June 6, Denali National Park

June 6  Since we do not have an assigned departure time for catching the shuttle bus, Peggy and I were able to sleep in for a while longer than usual.  However, I forced myself up at 8:00 so I can do my morning routine- starting the generator.  Run times for generators in this campground is from 8-10:00 a.m. and 4-8:00 p.m.  And the generator needs to run to recharge the RV’s batteries and to brew my coffee!

After a breakfast of french toast and sausage, Peggy and I loaded light packs and started off on a hike leading from the campground on a trail that looked to lead to a high point of land overlooking the Teklanika River.  After about a 30 minute hike, we had ascended this overlook with a good view both up and down the river valley and the surrounding mountains.  

After taking pictures we decided to follow the river’s braided stream bed back to the campground.  Of course your’s truly misstepped on a rock which then submerged me up to my lower shin bone in icy cold water!  And even though my hiking shoes have Goretex, it doesn’t prevent the water from going over the top and into the shoe!  Brrrr!  :o)

We walked the gravelly river bottom back to the campsite.  I changed into dry socks, we ate some lunch, and decided to try and catch the 1:10 shuttle for another ride up to the Eileson Visitors Center.  It is still cloudy so the chance of seeing Mt McKinley is not very good, but the opportunity to see wildlife is still available.

The 1:10 shuttle was only a few minutes behind schedule.  And guess what??  No nazis today!!  Chuck was the driver and there were only about 15 people on the bus.  Peggy and I each got a window seat.  On the drive towards Eielson we saw 3 more grizzlies, several Dall Sheep, some of which were right next to the road, a male ptarmigan, and 2 red foxes, which were unbelievably close.  You’ll have to look at the photos for today to appreciate how near they were.  

We arrived at Eielson about 4:00.  The Visitor Center is good for mountain views, the displays inside, but especially for great views of Mt. McKinley.  Yesterday was a total bomb in that regard, but today we were able to identify the northern flank of Mt. McKinley.  The summit was clouded in, but just having the opportunity to see even the sides of Mt. McKinley was worth the drive up.

Coming back from Eielson we saw another grizzly, and we picked up several hikers.  Four of the hikers were maybe in their upper 60’s or lower 70’s and live in the area.  One might be a park ranger as does campfire programs.  Anyway, every year, they walk the entire length of the Park Road, about 92 miles!  Tomorrow they will start walking from the point they were picked up by the shuttle bus today.

We got back to our campsite about 7:00.  We had only eaten a very light lunch and were hungry.  We fixed our dinner instead of attending the 7:30 campfire program.  This also gave me some time to write down our thoughts and upload today’s photos to iPhoto.

So, after my gloom and doom thoughts yesterday about how the park chooses to transport visitors around, today has changed my mood.  You just have to pick the time you want to use the shuttles.  If you want to get somewhere as early as possible you take the morning shuttles knowing they will be full and stopping points will be crowded.

For me, I really preferred today’s afternoon shuttle which had much fewer people to contend with.  Chuck, the driver, was more than patient with stopping the bus for wildlife photos, even to the point of turning off the bus.  He waited until everyone was satisfied with getting the photos they wanted before going on.  Yes, Denali NP is something special.  Maybe tomorrow we’ll see the summit of Mt McKinley.  The third time (day) is charmed, you know!

Today's Photos Uploaded to Picassa

June 5, Denali National Park

June 5  We had tickets for the day guaranteeing us a ride on a shuttle bus up to the last stop on the Park Road at Eielson Visitors Center which is at mile marker 66, or about 37 miles up the Park Road from our campground.

We got up around 7:30, ate breakfast and packed our backpack and fanny pack for the day.  We were at the bus pickup point at 9:40 along with several others from our campground.

The bus prior to our 10:10 departure time was late arriving.  Since they had the space Peggy and I boarded this bus and off we went.  The bus holds 100 people and it was full.  The first stop is at a rest area and 4 other buses are there.  Talk about a cattle call!  UGH!

The driver gave us 10 minutes to do our business which meant that those who had to use the restroom had to stand in line waiting.  After 10 minutes it was all aboard and off we went again.  The driver did a nice job of describing various things regarding the park, mountains, and animals.  We did see Dall Sheep as we drove farther into the park.

It was terribly overcast with a prediction for rain.  The mountain peaks were obscured in low clouds and it rained on and off.  After about 45 minutes of slow mountain driving we came to another rest stop which had 5 other buses at it!  That meant 600 people trying to do their business.  WOW!  It was a super sized cattle call.  I was disappointed and fairly upset with how a National Park could coordinate such a mishandling of masses people.  But the bus driver was generous- 15 minutes to do your business.

Then off we rushed in the bus.  As we rounded a bend there was a river valley to the left and there it was, a grizzly bear.  You could clearly tell what it was even though I estimated it to be maybe 1/2 mile away.  The driver stopped but you could not leave the bus, so down go the windows and everyone simultaneously tries to get pictures of the bear.  Fortunately most everyone was willing to let others have a turn at a window except the guy in front of me.  He was the Window Nazi! (You know him...not from my window your not!)

And, Peggy and I could not sit together because we were about the last 2 on the bus.  The seat left for me was, well, half a seat because of a very rotund man who did not like the fact that he no longer had 2 seats to himself.  He was the Seat Nazi!  You know the kind...takes up so much space you have to sit in the aisle seat with one cheek on and one cheek off.  In fact, when he reboarded the bus he sat on my seat belt and quickly fastened his so that I could not put mine on, and God knows I wasn’t going to reach under his you-know-what to pull my half of seat belt out from under him.

We saw another grizzly on a hillside digging.  He must have been after a ground squirrel.  I got some fairly good shots especially after the driver moved the bus on down the roadside to get us closer.  Even the Window Nazi was not a bother as others let me shoot from their window.

About 3/4 of the way to the Eielson Visitors Center the Window Nazi and his wife requested to get off the bus as they wanted to hike the Fish Creek trail.  The driver pulled over and as they departed the bus, the Window Nazi asked the driver where is this trail exactly!  Who would go traipsing out on the tundra not knowing where your starting from let alone where you’re going!  And to top it all off, his wife was wearing sneekers!  We never saw them again.

The good news in this is that as soon as they stood up and moved down the aisle, I grabbed their seats.  Peggy who was 2 rows ahead of me joined me.  Ah!  Things are looking better.  No more Seat or Window Nazi for me!  And my seat partner is much better looking and more personable!

We arrive at the Visitors Center and walk around.  You could see heavy rain approaching so Peggy and I went inside to look at the displays.  And then another couple of buses arrived and so you are now standing shoulder to shoulder with a mass of humanity.  Fortunately the rain eased up and Peggy and I put our rain coats to good use and walked on some of the shorter trails around the Center.

We were told that we were to sign up for a bus at the Visitors Center to return us to our campground- look for the man with a clipboard.  As soon as we arrived at the Visitors Center we estimated we wanted to remain about and hour and a half.  So, we found Mr. Clipboard and said we wanted to be put on the 2:30 bus.  “You can’t request a bus for that time yet.  Go do your walking around here and then come back.”  Ah, Mr. Bus Nazi!  

Fortunately, the Eielson Visitors Center is very nice and we got some photos, none of which show Mt McKinley as it was buried in clouds all day.  But, Mother Nature is not a nazi!

About 2:00 we found the Bus Nazi and got our names on the list for the 2:30 bus, assuming there was room for us.  If not, we would be bumped to the next bus leaving about 3:00.  But, Peggy and I were about the last to get on the 2:30 bus, and we were even able to sit together!

This bus driver was good!  He drove at a reasonable speed and did a very good job of commentating on the ride back to our campground.  We got some closeup photos of Dall Sheep and then a lady spotted a grizzly running on a snow field in a river valley just below us.  The Window Nazi and Seat Nazi were not on board this bus so everyone got reasonably good photos.  And at the rest areas we were the only bus there!

We decided the best time to ride the shuttles was in the afternoon as it seemed most people do their touring in the park in the morning.  And the fact that we saw 3 grizzly bears made what I considered a bad way to see a national park by bus all the more tolerable!

We got back to our campsite about 5:00 and fixed supper- grilled pork chops and baked potatoes.  At 7:30 we went to the Range Program on wolverines, fox, and lynx and how they survive in the Park.  We went back and had our campfire.  However, this time I spiked the fire with a little diesel fuel.  That seemed to do the trick to get the fire going, and we ended the evening on a most positive note.

Although I am not fond of the way the National Park Service runs attending Denali, it is still a special place to come to.  If I were 40 years younger, I think I would backpack here as that would give you the freedom to have the time to absorb all that this park contains.  With the shuttle system you never are given an opportunity along the way to really appreciate what you are seeing and experiencing because someone else is dictating the time to you.  I don’t know how the other National Parks can allow travel within the park by personal vehicle and yet Denali does not.  It’s just that I don’t like to be rushed when there is something special to loose yourself in- like the views and seeing wildlife.

Today's Photos Uploaded to Picassa

June 4, Wasilla to Denali National Park

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.

Today's Photos Uploaded to Picassa

June 3, Wasilla

June 3  Woke up to overcast skies but no rain.  After breakfast I was on my way to take trash to the dumpster and ran into Grant.  He wanted to know if I wanted to fly with him to his cabin.  You bet!  He did say that there would be a trade-off.

So off we flew for about 50 minutes northwest of Anderson Lake.  I helped him get his dock squared away after the ice had pushed it up and over the pilings.  It was a good way to test out my new chest waders.  The cabin is really nice and sits on a very quiet lake.  Grant showed me around and then it was time to fly back.  I had a really great time!  Grant pointed out moose on the flights, but I could only find one of them for sure.

We flew over a couple of rivers that were flooding because of the rapid snow melt last week.  We saw a fishing resort that had 3 cabins washed away from the shore.  I've included pictures of them.

While I was gone Peggy did laundry and bought groceries.  This afternoon we went to an RV dealership to buy a replacement bubble level.  One on our trailer was apparently broken by an errant stone when driving a on gravel road north of Carcross, YT.  I did have a torpedo level in my tool box so we were able to manually level up the trailer.  It's just easier to do it if there is a level attached to the camper that works.

We made preps for traveling to Denali NP tomorrow- filling our fresh water tank, checking tire pressures, etc.  It will be about a 4 hour (200 miles) drive from here.  Hope to get an early start in the morning.

Today's Picassa Web Photos

June 2, Wasilla

June 2  Woke up to the pitter patter of rain drops on the roof.  The weather forecast was correct calling for rain on and off today.  It's early Sunday morning, and the coffee is hot and good.

In the week since we've arrived here at the Matanuska Air Service on the southeast shore of Anderson Lake, spring has taken a firm hold.  We've seen the snows retreating from the mountainsides.  The trees have transitioned from being brown trunks and limbs to multicolored hues of green.  Streams are full of the meltwaters rushing to meet the ocean.  Spring is ebbing and summer is waxing, and we are able to see these changes literally happening before us.

Darkness doesn't really come here at night.  The sun sets at nearly 11:30 P.M. and rises about 4:30 A.M. providing nearly 19 hours of direct sunlight.  Even though the sun does dip below the horizon for about 5 hours, the night time sky maintains a dusk-like glow.  Surprisingly, the lack of total darkness has not interrupted our sleep.

The rain kept us indoors for the entire morning.  Fortunately, being 3 hours behind Central Daylight Savings time allowed me to watch the Sprint Cup NASCAR race starting here at 9:00 A.M., Alaskan Time Zone.

Rain continued throughout the afternoon.  I called my dad to see how he was doing.  We watched TV and napped.  Around 5:00 the rain stopped, the mountain peaks reappeared, and Peggy and I went for a walk through the neighborhood.

Tomorrow will be a prep day for our trip to Denali NP on Tuesday.  Grocery shopping, laundry, and other things get attended to.  I looked at the weather forecast for Denali, and it is calling for cloudy, rainy weather for the whole week.  I'm not as concerned about not seeing Mt McKinley as I am more in want of seeing and photographing a grizzly bear.  We'll see!

June 1, Wasilla

June 1  Happy June 1st!  Not a lot to report for the day.  We woke up to a drizzly sky this morning, and it has remained overcast all day.  But at least it was dry after about 10 a.m.  Tomorrow the forecasters are calling for a good chance of showers on and off all day.  Since the weather looks to be overcast with rain through the weekend, Grant and Debby will not be flying to and staying at their cabin Sunday and Monday.  I know they are disappointed.

Grant converter a ski/land plane into a float plane again today.  I'm still fascinated being around all these planes.  I feel like a kid in the candy store.  Grant has been very patient answering all my questions and has even allowed me to help with a particular procedure when he works on the landing gear.  He also flew his J3 Piper Cub on a couple of test flights today.  I sense he has the itch to fly more than he does so this was a good opportunity for him to scratch it.

I'm sure this will be of interest to you...our waste tanks were approaching full.  Since we wouldn't be taking the trailer anywhere until Tuesday, we needed to dump our tanks here.  This is a task RVers don't relish, but it is a necessary job.

The position of the waste dump required us to move the trailer from its position with the picture window facing the best view towards the lake and mountains.  I then had to back it up to the dump drain.  Once this mission (emptying the tanks) was accomplished, I pulled the trailer out, back around, and put it in its original position with the great views.

Good news is we have cable TV...the bad news is we watched the U of Nebraska women's softball team lose a 15 inning game in the College Softball World Series.  What a heartbreaker!

Peggy and I have gotten back into our habit of taking an evening walk.  There is a loop route that we've established through the area that is about 1 mile long.

May 31, Wasilla

May 31  Hard to believe that it was a week ago today that we arrived in Wasilla.  The time has gone so quickly.  We FINALLY got our Internet and cable tv hooked up this morning.  Cable is handled differently here than the way Cox did it back home.  Everything here is Cat 5 cable.  We still get HDTV through it and have what appears to be very good through-put on the Internet.  I am running software updates and we have around 275 Kilobit download speeds to my MacBook, and Peggy is using her iPad online at the same time, so I'm satisfied.  And, thank you to the local anonymous owner of the open NetGear wifi that I've been able to "borrow" from time to time this past week.

Helped a client of the Matanuska Air Service get set up to wash his plane.  There has been quite a rush of pilots here to get there planes converted from wheels to floats now that the ice has gone out on most of the lakes in this area.  Grant has been busy doing the conversions, and he is now working to get his own Super Cub converted so that he and Debby can fly out to their cabin this Sunday and Monday now that their lake is open.  That's when we start earning our keep!

I contacted our daughter, Becky, back in Omaha to have her send us our macerator pump.  The "poop" pumper (macerator) will allow us to keep our trailer in its current location and be able to pump our holding tanks into the property's septic system which is now about 30 feet away from the trailer.  Without it we would have to relocate the trailer next to the septic drain which would not allow us to look out our picture window at the mountains and Lake Anderson.

Peggy and I took Grant and Debby out to lunch this noon as my thank you to Grant for having taken me flying last weekend to look for bears and see the glaciers up close.  A local restaurant has a Friday special on halibut that tasted the best we've had so far.  We also went to Sportsman's Warehouse to look around as they have displays of animals similar to Cabela's back home.  Supposedly, Cabela's is coming to Alaska sometime in the near future.

We are very excited because on Tuesday, June 4, we have reservations for the Teklanika campground in Denali National Park!  We will stay 4 days returning to Wasilla on that Saturday.  We are totally pumped for our first adventure into this park.  The campground is the furthest in the park that allows RV's.  The weather is calling for some rain and sun, so I figure we have a slim chance of seeing Mt. McKinley's summit.  However, we could be returning to the park again this summer if we miss out on seeing the entire mountain this trip.  Thankfully one of us (who shall remain nameless) has qualified for the NP's Senior Pass which provides free park entry and 1/2 off our camping.  Sometimes it pays to get old!  :o)

We will document our Denali experiences and then post them to the blog when we return to Wasilla as will be without Internet while there.