Denali National Park

June 25 - 28, 2024

We left Fairbanks and continued our journey southwest on Parks Highway toward Denali. We stopped about halfway in Nenana, where we were unexpectedly surprised. Nenana is where the Alaska Railroad was completed. President Harding drove home the golden spike. Then, in February 1925, when all other modes of transportation failed, including planes, Nenana is where the sled dog teams began their mindnumbingly cold, lifesaving run to Nome, delivering medicine to combat diptheria.

Nenana Depot Museum

Sled dog teams and mushers still play a vital role today. Denali National Park and Preserve makes extensive use of the teams in winter. Not only is the park prohibited from using machinery in some wilderness areas, dog teams often are more reliable than machines in winter months. Machines don't like to start in the extreme cold and parts can be hard to get. Dogs don't run out of fuel and are less invasive on the terrain. Plus, the rangers noted that dogs are much nicer to cuddle on those remote patrol runs. 

Can you see the caribou in the river bed?

Was that a spider?

Demonstration time

Meadow Loop Trail Overlook

Visitor Center displays

Snow covered Denali barely visible toward right side of photo

Our visit to Denali could easily have been covered in a day. If you don't take a full day bus tour, flightsee or adventure ride with a vendor, much of the area visited is concentrated to the front of the park. A landslide closed the road around milemarker 43, and private vehicles are only allowed in the first 15 miles. Denali itself is a distant view along the road. We had far better views of Denali from K'esugi Ken campground in Denali State Park.

View from K'esugi Ken campground - Curry Ridge Trail

On a side note, we visited Denali National Park on a Tuesday and a Wednesday. Four days later Denali National Park was closed for several days due to the Riley Wildfire.

 Where Are We Going Next? 

A Week in Fairbanks

June 18 - 24, 2024

We were so ready for our weeklong stop in Fairbanks, AK. At the end of the week though we still hadn't seen all that we had originally thought. We never made it to Chula Hot Springs or the Arctic Circle. Sometimes its good to just relax instead of trying to see and do everything. We still managed to enjoy a few of the area attractions.

We toured a gold dredge and did a little panning for gold. Gold Dredge 8, located just a few minutes from town, provided a couple of hours of entertainment as well as informative narrative by a retired history teacher on the Alaska gold rush and the Alaska pipeline. 

In the downtown area we spent a couple of hours roaming Pioneer Park, the Midnight Sun Festival, and a few gift shops. When it got too warm, we headed to the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum. It was very nicely done with vintage clothing to match the time period of the cars. "Vintage threads and treads" reads one of their t-shirts. 

We had a blast at the Goldpanners Midnight Sun baseball game. The game starts at 10:00 p.m. and it was around 1:00 a.m. when we got home. The game is played entirely by natural sunlight. It did get a dusky though, and I imagine the players would have preferred a little help in the light department. Harold snagged a foul ball when it came rolling under the fence. What fun!

What's the best thing about Fairbanks? Per Harold it was the short rest! With the auto museum and moose sightings not far behind.

Gold Dredge 8

Panning for gold

Operating levers

Alaska pipeline

Hop on in

1927 Lincoln

1933 Auburn

Midnight at the Goldpanners game

Where Are We Going Next? 

Wrangell St Elias National Park

We spent an extra day in Tok, AK, in order to take a day trip to one of two roads into Wrangell- St Elias National Park and Preserve. With a bit of a time crunch towards the end of the trip, we wanted to make sure we visited the park. The Slana ranger station on Nenana Road is only open in summer. The ranger said a busy day might see 70 to 100 people. The McCarthy road visitor centers see a lot more, but still nothing like a Yellowstone. Speaking of Yellowstone, Wrangell - St Elias is more than six times larger and is the nation's largest national park. 

The Nenana Road section seems to be primarily a jumping off point for a lot of off-roading trails. Hiking trails. Infrastructure is limited. Our favorite view was of the mountains in back of a large meadow area. 

Where Are We Going Next? 

Along the Alaska Highway

 June 9 - 18, 2024

The Alaska Highway begins at Dawson Creek and ends at Delta Junction, AK. The Richardson Highway to Fairbanks is a natural extension and the route we took. At Tok, AK, one pretty much decides whether to go clockwise or counterclockwise around AK with extensions to Homer, Seward, and Valdez. 

By the time we got to Fairbanks, we were more than ready for a week at the northernmost KOA. What a luxury to have 50 amp full hook ups! Most of the AK Highway campgrounds had only 30 amp and most were only water and electric with a dump station. 

While the Alaska Highway is fully paved (not counting the numerous gravel patches), there are sections with ruts, rolls, and dips that can cause some real damage. We saw one vehicle with a broken suspension. Consequently the road from around the Burwash Landing area to Tok takes a lot longer than your Garmin would indicate.

Our windshield took a beating on the gravel patches from passing trucks. Per Safelite, we have too many chips and the whole windshield will have to be replaced. Ugh! Hopefully, we won't incur any showstopping damage in AK and can wait to schedule a replacement when we're back in the lower 48.

That said, there were plenty of beautiful sights along the road. Wildlife sightings included bear, bison, caribou, and moose. Photos of said did not turn out good though because the windshield was either covered in bugs or glare. Majestic mountains, rivers, and lots of wildflowers make for gorgeous scenery. Towns like Dawson Creek, Ft. Nelson, Watson Lake, Whitehorse offer museums and a welcome rest. 

So glad to be off the road for a bit. 

Liard Hot Springs

Signpost Forest at Watson Lake - over 100,000 signs

We didn't leave a sign; but, our toad driver found a new job.

Rancheria Falls

Largest weathervane at Yukon Transportation Museum

Land train at Yukon Transportation Museum

One of many turnouts

The iconic end signpost at Delta Junction was being repaired

Where Are We Going Next? 

Along the Western Access

June 5 - 8, 2024

Our trip to Alaska begins with crossing the border in WA state. We had about a 30 - 40 minute wait at the border. We arrived as several members of an RV tour group did. We saw a number of the tour group throughout our day and ran across them several times during our travels to Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the Alaska Highway. 

Our first night we made it a small campground just north of Cache Creek. Willow Springs had a rowboat you could use at no charge. Harold exercised some different muscles. 

We had sort of planned to do a 1 night, 2 night pattern on the way to Fairbanks. Our next two nights were at Mama Yeh campground, about 15 minutes south of Prince George, BC. We used our non-travel day to get a few groceries, some loonies and toonies (money exchange), and to visit the Central BC Railway and Forestry Museum. The Museum was listed as a must-see in the Milepost.

We spent an hour or so meandering among the various buildings, railcars, and equipment. Perhaps the best part though was chatting with the CN parade float operators who had just arrived for a CN private event the following day, and a museum volunteer. The volunteer was definitely a railfan and had fascinating tidbits about the CN railyard next to the museum.

The next overnight stop was at Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the Alaskan Highway. We stopped by the visitor center and got a photo of the rig at the Mile 0 sign. We picked up even more tourist information, maps, and guidebooks. Whew! The visitor center gives out pins of the mile marker. Cute!

Back at the dock - Willow Springs Campground

Mount Begbie Overlook

At 108 Mile Heritage Site

Locomotive that was used for model

Model rail locomotive - looks familiar

Museum turntable

CN Parade Float

Dawson Creek

Historical Mile 0 Post

Where Are We Going Next? 

North Cascades National Park

 May 31, 2024

I feel like North Cascades National Park is one of those parks that we shortchanged in terms of time and amount of stuff to see. The drive from our campground was two hours. That's a bit longer than we like, but we were thankful to be able to visit. It may be a long time before we get back this far west. 

I'm not sure what weather station I was getting when I searched for North Cascades weather. I thought the temperatures were going to be in the upper 40's. It was more like upper 60's and lower 70's. As we hiked the Rock Shelter Trail, both of us were wishing we had worn lighter clothing. 

We noted that there was no entrance fee or timed entries at this national park. I was thinking that if I lived in the Seattle area, I'd probably prefer this park over Mt. Rainier. The scenery, despite the burned out areas, is beautiful, and the area seems far less crowded. 

Oh, and at our campground on NAS Whidbey Island, we finally saw those banana slugs. We were expecting more yellow in their color. 

Where Are We Going Next? 

We Go Cruising

May 19 - 26, 2024

As we researched how to get to Glacier Bay National Park, which is accessible by boat or plane only, we noted that the cost was quickly adding up. So we decided to do something entirely different. We took a week long cruise on NCL Encore. We parked our coach at JBLM's Holiday Park. That way our coach could be hooked up to electric and be in a secure location. From JBLM, it was an hour drive to Seattle's port and the parking garage, where we left our Jeep for the week. 

Our cruise itinerary included Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay, Ketchikan, and Victoria. Thus, when we drive into Alaska, we won't have to make the side trips toward the Inside Passage areas. 

In Juneau, we took the GoldbeltTram to the top of Mount Rogers. One of the steeper inclines, the view from the top is wonderful, especially on a clear day. 

In Skagway, we took the White Pass and Yukon Railway to White Pass Summit. Whew, those Klondike gold rushers faced incredible challenges in the quest for gold.

While the ship does not dock anywhere in Glacier Bay, park rangers come aboard the ship and provide commentary as the ship passes through the bay. The park rangers bring some store items with them too. I was able to get my national park passport stamp. Yeah! The ship seemed quieter that day as most everyone contemplated the spectacular scenery.

In Ketchikan, we took the excursion to Totem Bight State Historical Park. The tour felt a bit rushed, but we enjoyed the commentary on totem poles. 

Onboard the ship, Harold took the Behind the Scenes Tour. It takes a lot to run a floating hotel for a week. We also took a turn on the Ocean Loops water tube. Harold did great! I got stuck both times! I did pay to ride the go-karts just so I could say I rode go-karts at sea. 

It was a great week. Who knows, we may cruise again someday. 

Ocean Loops

Totem Bight State Historical Park

Glacier Bay National Park

Skagway Port

White Pass and Yukon Railway

Goldbelt Tram

Go-karts at sea

Laundry room

Where Are We Going Next?