Couch Potato
Rainy days and Tuesdays…
This note is just to continue the chronicle of my time in Alaska. I have taken three days to do little of nothing other than to hide from the rain, wind, and cold. I’m still 10 miles north of Denali at the little spot of BLM I found on the web. It looks like tomorrow will be a good travel day so I’m planning to drive down near Talkeetna to find a camping place.
Take Off!
Rain is predicted to settle in for the next few days so I rode to the park for one last activity. Denali is known for its generous stance as a wilderness area. In a wilderness area, man is a visitor that does not remain, no mechanical vehicles can be used, and nature is left pretty much alone to do its thing. If I remember right, fires cannot be fought by firefighters with machines or chainsaws.
It’s too hot!
Too many people
The one theme that fits with the wilderness area of the park in winter is dog sleds. Denali park employees and volunteers maintain a kennel of 33 Alaskan Huskies for transportation through the park in the winter. Of course the dogs have to be cared for and exercised all summer, too. One of the most popular attractions is a sled dog demonstration offered free by the park.
I rode to the visitors center and stood in line for the 2:00 pm show. The show is so popular that there were enough people to fill two large busses. We were bussed only two miles to the kennels and got to walk around and meet the dogs for a half hour before the demonstration started. Most all the dogs are friendly from being handled by different trainers and having visitors around petting them.
If they used more dogs on this cart the musher would end up in the bushes on the turn.
The Alaskan Huskies used as sled dogs are bred for their long legs, wide paws, bushy tails, powerful lean bodies, and intelligence. They are highly trained athletes and they love to run! Any temperature above 20° is too warm for them so they sleep outside in the snow all winter.
Hard for them to stand still.
The demonstration consisted of hooking 5 dogs to a wheel cart and watching them race around a circular track. Then the narrator/park ranger told the story of the dogs while the crowd watched. It was interesting to learn the different positions the dogs are harnessed in the line, and how they are chosen for their position.
When the show was over everyone could go back to pet the dogs some more or wait for the bus. There was a nice path back to the visitors center that was only 2 miles, so I walked. I probably will hang out at camp for a few days until this rain system moves on.
Our bus
Yesterday I rode to Denali and purchased a ticket to ride into the wilderness area of Denali. The bus trip I purchased, 53 miles to the Toklat River, was the shortest excursion they offered into the heart of the park. Some of the tours were over 90 miles and lasted all day. I figured that 6 hours on a school bus would be long enough.
During the night it rained and rained. My bus ride was scheduled for noon so I was hopeful the rain would stop before I had to leave for the park. If it was still raining in the morning, I would have to pack everything and drive Minnie instead of Honda. Luckily, the morning was dry but still very cloudy. I could ride Honda but a peek at Denali’s peak was not going to happen.
A retreating glacier.
The seats on the bus were a lot better than I feared. They were actually quite comfortable with adequate leg room. The bus driver was very knowledgeable and personable, too. Several people said we were lucky to get him. The bus driver is not actually required to narrate the tour back into the park but we received lots of information from a nice guy. Our driver ( whose name is Dale, but that doesn’t have anything to do with this) has worked as a driver for the park for 35 years, knows a lot about the park, is an avid Denali backpacker, and has a great personality. Every time he would ask us if he should stop talking and let us enjoy the park in silence, we would all exclaim that he should keep telling us stories.
Chiseled far away look!
If you see the tallest mountain you are lucky. Most that come to the park only see clouds, and we would be amoung the many. We saw a few Caribou, a bald eagle, a moose, a snowshoe hare, and a tarm… patr… part… tparm… chicken. But the one animal that evaded us all was the mighty Grizzly.
Caribou in the road. He wouldn’t move!
It was a fun day with a good group of people. I took lots of pictures but it is one of those places that can’t be captured with a camera. The mountains are too grand and the animals too far away to photograph without a telephoto lens. I’m going to go back over tomorrow and try to catch the sled dog demonstration.
As close as I’ve ever gotten to a moose.
The George Parks Highway that runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks is by far the best road I’ve been on here in Alaska. There were very few dips and potholes. It is probably maintained well because it is such a major highway.
View along the Parks Highway
I retrieved my mail at the post office, dumped and filled my water for free, stocked up on groceries at Safeway, and headed out of Fairbanks. It was only 120 miles to Denali. I had a couple of camping places I wanted to check on before I went into the park, but one place had signs up for no camping and I couldn’t find the other. I ended up going all the way to the Park Visitors Center looking for good pullouts to spend the night. I figured I would end up paying for an RV park.
Hope it lives up to the hype!
The visitors center was packed with people. I wandered around looking at displays and then watched a movie about sights and sounds of Denali. I was more concerned about someplace to stay than looking at the park so I left after an hour or so.
I headed back to Healy, ten miles north of the park entrance, and searched again for the BLM camp I read about on freecampsites.net. As I drove past the point where the directions ended, I saw a motorhome down a dirt road and went to check it out. There were only two sites on the road but the guy in one of the motorhomes came out and told me they were leaving in a few minutes. And that’s how I scored this free site.
Little campground.
My Minnie does not take up as much space as the Class A and his toad, so when someone came down the road in a Class C, I told them to park in beside me. Then about an hour later a van came in and parked here too. I will probably be here a few days to see Denali.
Dead battery
I parked at Walmart yesterday afternoon with intentions of staying 48 hours. My mail should be here tomorrow and then I can move down towards Denali National Park. This morning I was relaxing in my pajamas when I got a knock on the door. Two guys were going around and telling everyone that the stay limit in the parking lot was now 24 hours and it was being enforced. I told them I came in last night and would move out today.
I noticed that on the light pole were signs stating the 24 hours parking limit. I talked with another man by his RV that said they put them up early this morning. It’s okay with me, and I have often said that Walmarts, rest areas, and parking pullouts along the highway are good for overnight when you are traveling but not good for staying more than one or two nights. Some of the rigs had been there for several days and I guess they got tired of it. I was just surprised because the last time I was here my neighbor said that people had asked about overnight parking and they didn’t care how long you stayed.
I know there were a lot of Class A motorhomes with slides and pulling toads that took up several parking spaces, but there always seemed to be plenty of parking for cars. Usually when an ordinance goes into affect it is the RV parks in town that object to free parking when they can collect $50 a night. I asked in the store if there was any problem with people in RVs or if it was just a new rule. She said it has always been a rule but they just got the signs. It may hurt their business a little but a lot of people will still stock up for the privilege of one night.
I drove a couple miles out of town and parked at a pullout. I was thinking of going to Pioneer Park for the night but when I went to start Minnie the battery was dead. I usually get out the door and enter the coach from the back door but this time I climbed straight back from the front seat. If I had exited the cab door I would have heard the warning ding that told me I had left my lights on.
It is a good thing I have a jumper from my house battery to the engine battery. With the jumper on for a few minutes, Minnie started back up. I think my engine battery may be getting weak; it is quite old. Things have not gone my way today so I think I will stay right here tonight. I hope I’m not evicted before morning.