Alaska with the Brewer's 06

June 29, 2006  Day 37  Denali National Park  AK  Home of Mt McKinley

Arrived at Denali Riverside RV Park after a 2-? hour drive.  Lovely scenery despite crossing through newly burned forest fire areas.  We opted to stay in the dry camping area while Russ, Ned and Lorna selected riverfront sights with electric and water.  We have a view of the highway and mountains; they have a view of the river and comment on the CB?s from time to time about the rafters who are coming down the rapids. It is neat how we leave our CB's tuned to channel 34 and when we need to tell one another something we just grab the CB and communicate!  We are parked over 100 yards from Russ and can pick up his satellite signal so we have Internet. What a life!

I went with  Russ and Lorna  to the Visitor Center while Terry cleaned bugs off the front of the coach. The visitor Center was as busy as that of Yosemite and zillions of tour busses abound! Terry had a nap. (noteworthy as he never takes naps)
We are having left over Prime rib from last night?s Turtle Club dinner and fresh zucchini from the farmers market. Tomorrow we will take the flight over Mt McKinley that Ned and Lorna took today. It is in the Tour Saver book. We hope our weather and views will be as good as theirs. The winds are very high. A little camper van has hunkered down close to us to block the wind. Note we?ve had gusts to 38 mph so far tonight.  It does seem to be blowing clouds away and we hope for clear skies and calm winds in the morning.

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 119 
Wildlife sightings: ground squirrel  (See Russ' photo)
Temps:  High  62    Low 50  Wind gusts to 38 mph so far
Camping Costs: $18.  dry camping includes 15% Escapees discount
GPS: 63.7689, -148.9120

Chet18013 said:

Laurie and I are extremely jealous of you forks and your trip. We had visited almost all the places you have posted photos of during 2003, however almost all your photos are showing some blue sky and you are having nice weather.

Click to expand...

Chet,
I think weather is just the luck of the draw. At first in Banff we waited a week for it to clear , now we wait 10 minutes and it clears. You never know and can't count on forecasts or predictions. We have indeed been lucky with our weather and hope Mt McKinley is "out" for us tomorrow.

Betty

Terry and Betty

Hope that your flight tomorrow is even better than ours today.  Enjoy.

A man never goes wrong eating Japaneo.  If I were ther I would be joining him. Enjoy your trip to the fullest because we sure are.

June 30, 2006  Day 38  Denali National Park,  Awaiting a glimpse of Mt McKinley

I could not sleep a wink last night.  Maybe I was excited about today?s flight to see Mt McKinley, maybe the wind was keeping me awake. The coach shook and sounded like gravel was being thrown at it.  Turns out at 7:45 a.m., we had a wind gust of 48 mph.  Well we trekked off for our 11 am flight with Talkeetna Aero Services.  Not many people in the parking lot and when I announce our arrival, I am informed that due to weather conditions, they have decided not to fly today.  I am so relieved.  I worried all night about the wind and clouds.  This outfit promises you a good view and if they can?t deliver, they reschedule you.  We will try again at 9 am in the morning.  This is one advantage of not being on a caravan.  We have the flexibility in our schedule to change things.  We booked a bus trip into the heart of Denali for Monday and they offer NO refunds.  If we miss the bus we are out of luck. 

I took Terry to the Visitor Center where we saw the movie and visited the touristy shops in Denali.  Prices in Fairbanks were considerably more favorable. We kicked back all afternoon waiting for the weather to clear up.  We see patches of blue sky on the horizon, then it will sprinkle.  I am doing dinner dishes and Russ announces excitedly  on the CB, ?Moose across the river!?  Terry jumps up, dons his sweatshirt and sandals, grabs his camera and off he trots across the park to the River side.  He is not happy with the shot he got of the moose but I make him post it as it is the best we have seen all day.  Thank you to Russ for the keen eye. Hopefully we will have shots of Mt McKinley in the morning.


Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0   
Wildlife sightings: 1 moose
Temps:  High  62      Low 48 Light sprinkles and  a wind gust of 48
Camping Costs: $19.00 per night dry camp Denali Riverside RV Park

Friday, June 30 Mahoney's notes. Since our arrival at this CG in the gorge of the Nenana river, we have been buffeted by strong winds. They finally abated at noon. I took a drive on the park road as far as i am allowed (15 miles, Savage river bridge). Interesting lighting with moderate cloud cover and sunny holes. The only critter I see is a bunny rabbit. Probably due to mid-day and fairly heavy traffic on road. The big mt is hidden behind dence rainclouds. I make do with compositions of boreal forest, taiga, tundra, and snowy mountain peaks.

This evening while drowzing on the couch, I am startled by the ruckus raised by the young lady in the next coach. It is wise to rush out and see what's up (with camera in hand) whenever this occurs. A moose is dining on the willow shrubs across the river. Lorna and Terry got pics as well.

Ned and I went for a ride in the park today but will post pictures after my shuttle bus up to Wonder Lake tomorrow.  We also made reservations to do a tour bus ride on Monday to mile 53 in the park.  Yesterday when Russ, Betty and I were out riding around I was able to get a picture of some very adventurous rafters in Nenana River near our campground

July 1, 2006? ? ? Day 39? ?Mt.? McKinley? ?Alaska

I awoke this morning to the sound of raindrops on roof and feared our flight to McKinley might be canceled.? I phoned their number at 7:10 am and learn our flight is a go and that it is clear up on top. While sitting on the couch, something caught my eye and behold there was a fox trotting very quickly down the side of the road.? He was carrying his catch in his mouth that looked like a big rabbit.? A run for the camera and in so much excitement I failed to focus properly but I think you can get the gist.? I don?t think seeing wildlife do their daily chores will ever become ho hum.

We arrived at the Healy Airport and after a video briefing us on the safety issues we boarded our Navajo Chieftain twin-engine plane.? She was a whole lot more powerful than the plane we took to the Arctic. She carries 8 passengers plus a pilot.? We take off and have a few very bumpy moments as we climbed to about 10,000 feet.? The captain searched for holes in the clouds through which to make his ascent.? We were given the oxygen masks and secured the elastic straps firmly behind our ears before he headed up through the rest of the clouds to see ?the great one.?? One?s first glimpse of the summit takes your breath away.? ? I have no words to describe it.? With the wispy clouds below us, the scene looked ethereal and heaven like.

? We were flying at 20,000 feet and circled the summit clockwise and then counter clockwise.? We looked at the path the climbers take.? There have been 1300 permits given out this year to make the climb and 400 have already been completed.? It takes hikers about 19 days to make the climb (as they have to stop to adjust to the altitude for days) and about 2 days to come down.?

So when do you think McKinley was first ascended?? ? ?Answer in 1910 by Sourdoughs. They left Dec 19 and reached the summit on April 9.? ? How high is the highest peak?? 20,320 feet and is the highest mountain on the North American Continent. The mountain continues to rise about 1mm per year.? Our outside temperature up there today was 14 degrees but winters at the low 14,500 base drop to minus 98 degrees with 150 mph winds. Permanent snowfields cover 75% of the mountain.? Mt McKinley was named for then Senator, later President William McKinley. Denali is the name of the massive National Park (6 million acres) making it larger than the state of Massachusetts.? Of the 20 highest mountains in the United States, 17 are in Alaska.? Alaska has 19 peaks of 14,000 feet, 7 are in the Denali area.

Your final picture will be, in my opinion, the only way to see the summit! I'm not hiking it!


Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0? ?
Wildlife sightings: Fox with prey in mouth
Temps:? High? ?62? ? ?Low 47? ?0.09 rainfall
Camping Costs: $19 for dry camp

Here are some additional pics of today's Mt. McKinley flight....We didn't have the clear weather Ned & Lorna had but I think the clouds give the peaks a surreal look.

I would highly reccommend this flight to anyone visiting Denali...If you have time to out-wait the weather.<G>

Terry,

Some great shots!! They wouldn't have been as good without the clouds IMO.

Thanks Jim

We are having a ball...Leaving for a 13 hr guided trip to the Kantishna Roadhouse tomorrow (Mon 7/3).

July 2, 2006? ?Day 40? ? Denali National Park

Today it drizzled all day and was cloudy which made for a good tourist souvenir-shopping day.? I bought a poster and the book Into the Wild.? ?I saw a coat I thought Russ would like and a phone call later, bought it for him.? Lorna bought one just like it for Ned. In the afternoon Russ drove us on the 15-mile drive you are allowed to take into the National Park.? Any farther and you need to be on an offficil bus which we will do tomorrow.? We saw a big moose right near the Visitor Center.? On the way back we saw the tourist train from Anchorage go over the trestle bridge just at the moment we stopped for pictures. As we were taking pictures of them we noted the flashes of them taking pictures of us.? Being a tourist is a kick.

? Russ had us over for a big pot of meatball soup that was so good on this chilly day.? Russ is moving on to Anchorage for tires in the morning and we will lose our Internet connection.? I may be off line for a while but will send updates when I can.? We need to be on the bus at 6:20 in the morning for our 13-hour tour to the heart of Denali that ends at the Kantishna Roadhouse.? Tim and Jan Lynch recommended this trip.? ?I need to go to bed now, to be ready to go on time.

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven:? 0?
Wildlife sightings:? 1 Moose, 1 rabbit, 2 chipmunks, and 2 seagulls
Temps:? High? ?63? ? ?Low 46? ?0.06 inch of rain
Camping Costs: $18.00? ?Riverside RV Park

Betty  You did it again.  At close look I think you've discovered my long lost twin brother in the wild.  Wondered what happened to him.  Looks sure run in the family.  Loved the pics.

July 3 Mahoney to Anchorage 253 miles.

The day started drizzly with very low cloud deck. Made the first 50 miles mystic and ethereal. I got out from under the Denali cloud cover and gained spectacular views of the valley and mts. The best views were always without pull-outs!

There are 2 official Denali viewpoints. The N one has just a sign. Look NW, perpendicular to the hywy. The south pull-out at lower troublesome creek is developed, has the long low mural seen in Chet or UK Paul's photo. There is a resident volunteer docent to explain what you are not seeing. The mural/photo depicts winter with all mts covered with snow. Today the nearer, lower mts were snowless and dark. Mt McKinley is 31 miles beyond and totally shrouded in cloud. In my photo, the dark mt with the pine tree adjacent to it is a foreground 5,000 ft foothill right in front of McKinley.

I started testing TV connections at Talkeetna junction...no signal at all.

At Wasilla airport I got some channels (2,607) but not 608 for tour de france.

Same result in Anchorage...boo hoo.

After Wassilla the road becomes a true freeway ( with no rest stops) into the edge of Anchorage, then becomes a boulevard.

My first stop was ship creek landing CG. I drove right on past because it is under the bluff at the norht edge of downtown. No sat signals possible. So I just continued on south to Sams Club and plan to spend the night here.

July 3, 2006? ?Day 41? ?Denali National Park, Kantishna Roadhouse Tour?
Today was one of those Good News, Bad News days.? I shall try to report it as such.

GOOD NEWS:? Alarm went off on time.
BAD NEWS:? It was 5 am.
GOOD NEWS:? We arrived at the Denali Bluffs Hotel for our 6:20 am pick up.
BAD NEWS:? Their shuttle buss is full and we have to drive our already parked car to the next hotel stop.
GOOD NEWS:? Many really nice people waiting for the bus for this 13 hour trip and the bus shows up on time.
BADS NEWS:? They are over booked and ask one couple to wait until tomorrow to go.
GOOD NEWS:? We volunteer to step off as it is a rainy foggy day are offered a free dinner for our anniversary.
BAD NEWS:? This is not the same company with whom we booked our reservation.
GOOD NEWS:? We use hotel? ?phone and the company we booked with says our bus is late but will be there.
BAD NEWS: We wait and no bus arrives. Call company.? They say bus left us and we missed it.? We will be charged.
GOOD NEWS:? We drive to next hotel and find bus that says Kantishna Road House. OURS!
BAD NEWS:? We are not on their list.
GOOD NEWS:? Driver takes pity on us and accepts us as passengers.
BAD NEWS:? It is rainy and foggy and we can?t see our hand in front of face.
GOOD NEWS:? They clean the mud off of our side windows at every rest stop with squeegees.
BAD NEWS: Driver says this is the wettest dirtiest day they have had this year.
GOOD NEWS:? We start to see wild life and it is all good news from here on?

Our driver, Turk, is a Naturalist and very informative.? He spoke of Deanli National Park; it?s history and defined wilderness as a place big enough to sustain its inhabitants, free from unnatural trammels.? He told us the dictionary definition of trammel was no barbed wire, no electrical wires, no dams, and no intervention by man of any kind. 45 % of Alaska has been designated a ?Wilderness area? by Congress where only 2.5% of the lower 48 State areas have been so designated.? Once again I can only be in awe of the nature here. As the fog rose we began to see the countryside before us.? We traveled 95 miles into the heart of Denali National Park on a gravel road built in the 30?s.? The goal is to maintain the road but not to improve it so as to not disturb nature. It was considerably better than the Top of the World Highway. It did have hairpin turns and very narrow passages for two busses meeting each other in the road. I?m so glad they do not let the general population drive this road. We rose from regular alpine tundra to arctic tundra. We watched the trees grow from the shriveled up spruce to no trees at all.? ?After the lunch break at the fancy Kantishna Roadhouse Hotel, we listened to the son of the Iditarod winner in each of the last 4 decades.? His long time Alaskan heritage family trains dogs and we got to meet them and watch him take them for a spin.


When we saw Arctic squirrels, Turk asked: So, who has seen a squirrel?? What is the significant characteristic of it?
We learned that an arctic squirrel hibernates like a bear.? But what has naturalists scratching their heads is that a squirrel is able to lower their body temperature to 28 degrees during hibernation.? Of course they have to get up every 3 weeks and pee, but who wouldn?t at that temp?? ? I want to give you so much information.? Maybe I am still a teacher at heart.? Maybe I want to share with those of you who will never ever get the good fortune to tour Alaska. I hope I do not share too many details.

How many bears do you think live in this Park of 6 million acres?? ?Naturalists guess between 350 and 400.? We saw at least 8 of them today!? Who is the biggest threat to a grizzly bear?? Answer?Male grizzly bears that go after the young cubs.? We spotted mew seagulls, a beaver in his home, Dahl sheep, a moose, bear, caribou and arctic squirrels.? Turk pointed out the diversity of this area for such a variety of wildlife.? We did not get to see Mt McKinley as the clouds hid it and we learned it is hidden 80% of the time during the summer.? (Paul from UK you lucked out and we shall treasure your pictures)? One 13-hour trip into Denali National Park and you experience wilderness of a lifetime.? IT WAS A GOOD DAY.

A major thought Turk left with me today was that an experience of wilderness is new each day.? I cannot compare what our friends saw yesterday or what a poster showed me.? What I saw today was what the wilderness offered to me today. Each day is different.? ?When you experience it, it will be yours.? (Pretty soon I will be quoting H.D. Thoreau.)


Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0? ?
Wildlife sightings: Several Arctic horseshoe hairs, several Arctic ground squirrels, lots of grizzly? ? ?bears, a moose,? ?lots of dahl sheep, a beaver , dew seagulls, a red fox
Temps:? High 56? ? ? ? Low 49? ? 0.12 rainfall
Camping Costs: $18.00

July 4 2006    Day 42  Denali

Today was our 9th wedding anniversary.  We celebrated by sleeping in and taking a leisurely day off.  I read Into the Wild and did a few errands.  We dined at the Denali Princess Hotel downtown and had a very good meal with one exception.  There is a complete lack, absence and void of any July 4th festivities.  Granted it is forest and daylight so no fireworks would be appropriate,  but no flags? , no July 4th dinner specials? no parade, no banners  nothing, nada, zip. It is as if we were in France.  No wonder Paul from UK was confused about the Memorial Day festivities when there are not even any July 4th activities here in Denali.  We have been asking all week if anything was offered.  Russ tells us celebrations happened in Anchorage.
Next year I am going to a parade! Any July 4th parade.  I am an American and proud of it.  I like celebrations!

Statistics:
Motorhome Miles Driven: 0 
Wildlife sightings: 0
Temps:  High  65      Low 50  cloudy all day 0.01 inch of rain
Camping Costs: $18

Congratulations Big Time.  People just got to take a day off now and then and celebrate.  Again  congrats/.

July 4 2006 Anchorage

Day started cloudy but sunny later. High in low 70s. 4th of July activities include a wheelchair race for disabled vets, parade, family picnic, baseball games, midnight fireworks. Sundown is 11:30 pm and sunrise 4:30 am. Wont be truly dark for the display. Fireworks are illegal to set off but you can buy them out in the country. Kids have been setting them off all day.

I moved 9 miles today to Golden Nugget rv park. I checked it out with Google Earth which showed tree size by thier shadows. I got here before they opened and tested out site 133. Satellite connection was prompt. Unfortunately, that site was reserved So I got 141 and got online eventually.

One of the red sleeper german tour busses arrived this evening and I got to watch the setup. A kitchen is in the streetside bays. folding tables were raised and the chickens that had been cooking all day were being shredded for the main dish. On the curbside, they were setting up the access to the sleeping coffins. First, the sides fold down to make a standing platform about 5 ft high. Then the upper sidewall lifts up to form a roof. Curtains hide the actual compartments so i did not see how you get in and out. A staircase is pulled out and installed as well as an outer curtain about the platform. I know from seeing this before that a guard rail is installed behind the curtain. While this occurred, the passengers were getting fresh clothes out of their cases in the pavilion.

In afternoon I visited my favorite bookstore here "Titlewave" a huge used and new store on Northern Lights ave west of the sears mall. Cost me another $240.00 for more Alaska Geographic magazines. I passed on the $25.00 and up early issues!

How about a picture of one of those new coats?

Betty,

Tok had a parade! It was really a lot of fun. Actually we were in Dawson City on 7/1 for Canada's celebration and then Tok for the fourth.

Happy Anniversary!

ken