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Published: June 28th 2016
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The pictures don't follow the blog but I have to start out today with a story. We had a clear day so we took off on the Glenn Highway searching for a few lakes we knew were stocked with rainbow trout. Lake one (Weiner Lake) had very little access and lake two (Long Lake) ….no it's true, I couldn’t make that up….was already crowded with two families and small kids so we eventually ended up at Bonnie Lake, way off the road, very beautiful and moose everywhere. After a little unproductive fishing and lunch we rolled back to the highway were we saw a sign for Fish Lake Road and thinking there must be another lake there we bolted off the blacktop again. Well Fish Lake Rd. wandered around for about 6 miles and ended at Chickaloon Rd. with no lake in sight. We chose to go right but that was a dead end so we turned around and could have taken Fish Lake Rd. back to the highway but no, not us, we decided to find out where this road went and if there was a lake. Well it went left, right, up, down all the while getting muddier with
more potholes and much narrower. Eventually the road kind of petered out altogether becoming more of a mystery trail going through the dense forest and passing few abandoned cabins until we reached an area straight out of a Steven King Does Alaska novel. Just barely wide enough for one vehicle there were signs on BOTH sides stating “NO TRESSPASSING VIOLATORS WILL BE SHOT ON SITE”. We stayed on the ruts, did not leave the truck and eventually reached a driveway that was chained off with a “Smile Your on Candid Camera” sign. So we did and we continued to bounce through the mud hoping that the truck wouldn’t pick that inappropriate time to break down and we would eventually make it out without contacting the locals. There was no place to turn around anyway. After another 2 miles or so, following a small creek that helped to muddy up the road even more, we broke out into an open area that finally led back to blacktop. We will not be going back there for more pictures. This middle of nowhere backwoods muddy road was inhabited by the truly off-the-grid, don’t want to be found, don’t mess with us, we will
shoot you and feed you to the bears types. I have directions if anyone wants to join them. And now for the more mundane adventures, we drove Hatcher Pass to the Independence Mine ruins taking pictures and playing tourist in the rain. If you never go anywhere because it’s raining, you will never get to see most places in Alaska. This was an interesting piece of gold fever history and there were some pretty stunning views after the rain stopped and the clouds parted a little. We also made a run out to Talkeetna this week which started out in the rain but ended up with a nice afternoon. We had not expected much in the way viewing the mountains of the Alaska Range when we left but we got the surprise of our trip as we approached the little town that is known as the starting point for most of the Mt. Denali assents, especially from foreign travelers. There are three air services in Talkeetna that will land you on the glacier and let you off for the climb to the top as well as come back to get you when the weather allows. On the way into town
there is a Photo Stop and we nearly crashed as I slammed on the brakes to make the turn because “The Big Mountain” was clearly visible that afternoon. Everything that everyone has said about seeing Mt. Denali is true, it is truly a magnificent sight and it is hard to take your eyes off it once you can see it. So many people come here for just a few days and never even get a glimpse Denali but we were truly lucky to be there on a day that started out completely overcast then cleared for a few hours. Maybe as we spend more time farther north we will get a cloudless day that allows even better pictures but if not we will treasure the dozen or so that we have already. So this has been a great week: really nice RV Park, beautiful fishing lakes, close encounters with big moose, an unexpected off road wilderness adventure we will not soon repeat and great pictures of the iconic Mt. Denali. Today we are taking a rest day before we move to Cantwell where we will be meeting up with Wayne and Ronda for 6 days and trying to shove six
weeks’ worth of experience into their short time here. Hopefully the weather will break as we are stuck back in a cool wet pattern as you in the Lower 48 swelter in the heat.
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Diane
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:)
It's nice to all the beautiful pictures. Glad you guys are having the time of your lives. :)