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Monthly Archives: June 2017
Turnagain Arm and Portage
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Denali State Park to Portage, Alaska
Once we managed to navigate our way through Anchorage for dog food and groceries we drove along the Turnagain Arm. Justin and Cal will remember that the train we took seven years ago went along this same route. The weather was about the same too! Cold and rainy.
This is the “RV Park” we stayed in at Portage…in the rain. The Portage Glacier is on the mountain hiding in the clouds and mist in the center of the picture. The blurry spots are raindrops on the lens of the camera. It’s a good thig it is water resistant!
These three hardy souls are paddle board surfing the incoming tidal bore on Turnagain Arm. The tide range is about 28’ and the incoming tide forms a tidal bore of between 3’ and 6’.
The gulls seem to like the bore almost as much as the surfers as it stirs up the mud disturbing whatever creatures are living on the flats.
Meanwhile, behind us, the Alaska Railroad train was headed north from Seward and Whittier to Anchorage. This was a happening place!
Coming back from watching the tidal bore, there was a moose on the side road just before our campground. This time we got a picture!
197 miles today
On the road
Rory and Luci
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Elusive mountain and Day trip to Talkeetna
Monday, June 26, 2017
As I was walking back from the privy I looked down the road, and there it was. Denali appeared from behind the clouds.
We walked down to the viewpoint we visited last night and it was covering back up. But you can see how much bigger it is than the mountains in the foreground.
Then one more tease before it shut down for the day. I like Luci’s new camera. We are 45 miles away!
And another one.
We finished the day off with a sampler at Denali Brewing in Talkeetna.
About 100 miles today but back to the same campsite!
On the road
Rory and Luci
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Elusive mountain and Day trip to Talkeetna
Monday, June 26, 2017
As I was walking back from the privy I looked down the road, and there it was. Denali appeared from behind the clouds.
We walked down to the viewpoint we visited last night and it was covering back up. But you can see how much bigger it is than the mountains in the foreground.
Then one more tease before it shut down for the day. I like Luci’s new camera. We are 45 miles away!
And another one.
We finished the day off with a sampler at Denali Brewing in Talkeetna.
About 100 miles today but back to the same campsite!
On the road
Rory and Luci
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to Denali State Park
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Denali National Park, AK to Denali State Park, AK
We drove up the Nenana River valley crossing it five or six times until we reached the summit. This pretty little lake near the summit reflected the spruces perfectly.
Anchors aweigh! This group of kayakers was from the South Korean military. They were at Eielson AFB in North Pole for training. The guy with the white helmet in the red kayak in the middle of the picture and the guy in the whitish kayak at the far right were the guides. Unfortunately, the guides spoke no Korean and the Koreans spoke very little English. One of the guides told me that he chose this particular 10 mile stretch of the Nenana as one of the easier sections because he wasn’t sure any of his group understood the saftey instructions.
After we crested the summit we started down the Chulitna River valley. This is not Denali! But it is a very rugged looking peak of about 6000’ viewed from a trail at our campground. The Ruth Glacier is on the right.
Our companions, Barbara & Jim, taking a break on the trail. This is a Denali viewpoint…. If/when the clouds pull back the breathtaking view is surreal! Denali is just to the right and when the clouds lift it looms over everything by at least 5000’!
We are camping tonight at a brand-new campground at the south end of Denali State Park. It has electric hookups but no water or sewer. The sites and roads are roomy and clean.
98 miles today
On the road
Rory and Luci
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The Roadhouse in Talkeetna
Lunch: salmon or reindeer pastys
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to Denali National Park
Saturday, June 24, 2017
Fairbanks, AK to Denali Park, AK
We had a lovely drive down (south) along the George Parks Highway.
The public can only drive in on the park road 15 miles. The road continues on for another 100 miles to Kantishna, but that is only accessible by park tour busses. The tours go in varying distances and are narrated. We did a 66 mile tour seven years ago and saw Dall Sheep, Wolves, Caribou, Grizzly Bears, Moose and the mountain! So, we decided we couldn’t improve on that.
Those are big mountains in the distance but nothing like Denali which looms over everything at 20,000 feet plus. The top is only visable about 1 day in 3 during the summer.
We did see the back end of a Ms. Moose along the road.
This is a Mew Gull sitting on her nest on the Savage River. The spotted fluffy chick to the left is trying to get back under her wing.
A great day! We are camping at a nice commercial motel / campground 6 miles south of the park. They sites are barely big enough and Jim and I both had a very difficult time maneuvering our rigs into them.
127 miles on the road today plus 75 driving into the park twice.
On the road
Rory and Luci
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Westward Ho! 