Denali, AK to Talkeetna, AK: Hide and seek with Mt McKinley

We left Denali before 8 AM, in the COLD of the morning. Throughout the ride we have to adjust our clothing to the change of temperatures, sometimes it feels like we do a lot of dressing / undressing and opening / resealing the luggage to pull things our or to stuff things back in.

This is a scenic ride in every way and the suspense is whether or not Mt McKinley will be in or out of the clouds. The cloud condition changes quite rapidly so that from an area where the mountain can be seen from the road to the next we cannot predict it appearance or disappearance. Or how much of it we will see. Mt McKinley is so big that yesterday I counted 3 different layers of clouds along its flanks.

At one of the look-outs we met a Swiss family who had flown to Whitehorse, YT, rented a crew cab ¾ ton Ford pick-up equipped with a camper and had been cruising around the Al-Can and Alaska.

At another, one of the ubiquitous cruise company buses was meting out lunches to its passengers so that they could picnic in this nice area before moving on. We asked the driver if he had extras and if we could buy a couple from his company for our lunches (places to eat are few and far between). He said that he indeed had extras but could not sell them, however as “Alaskan hospitality” he and his company would gladly give us lunches. So we too picnicked on free lunches; God bless this driver and his company. (P.S. it is against Royal Princess policy - for obvious reasons, but they sure are very friendly people.)

Talkeetna has a striking view on a very scenic portion of the Mt McKinley range, including Mt McKinley itself. The town has become a staging point for those hardy ones from all countries who attempt to climb the mountain each summer. It has an extremely busy airplane based industry ferrying supplies and climbers on skis-wheel equipped airplanes (there are no roads). It also provides tourist with rides to, around and into McKinley, including glacier landings. The price for the rides is rather steep when considered simply from an outlay point of view; however when factoring in all the operating costs of the machines, pilots it is quite reasonable. Talkeetna does not slumber when the climbing and tourist season winds down; salmons and other fish species crowd its three rivers and another brand of visitor requires catering to: the fisherman. So, floatplanes are buzzing too. We are on the back side of the climbing season, but on the high side of the tourist season and also at the beginning of the salmon run so even for a flying enthusiast like me the areal activity is a little overwhelming. Tonight we are staying in an old log cabin (a B & B) that is on the same lot as the garage used by the glacier flying legend Don Sheldon, and as I type I am looking at his original short and narrow strip (still in use today). The commercial operators use the modern airport/strip a few blocks away and the lake, but the old gravel strip still has a Super Cub and a Champ calling it home… and there is still a sign at the end of the runway – down town that is – that says: “no airplane parking beyond this point”.

Today's ride was a mellow 140 miles or so. We do not have a deadline so we stop a lot and visit with people a lot.

Denali National Park

We have been told that 70% of the time, Mt McKinley is hidden from view by local clouds. 30% of the times it is visible but only 3% of the time is a “picture perfect day”. When we woke up in Fairbanks, there was not a cloud in the sky. We could not leave early because I had an appointment for a blood test first thing in the morning when the lab opened; so we rolled out at 9:40 AM. However, not twenty minutes outside Fairbanks, there it was on the horizon: Mt McKinley over and above all the surrounding green ridges. Julia was whooping with joy and I got such goose bumps that from that point on I was cold.

There is a fair amount of road work done in the summer in Alaska (and the northern provinces of Canada) and the crews are usually friendly and interesting. The fellow holding the Stop/Slow sign in the hills outside Fairbanks had come to Alaska in 1975 from Ohio. In the conversation he asked what my accent was and upon my answer he switched to a fluent and easy conversation in French. He has a masters degree in French!

The highway outside Fairbanks rises onto a ridge and follows it for quite sometime. It is spectacular because we can see out of both sides. This day one could see forever. On our left our ridge overlooked a wide valley hemmed in far away by sharply defined mountains. On our right large parallel hills resembled the scenery in New Hampshire around Conway (but without any villages). Texas felt big, really big to us when we rode through its breadth … Alaska? Let me just suggest that Alaska’s purchase must have been sponsored by a Texan who felt constricted at home!

We made Denali our goal for the day as it is the gateway into Denali National Park. So after a somewhat short ride (130 miles, or so) we arrived in Denali, AK. Upon arrival we booked a trip on the official Park Bus into Denali then we began looking for a place to stay. We asked a local where to spend the night; he suggested doubling back to the next services 11 miles up the road (our time was running short as we needed to eat lunch and be back at the bus stop in 90 minutes). As we thanked him and pondered our options, a man walked to us and introduced himself as the nurse in the health center next door. He had heard our conversation because he had stood close by on his smoking break. He offered the use of his desk phone and the list of the local businesses from his offices. The first few tries brought concern (and a wasted 20 minutes): no vacancy except a room at $360.00 a night! So, Bo, the nurse said: “Don’t sweat it: I have plan C for you.” He offered us his trailer for the day and night as he would be sleeping in the clinic that night. So we had our lodgings for free! God is good.

The ride into the park was very interesting as regard to flora and fauna: the guide/driver was knowledgeable and spectacular as regard to vistas. The park is a 6 million acres preserve originally set aside for the protection of the Dahl sheep. We saw ptarmigans, caribous, snowshoe hares, Dahl sheep, ground squirrels, one cow moose and eleven grizzlies (5 sows, the rest were cubs and yearlings).

Tok, AK to Fairbanks: Making new friends

After last night’s storm, we awoke to clean skies and dry roads. We took the time to wash the biggest chunks of mud off the motorcycles and to re-lube the chains before saddling up and moving on.

Just a few miles out of town, a yellow hot-rod passed us as if we were standing still and a few seconds later a black one did the same. In seconds they were gone. We stopped at Delta Junction (the official end of the Al-Can highway) for fuel and lunch. As we were fueling and asking the locals for a recommendation as to a place to eat, we met a couple on a Goldwing and invited them to join us for lunch. As we rode to lunch, two V-Strom’s – identical to mine – passed by; we found them again at the restaurant. So, Larry from California, Willie from Mc Call, ID (the V-Strom riders), John and Peg from the mid-west and us ate together and had a whooping good time of laughter and tales. Larry and Willie are two former motorcycle racers (they settled down to responsible lives in the early seventies); they are going to the Arctic Circle. John and Peg had decided that for their 50^th anniversary, rather than a big banquet/reception at a hotel, they would fire up their 1992 Goldwing and ride up-to and around Alaska! Way to go - dream big and keep the romance going!

Somehow in the conversation, Larry and Willie mentioned that the night before they had a fun dinner with two guys: Bruce and Bob who also were going to the Arctic Circle but in hot-rods. When asked, they verified that one was yellow and one black: the very ones we saw.

We exchanged phone numbers with Larry in order to “try to get together for dinner in Fairbanks if practicable”.

Fairbanks was hosting its Golden Days so rooms were either all taken or at a steep premium. Julia and I were referred to a Bed and Breakfast. There we found the two hot-rods. Bruce – the owner/driver of the yellow one – mentioned that the night before they had dinner with two V-Strom riders and actually hoped to connect with them for this day’s dinner. We asked if they were Larry and Willie … to make a story short, Larry and Willie, Bruce (Grants Pass, OR) and Bob (Napa, CA) and Julia and I all ate together at the Pad Tai House on College Drive (the best Tai food any of us ever had). We laughed a lot and listened to hot-rod stories. Both Bob and Bruce had been mechanical nuts all their lives and raced since they were teenagers (I think that to this day they would raced anything, anywhere, at anytime of the day or night). They had finished exchanging engines and transmissions on the two hot-rods (originally Ford 31’ and 32’s) only the night before they began their journey. Normally they run tricked-up engines and transmissions that dyno at or just short of 800 hp! For the trip they deemed it wise to run detuned versions at respectively 500 and 570 hp. They drive them as open buckets: they do not have tops … rain or shine. Their ages? … hard to tell, but Bob has a magnificent head of white hair around a wrinkled, kindly, bespectacled face and Bruce has been retired from Chrysler for years and years! Since the “hot-rodders” and ourselves “lived” at the same address that night we joined them for after dinners and more stories, time flew and it was 11:30 PM (and still quite light out) when we all decided to retire to bed.

The day before, we had played tag with another team of travelers: Suzy and Kathy who are traveling into and around Alaska in an SUV. We kept running into them at refueling stops, potty stops, lunch, etc. They even shared their candy with Julia. Too bad we lost them in Fairbanks; we will miss their smiling faces.

Total mileage for the day: 225, scenery spectacular.

Burwash, YT to Tok, AK: Through Yukon to Alaska

Later start today: 10:30 AM, we needed the rest. The scenery remains just as spectacular, even more so when we reached the inland plateau around Beaver Creek, YT and into Alaska where all notion of distance disappear and everything opens out yet remains crisp visually.

The road is trickier because the respective highway departments are patching the bad areas. We had been warned to keep a sharp eye for the frost heaves but these are not a problem on a bike (actually some are rather fun: like a roller coaster) but they sure give fits to large vehicles especially those with trailers. The spots that were difficult for us were either the stretches of raw dirt being flattened: this dirt when wet is very slippery and the bikes take on a mind of their own. The others are the stretches where new gravel has been laid. These come in various degrees of difficulties depending on how thick the gravel is, on whether or not the road has a lateral slant to it or not and whether the road climbs or descends. We learned new skills today. You should see Julia’s bike this evening; you would not believe that underneath the mud there still is a shiny metallic cherry red body!

Haines, AK to Burwash Landing, YT: Leaving coastal Alaska toward British Columbia and Yukon Territory

We left the hotel at 7:40 AM to begin our journey up the Haines Highway under brilliant sunshine. It was rather cool in temperature (high 30’s or low 40’s) and there was fog on the Haines Fjord as well as over Mosquito Lake so we wore winter under garments. This early part of the ride is humid and the vegetation is very rich: fox gloves, fireweeds, clover (both rose and white), cow parsnip and large patches of the biggest and happiest daisies (just for you Mom).

The highway takes its time climbing alongside the Chilkat River toward the Canadian border of British Columbia; it winds pleasantly to and fro: a perfect way to begin a ride. The Canadian border formality was short and soon we were climbing into country so beautiful that I cannot describe it. Pristine, sharp mountain peaks, green valleys, strong rivers … and colder and colder air. We eventually dug into our saddle bags to bring out more layers of clothing unused until then (even the balaclavas under our helmets!) Haynes Highway is a lonely road, but the scenery is so majestic that one does not want anything to distract from it. There are no towns, there are no intersections; just nature. Before mounting up I began to put a map in my map holder over my gas tank but realized that for the first time on this trip a map would not be needed: there is only one road!

Soon, we were riding in Yukon Territory, still alongside beautiful mountain ranges. At one point, we came onto a sow bear and her cub alongside the road. She was bigger than the grizzlies I remember seeing in Glacier National Park (Montana) years ago. We observed her – the bikes in gear and pointing away from the bears – for quite a while, giving her space when she came on the road perturbed. I shot a couple of bad pictures: it is hard to twist head and shoulders back with all the clothing we were wearing.

We refueled and ate at Haines Junction, YT - our first taste of the Al-Can Highway. Surprisingly, we kept passing lodges/RV parks/gas stations operations that had closed and were in disrepair. The very few still operating have “for sale by owner” signs, and obviously they are not being kept up nor did they place high emphasis on service. The few where we stopped had older owners who must have operated these places for decades. I do not know if this change is due to the fact that the Al-Can Highway is now completely paved and permits long driving stages. In the old days bad roads forced the travelers to stop more often for overnight stops whereas today they can potentially drive from Whitehorse, YT to Fairbanks, AK in one long day.

The scenery continued to be breathtaking as now more and more lakes appeared in the foreground to the mountains. We gave up on trying photographing it all instead we simply captured it with our eyes and laid it in our hearts as praise to the One who created it all: Jesus.

We spent the night at the Burwash Landing Lodge - Burwash Landing is a Canadian Indian Post for the Kluane First Tribe (Klu – wah – nee.) Interestingly the tribe’s logo looks like an illustration of Aesop’s fable: the fox and the crow (the crow even holds what looks like the cheese in the fable but probably represents the moon in this case). Total mileage: 230.

Haines, AK: rest day (needed after 4 nights on deck)

Haines made the cover of Outdoor Magazine as one of the top 20 places to live (2006) in the U.S. Julia was ready to move in “sight-unseen” the day she got the magazine. It is actually a very nice place … a small nice place … 775 miles from any U.S. town of any size or 230 miles from Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It has only two roads in and out: the Haines Highway and the Alaska Marine Highway (the ferries system). The locals we met kept apologizing about the rain – it does rain a lot there … a big lot! But we awoke the next morning to brilliant sunshine - in the sun; it is a magical place. I can see why people live there: a glimpse of the pristine beauty on all quadrants and they can close their eyes to a lot of adverse weather for many months.