Forest Fire and Back Home!

We got as far as Denali View South and stopped for the night, hearing that there was a forest fire, and the Parks Highway was closed!  We had intended to pass through early the next morning, so that was disconcerting and sad for those experiencing the displacement and loss of property and all of the items that tend to make our lives what we count on - scary. There were more great pictures of Denali and the Alaska Range right from where we were, and we had breakfast in the RV and compared notes and news about the fire with the other campers there.

We tucked in and planned a hike while we waited for more news about the fire and the highway opening.

The Upper Troublesome Creek Trailhead was just up the road, and we didn't see anyone the entire time on the trail, which ran up and down roughly along Troublesome Creek.  We hiked out about an hour and a half, then turned around.  The milepost book says there is a 15 mile hike to Byers Lake, but a sign at the campground says the trail is impassable beyond a point - which we evidently did not reach before we turned around!

A quick stop for "lunch" before starting back to the trailhead

Brian on our lunch/rest stop 

Back in the RV, we timed it just right to follow the pilot car (road construction) down towards Willow and the fire region - we had checked, and it seemed the road was open - when we got closer to the area that had been closed, a pilot car picked up our line and led us toward the smoky area.  As we moved up, we saw flames shoot up on the right hand side of the road, back a bit from the road but getting larger and closer as the RV moved forward.  The wind seemed to have reversed direction and was now moving rapidly toward the road - what do you do in an RV that doesn't easily turn around and reverse direction?  It seemed the same as avalanche danger - keep moving, do not slow down!  We hoped the cars in front of us kept moving, but we could feel the heat of the flames as we moved past, even in the air-conditioned vehicle.  The power and magnitude of fire was right there in our faces!

And we just heard on the news that a lightning storm now started a fire at Montana Creek, where we stayed on Friday night, with an evacuation in the works.  Our best wishes and prayers for all of the families and animals impacted by this series of fires with so much devastation.

Travel into Denali National Park

Leaving Byers Lake, we drove another 2 hours to the national park.  We had never been there, so it was an exploratory for us - as much as I tried to read about it, we hadn't really planned to do anything major there - no reservations for a bus trip, and we weren't able to get reservations for the campground since we decided to go very late in the week.  The views, of course, driving up are extraordinary, and we had the mountain out for viewing 3 days in a row!

We drove into Savage River campground after a stop at the Visitor's Center, a quick preparation of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a hike on the Savage Alpine Trail, and missing the shuttle bus to Savage River by exactly 30 seconds!  No matter - we drove the RV up, and there was plenty of parking open.  The trail indicated 1500 feet elevation gain, and it was mostly gradual headed through alpine flowered meadows up to bare rock - a beautiful variety of wildflowers!

Post-hike - apples waiting for Peter & Cindy

We were sorry to leave and head back south, but Peter and Cindy were near the end of their trip, and Judy had to go back to work.

Good Friends - Week 2!

After our trip to Seward, the only thing to do was to go North!  Our Anchorage friends, Mary and Lance, told us about their RV rental trips, and we decided to take one, our first time, and travel to Denali.  Although Brian and I had flown around Denali from Talkeetna, we'd never been that far north or traveled into the park.  So we loaded up on Friday and headed that way. This one gave us plenty of room - 30' was the only one they had left!

We stayed at the Montana Creek Campground after heading into Talkeetna for "Live at Five" great music on the green and dinner at "The Twister" - Denali Brewing Company.

Saturday morning we drove up as far as the Byers Lake Campground after stopping to see our friends, Klaus and Laura in Trapper Creek.  Klaus made these beautiful bee hives, and our hosts made us coffee, dandelion root tea, and horsetail tea to try for refreshments and great conversation.

At Byers Lake, we stayed put for Saturday and took a 3 hour or so hike around the lake - great views of Denali, mostly flat, and a gorgeous sunny day!

We ended the day with a Copper River salmon filet that Klaus insisted we take with us . . . SO delicious - and card games in the RV - easy to stay up late with the light lasting so late in the night!

A Visit From Old Friends - Week 1!

Two weeks SOUNDS like a long time when you start, but so many possibilities for a first land trip to Alaska!  After a couple of days to get acclimated, rest up, check out downtown for first Friday and our wonderful Anchorage Museum, Cindy and Peter Molesky, our good and long-time friends from Central New York, had a couple of rainy trips on our boat, Kakwik, out of Whittier on Prince William Sound - one at the dock with too much wind to go out, the second still rainy out to Shotgun Cove to pick up shrimp!  We had a great shrimp "on the grill" dinner out of it, even though the rain didn't show Whittier at its best!

We had SO many hikes picked out to take our friends on, so Sunday we picked the Rabbit Creek Trail into Rabbit Lake - in the rain.  Spitting at least on Sunday and not 100% of the time - a beautiful view at the end of the trail!

The end of the trail - and a tiny bit of blue sky! 

Peter & Judy at Rabbit Lake 

Monday we took off for Seward and a planned full-day kayak trip from Miller's Landing - still in the rain.  We had a great yurt right on the water, beautiful deck and grill - and still rain. It didn't stop us from grilling, playing cards and having a great time - even with the rain LOUDLY drilling the yurt roof all night!  

The next morning it was still raining, but the outfit was pretty clear that we could not wimp out - so 48 degrees and pouring, we were in.  A paddle to Caine's Head, 4 mile hike to the top and abandoned WWII gun placement/bunker, and paddle back - in record time, I've heard, since in the pouring rain, it was not as tempting to keep stopping and looking around!  We did see a whale surface, porpoise, harbor seal and sea otter, but mostly we kept moving to stay warm - or something as close as we could get!

Back at Miller's Landing, it took a while to warm up!  But we agreed you get adventures and stories from trips like this more than the good weather/everything was great trips!