the Alaska Pipeline

Next we turned onto the Dalton Highway. It's about 500 miles of the worst road in Alaska. The first 90 miles are gravel and dirt, including a ten mile stretch being prepared for paving that is covered with a layer of rock chunks larger than a good sized fist. Tough driving. The highway was built to roughly parallel the Alaska Pipeline. It crosses the Arctic Circle after about 120 miles, then continues to Coldfoot and Deadhorse (at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean).



Sally at the Arctic Circle

We went as far as Coldfoot, where we drank a beer at the northern-most saloon in the US, got to see the sun in the sky in the middle of the night and slept in the back of our truck along with many mosquitos. They are not too bad down near Denali but up in the tundra area there is a lot of standing water and so there are many insects.

Midnight Sun in Coldfoot

Altogether a great trip - but a tough one. And then on the way home we passed a line of antique cars operating in conditions that might have been familiar when they were first built. It makes you appreciate what our grandparents went through.



Old cars on the way up the Dalton Highway


Jeep Safari
On our return, we scheduled a Jeep tour of some backcountry near Healy. Tom drove one of the Jeeps on our off-road adventure. I think he really enjoyed the four wheel drive experience. The day was absolutely gorgeous. We got a real great view of Denali - our best picture so far (from land at least).

The best pic of Denali (from the ground)
Finally on Sunday, we took another trip into the park. This time we did a 4 mile hike from Highway Pass back down a gravel stream bed towards the Toklat River. This trip, we got to see a wolf close up. One of the bus passengers spotted movement in the brush and got the driver to stop the bus. At first we thought it might be a caribou, but once we got a clear look, it turned out to be a wolf. He headed straight towards the road, turned and ran through the ditch by the roadside next to the bus, crossed the road right behind us and then ran along the other side of the bus. It was fantastic!

Close-up of a wolf at Denali

Tom hiking near Highway Pass

We are having a ball - seeing and doing so much. The work is fun. It's not too difficult and we get to meet and talk with people from all over the world.
We'll continue to keep you up to date on what's going up here in the North. Hope you like the new blog capability for placing pictures in the text.