It just would not be an Alaska road trip without a 'hey look boys the pipeline' comment or two along the way.
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Tuesday, July 28, 2020
Monday, July 27, 2020
Road North ~ Dalton Highway
Finger Mountain a stop along the Dalton Highway, it is rumored to point to Fairbanks and was used by early aviators flying home to Fairbanks from the villages on what is now called the North Slope.
Yes the mosquitoes were this bad and even worse at the Arctic Circle - woof.
Beaver Slide! Double woof! Yes it was a bit scary for me the passenger but I knew my wheel-man is a skilled operator, and we made it to the bottom safe and sound.
The Dalton Highway is known by several names, the Haul Road, the Ice Road or just the Road, and is a road worth exploring. Best advice I can offer is have extra petrol, two spare tires, and bug nets for you head. Trust me on the bug nets.
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Friday, July 24, 2020
Camp Life
Look who wandered into camp one sunny morning.
Look who we found making a home under the bridge between the rocks.
Wild Sweet Pea
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Thursday, July 23, 2020
Gulkana Glacier Area ~ Swing Bridge Across College Creek
Exploring near the Gulkana Glacier area. In the above photo we are next to the Gulkana River
The suspension bridge crosses over College Creek that flows southwest to the Gulkana River. It was a bit nerve wracking and scary at first but once I got the hang of the bridges motion and trust of the wood and cables it became easier.
We camped in the area for two nights and hiked back to the bridge twice for the adventure of crossing over to the other side again. It appeared that most of the spring melt had already flowed downriver so the creek seemed less ominous.
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Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Earthquake ~ 7.8 (but we didn't feel this one)
This quake triggered a tsunami warning in several areas last night, and they have all been cancelled. The Alaska Earthquake Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks is our go-to resource for information, and Michael West has written a nice article about last nights earthquake.
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Tuesday, July 21, 2020
Summit Lake ~ Richardson Highway
Beaver swimming towards a gull perched on the leftover winter ice.
It was an amazing sight to see Summit Lake on a calm windless day, not something you witness very often.
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Monday, July 20, 2020
Hike Along the Denali Highway
There are several trails along the Denali Highway to explore, we took a hike on the Southern Landmark Gap Trail on another gorgeous summer day. Our bear bells were a jingling and our conversation was continuous in order to ensure the large creatures could hear us coming and move away from the pesky, noisy humans.
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Friday, July 17, 2020
Maclaren Summit
Waterfowl Lakes - just west of Maclaren Summit
It was another beautiful day on the Denali Highway and Maclaren Summit sure delivered a fantastic view! Clear and a million!
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Thursday, July 16, 2020
Clearwater Creek
Camping by Clearwater Creek on Lucy's Aunt Mable's land. It is part of their Ahtna Native family hunting and foraging land along the Denali Highway. Thank you Aunt Mable for the great place to camp for the night. We collected all the trash we could find that was left behind by other un-thoughtful campers, and left the area better than we found it.
Our supper table view was another fabulous dinning experience, not many restaurants can top these views.
Hello little Yellow Warbler! Thank you for holding still, if only for a moment, for me to take your photo.
Try as I might these Swallows were too quick for me to get their photo but they sure were great to see flitting about. Plus they kept the area fairly mosquitoes free.
Clearwater Creek - our second favorite camping spot along the Denali Highway.
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Along the Denali Highway
The mighty Susitna River.
On day three we broke camp where we had been staying near the Brushkana campground and headed east towards Clearwater Creek. It was a lovely day for a drive, we only passed a handful of vehicles headed in the other direction.
Mile 67 to mile 60 were incredibly rough road, filled with potholes and washboard, I think we only averaged 20 miles or less an hour. The mile markers on the Denali Highway are set up east to west, and since we drove west to east we travel backwards through the mile markers.
This being a gravel road the slower we drove the less dust so the rough road didn't bother us much, plus we were on holiday and had no particular plans which are the best kind of road trips.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Peace & Quiet
Camping in Alaska can mean that there is not another person within several miles of you, and there is plenty of time to explore the area to see what plants or trees might be blooming. It also means enjoyable meals, a game of canasta, and an evening spent around a fire.
Pure joy!
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Monday, July 13, 2020
Friday, July 10, 2020
Let our Summer Adventures Begin
It has been a while since I posted, my j-o-b has been tremendously busy - thank you pandemic for adding your layers of confusion and change to my work day - this too shall pass but until that happens we took a much-needed holiday. Away from the work computer, away from the sound of the bustling city streets (yup Anchorage is as busy as every - woof), and away from cell service.
Living in Alaska it is fairly easy to get off the beaten path and be socially distanced from people and world events. Not that we wish to ignore the important changes that are happening, we do not, and in fact we actively engage in the positive change taking place around us. It is good for the soul to be away. To reflect. To armor up. We did just that, and day one the south side of the Alaska Range shined gloriously.
We have been filled up. We are blessed to live in a state that offers so much glory, and aim not to take that for granted.
Have a great weekend my friends, and power on fighting the good fight.
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