Day: February 22, 2017

On the Denali FB Page, I had already seen pictures of lots of wildlife and the snow that people were encountering on the two previous Road Lottery days, so I was really stoked this morning!!!

Both couples had come to the park the previous evening; the Rutters were camping right outside the park in another place and the Filardis slept in the back of their covered truck at my camp site.   We were all up at the crack of dawn and ready to pull out around 7 AM.  The sun was just starting to come up.

We had a cooler of drinks and food/snacks in the back.   Everyone was loaded with cameras and dressed warmly.  It was in the 30s.  Before we knew it, we got to the Savage River where the ranger checked our permit.

Soon after, we spotted our first moose off to the left laying down in the grass.  However he was too far away for my camera to capture him, so here’s a pic borrowed from the internet.   It wasn’t quite that green.   Most of the vegetation was brown.  Further down the road was snow…..  I’m going to just let the pictures speak for themselves.   We saw bears, moose, caribou, arctic squirrels, ptarmigans, and even a wolverine, although he was too fast to get a picture, streaking across the road right in front of Eric’s vehicle.  We saw a friend of the Filardi’s who works for DNP, Ranger Bill at the site of a bear jam!  We went all the way to Wonder Lake and Kantishna, where Mt. McKinley, or otherwise known as Denali, was out in all her glory for us!   We saw bears, moose, caribou, arctic squirrels, ptarmigans, Dall sheep, and even a wolverine.  The wolverine streaked across the road in front of us so fast we didn’t get any photos, but we could see him scurrying down the valley below, crossing the stream, and then going up the other side of the valley through the brush.  On my previous trip in Denali 3 weeks before with my son, the bus driver had mentioned that this year was the first time wolverines had been seen in the park in years, and the area where we saw it was just about where the bus driver said the wolverine had been hanging out.

We arrived back at the Riley campground at the entrance at about 7 pm, tired and hungry!   I went to bed shortly after eating, cause I knew I was pulling out the next morning bright and early to head HOME

 

 

 

Let me introduce you to the two couples who are going to go with me on the Road Lottery tomorrow.

This is Eric and Christina Rutter.  

Eric is the younger brother of one my great friends from Peru, Laura.   I remember when he was born during my high school years!      He and his spunky wife went on the Road Lottery in 2015 and it was their photographs that stoked  my desire to visit Alaska.

This is Eric and Hannah Filardi.  

Hannah is the daughter of people I knew from Peru also.  When I was in HS in Peru, her parents were still single!  As you can see, Hannah and Eric are newleyweds!   In fact, they just got married August 4th at the Eilsen Center at Denali!!   When I was there 3 weeks ago, I took a picture of my son at that same spot!

Both couples applied for the Road Lottery, but neither won.    So I am so happy that they can accompany me.  Eric’s SUV is bigger than mine, so we are going in his vehicle.   Being a military pilot, I’m sure he can handle driving Denali roads better than anyone!

Information about the Road Lottery:  https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/road-lottery.htm

Both couples had arrived  at the park this evening; the Rutters were camping right outside the park in another place and the Filardis slept in the back of their covered truck at my camp site.

 

 

 

 

• shopped for groceries
• filled the gas tank
• laundry done
• emptied gray and black water tanks
• checked tire pressures
• hitch up the camper to the vehicle……..READY TO GO!

It was a beeeeeaaaauuuuuuuutiful day and the drive to Denali was lovely.

I arrived there around noontime, found a site, bought some firewood, bought a couple of shower tokens (yes, you have to pay to get a shower at the Mercantile) and then went up to the Visitors Center and picked up the Road Lottery Permit.   YAY!!!  

Friday the 10th I had supper with Dawn (sister of Twila that I saw in Anchorage).   It is amazing that one can see someone after 45+ years and still feel such a friendship.

9/10/16   Today I saw a VERY big moose that someone had killed in a utility trailer:

This is just the front of it.  Hind end in back of trailer separate from this.   I can’t imagine picking it up and lugging it out of the woods!

9/11/16  Today I had my first hiccup on this grand adventure:   I have a very persistent cough and feel like I might have a temperature, but I don’t have a thermometer.   When I cough, my hiatal hernia hurts!   So I started taking Tylenol, cough suppressants and ate soup.  It’s raining and cold outside, so I just stayed in my camper all day.

9/13/16   Went  to the Tanana Valley Clinic to get checked out.  Need some good meds and to get better so that I can be 100% for my upcoming Denali adventure.     Yep, they gave me some good codeine cough syrup, so I will sleep REAL GOOD tonight!

9/14  Feeling much better!

9/15  Last day in Fairbanks.   Interesting sight:  seeing a dead moose being cut up right in the campground.  They had a huge table and were cutting it up, wrapping it, labeling it and putting it into a couple of freezers that they had there, running off a generator.   I’ve never seen a carcass cut up and I watched them for a while without getting grossed out.

 

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon, I did all the housekeeping things (grocery shopping, filled up the propane tank etc) so that I would be ready for the next long weekend at Denali.  It is colder than when my son and I were there 3 weeks ago.  A reminder:  This second trip to Denali is for the Road Lottery on the 19th.

Here is information about the Road Lottery in case you are interested in what it is and it’s history:    https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/road-lottery.htm

 

The Riverboat Discovery  http://riverboatdiscovery.com/

History of the Binkley family’s sternwheeler sightseeing business since the 1950s:   http://riverboatdiscovery.com/about-us/

Susan Butcher was an Iditarod winner. Now deceased, her husband carries on her dog training at a place along the Chena River.

A fly fishing wheel.

Killed me a bear or two.  LOL

The Chena River meets the Tanana River here.The leisurely ride back was a chance to gawk at all the lovely homes along the river.

Some pictures of the beautiful scenery next to the campground:

I took these pictures as I walked to the Chena Alaskan Grill restaurant which is right next door to the campground and enjoyed a delicious halibut eating on the deck looking out on the Chena River.   Had to keep my coat on cause the air was very brisk!

I made it all the way to the North Pole!!!   haha

I won’t ruin your illusions, but the trip was not as far as you think!

North Pole, Alaska is a lovely town not far from Fairbanks.

It has a 40+ feet Santa Claus, a Reindeer Academy, and of course a souvenir store!

  I did get many nice souvenirs that will make great Christmas presents! 

 

Today I went to the Arctic Circle!!!!

I had made reservations to take a van tour to the Arctic Circle , which is basically just a latitude line north of Fairbanks, but the journey and scenery to get there is worth it!    The same road northwards a couple more days travel would get you to Prudhoe Bay and the Arctic Ocean.   I had mulled over wanting to go there, but it would be a 2 – 3 day trip.   I certainly was NOT going there with my camper–the shape of the road made that inadvisable.   And I didn’t know what to do with my dog and cat if I were to take the trip with a tour group.    So the shorter    trip just to the Arctic Circle was a good compromise.

The trip was in a van with 4 other people and the driver.  Arrangements had been made through the campground.  We were to be picked up at the campground at 2 pm and would return around 4 – 5 am the next morning.    So I took the dog on a nice long potty walk, then they would be fine in the camper.   Knowing them they would sleep the whole time I was gone!!

First stop was at the Alaska Pipeline which can be seen just outside Fairbanks.   

Then we get on the Dalton Highway: 

Pipeline and Yukon River.
Yukon River bridge.Finger Mt. – Bitterly cold here!

It was about 9 pm and still some daylight at the Arctic Circle, but soon the sun went down and we turned around and headed back, hoping to see some northern lights along the way.  Sure enough, the clouds rolled back and from 11:30PM  – approximately 2:30 AM, we saw the most gorgeous northern lights you could ever imagine!  I didn’t know before what they meant by northern lights “dancing”, but they sure did DANCE  all over the sky!!   Neither my cell phone nor my camera were good enough to catch the picture, so I am going to provide you with a beautiful borrowed  picture and  link to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKg99PKCCtU

The van got back to the campground in Fairbanks at about 4:30 AM.  Burrito got a quick potty walk, and then I slept till almost lunchtime!!

 

Breakfast at the northernmost Dennys in America.

Get settled in at River’s Edge Campground.  http://www.riversedge.net/fairbanks-rv-park/

Went to Fairbanks Visitors Center where I picked up lots of brochures and information on places to see.  http://www.morristhompsoncenter.org/

 

 

When I first planned this Alaska trip, after Denali I planned to spend a few days in Fairbanks etc and then head back home.

But in June, I got notified that I had won the Denali Road Lottery and was assigned September 19th as my day.  The Road Lottery is an event at Denali National Park that is held the last week before they close the road to vehicles for the winter season.  Out of thousands of applicants online, they choose some for each day to be able to travel the entire Denali road in your own vehicle.  [Remember, you have to go on a shuttle bus ordinarily.]   I was thrilled to get chosen, but realized I would have to extend my trip slightly to accomodate that date and then would have to skeedaddle back to the lower 48 as roads could get more iffy as winter approached.

So, I decided to go to Fairbanks for a couple of weeks.   Admittedly, I have been traveling for quite a long time and gone lots of miles, so staying put in one place for a while would be good.   Then I could be nice and rested and relaxed for my last great hurrah at Denali before going home.

So off on the Denali Highway again, but this time going past Denali on to Fairbanks.

 Past that view of Mt. McKinley again.

And that quirky “igloo” again.

Because I had an appointment the next morning for some service at the RV place in Fairbanks, I decided to boondock at the Fairbanks Walmart for the night.   Better than having to hook up at an RV Park, and then unhook again to go to the service place.   Besides, I needed to get a few things at Walmart!   Like whoever saw such  a cute tiny little ketchup bottle  as  this?  Perfect for a camper!

My blogs for the next couple weeks might be hit or miss.   I don’t plan to write every day.   I don’t even plan to DO anything  everyday.   If I do something besides take a walk or read a book or take a nap, I might write something….  🙂