June 4 I don’t think either Peggy nor I slept very well last night. She mentioned she tossed and turned, and so did I. Maybe we were anxious to get on the road to Denali. Peggy had set her alarm for 6:00, but we both got up around 5:45.
We had breakfast and then started breaking our camp at the Chapman’s. We emptied our holding tanks again and were on the road at about 7:30. There is only 1 route to Denali National Park from Wasilla, Anchorage, or the Kenai Peninsula, and that is the George Parks Highway. It is about 200 miles from Wasilla to Denali.
We ran into rain just north of Willow. Willow is where the Iditarod Dog Sled Race begins. We drove in rain mostly all the way except for about the last 10 miles before you enter the National Park. We were following mountains both to the east and west of us, but the clouds were so low you couldn’t see much of them. We did see Caribou along the way as we went further north. You are able to see the east side of Mt McKinley from the George Parks Hwy, but it was socked in by clouds all day, too.
We stopped inside the park and picked up the necessary paperwork for our Teklanika Campground. This campground had the sites capable of holding up to a 40’ RV. At 35’ we would have been very cramped in the Riley Campground, the only other one really available to RVs. We also purchased 2 big bundles of wood for our campfires.
Teklanika is unique in that it is beyond the point that private cars can go on the Denali Park Road. The last point cars can go is Savage River which is 12 miles into the park. Teklanika is another 17 miles up the road. Just past Savage River we were stopped at a checkpoint to confirm our campground. Also, if you camp at Teklanika you must stay at least 3 days, and you can only drive your vehicle into the campground and then only on the day you are leaving the campground. So our pickup stays put for 4 days.
Shuttle buses are provided if you buy the ticket to use them. Tomorrow we have a ticket that will take us to about mile marker 66, the Eielson Visitor Center. The shuttles allow you to get on and off at various drop points along the route. We had been warned not to wait for the last available shuttle coming back, as there is not a guarantee that there would be space on it, anyway.
During the evening we attended a Ranger Campfire at the campground’s amphitheater on bird bill adaptations. The Ranger did a good presentation, keeping it both informative and enlightening.
Afterward, Peggy and I built a campfire with wood purchased at the park office. Debby had given us a bag of neat little devises to help light campfires. They were made of saw dust with tree pitch and a small amount of wax. They resembled coconut covered cookies. In fact, when Debby gave them to me, I went in our trailer and told Peggy that Debby had baked cookies and had given us some. I almost got her to take a bite out of one! That was my belly laugh for the day. But, these “cookies” do work to help get a fire started.
Unfortunately, the firewood was very damp, and I struggled to keep a good fire going. With some persistence we managed to have an enjoyable time.
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