The next day Roberta and I drove down to Nenana, a shipping port on the Tanana River about 57 miles south of Fairbanks. Nenana means “Camping Spot at Two Rivers” in Athabascan and the town is situated at the confluence of the Tanana and the Nenana Rivers. Freight and supplies, such as propane bottles for people in bush towns along the Tanana and Yukon Rivers, are shipped by barge since there are no roads west of here. The town has seen larger populations, as many as 5,000 people at one point, during the construction of the Alaska Railroad, construction of the Parks Highway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, and during WWII. Population now is about 370 and most are of Athabascan descent. The town has kept its Athabascan heritage which is quite evident.
Nenana is well known throughout Alaska for the annual Ice Classic which has become “Alaska’s Biggest Guessing Game”. Tens of thousands of Alaskans and Outsiders place $2.50 bets on the day, hour, and minute of the ice breakup on the Tanana River. The pot is over $270,000 which is 50% of the gross. A four-legged tripod is set up on the river ice in February with a cable running to a clock tower on shore. When the ice moves, the clocks stops and the official time is recorded.
We met a woman who moved to Nenana from Milwaukee in 1970 and who has become a local spearhead in the town, owning several businesses. In fact, as we went around town, it became evident she owned most of the businesses catering to tourists including the main restaurant named Two Choice Café. The rumor is that you have two choices there “take it or leave it”. Actually, the food wasn’t bad for a bush café.
We went across the Tanana River to the town’s Native cemetery located on a tree-covered high hillside overlooking the town and the river. White wooden crosses marked graves, some of which also had stone markers similar to those used in the Outside. Many graves had picket fences surrounding them, others were outlined with logs. There didn’t seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to the location of the graves as they were scattered on the hillside--some in rows, others weren’t. There were a lot of folks that died at young ages (under 35), including quite a few children.
July 3rd we drove to the Healy area and parked at the Denali RV Park and Motel—a nice park at the base of the mountains about 8 miles north of the entrance to Denali National Park. I had serious engine overheating problems on the long 38 mile uphill climb out of Fairbanks. This situation had been frustrating me on much of the trip and seemed to be a continuation of problems experienced last year on the East Coast and in the Rocky Mountains. I thought I had it solved by people in ABQ, but evidently not.
We spent the 3rd, 4th, and 5th getting oriented to the Healy/Denali area, driving some backroads and the single 15 mile long road you are allowed to take into Denali Park. We saw several cow moose, some with calves, in this area and many arctic hares which are larger than rabbits I was used to seeing in the Lower 48. We also got the rigs ready to receive our Mothers who would arrive the end of the week.
I should mention a little about permafrost up here. It is of a discontinuous nature south of the Brooks Range—it is present in some areas and not in others. For instance, it is present on the north slope of the ridgeline on the north side of Fairbanks, but is not present on the south slope. That seems to be a pattern in a lot of interior Alaska.
Fish Lake
July 6th Roberta and I drove to the Talkeetna area where we had reservations at the Paradise Lodge for two nights. We didn’t exactly know what we would be getting into, but we really lucked out! The lodge was relatively new (less than 5 years old) and on a beautiful setting overlooking Fish Lake south of Talkeetna. The managers were from New Zealand and very personable. They even moved us to a newly built lodge for the next night when our Mothers would be with us so the Mothers wouldn’t have to climb
July 6th Roberta and I drove to the Talkeetna area where we had reservations at the Paradise Lodge for two nights. We didn’t exactly know what we would be getting into, but we really lucked out! The lodge was relatively new (less than 5 years old) and on a beautiful setting overlooking Fish Lake south of Talkeetna. The managers were from New Zealand and very personable. They even moved us to a newly built lodge for the next night when our Mothers would be with us so the Mothers wouldn’t have to climb the steep steps in the main lodge. We were the first to stay in the new quarters and were charged the same rate for those quarters as we would be charged in the main lodge, which was $400 under the regular rental rate of $600 per night! The latter quarters had a living room, sitting room, 3 bedrooms w/ 3 baths, decks all around so you could see the views, and a large kitchen. Wow! What a way to introduce the Mothers to Alaska! And Roberta and I didn’t mind it a bit either!
We drove to Anchorage on the 7th where we had breakfast with a friend of Roberta’s and her friend—both RVers. Then on to the airport to pick up our Mothers who arrived within about 15 minutes of each other. We had lunch at the Sourdough Mining Company (good) before heading up the road to Talkeetna and Paradise Lodge where we enjoyed getting acquainted over cheese, crackers, wine and wonderful scenery. Everyone was very tired so the party didn’t last long that night!
We drove to Anchorage on the 7th where we had breakfast with a friend of Roberta’s and her friend—both RVers. Then on to the airport to pick up our Mothers who arrived within about 15 minutes of each other. We had lunch at the Sourdough Mining Company (good) before heading up the road to Talkeetna and Paradise Lodge where we enjoyed getting acquainted over cheese, crackers, wine and wonderful scenery. Everyone was very tired so the party didn’t last long that night!
The Mothers and the Daughters at Paradise LodgeWe were up early on the 8th to drive to Healy where we had to reposition our RVs to new sites as soon as we arrived. (This has happened more than once in AK as RV parks juggle their spaces to accommodate caravans and people like us that are passing through.) The Mothers settled in and we took them on the 15 mile drive into Denali National Park after dinner. And we finally saw a caribou in the wild near the Savage River! We had been seeing warning signs about caribou since arriving in Canada; however, this was our first sighting. What a rack it had!
Left: Finally a Caribou in the wild!
Right: Denali N.P. Country
This Wild Country Called Denali!
Left: Gizzly Bear
Right: The Park Road
"The Mountain"
Mt. McKinley aka Denali
(Rt. photo taken about 1 hr. after the left photo and 20 mi. closer)
(Rt. photo taken about 1 hr. after the left photo and 20 mi. closer)
Caribou and the Park Road
Denali N.P.
Monday, July 9th, Mom and I were on the phone early to family in SD to find out how everyone was fairing in the Hot Springs area with the fire outside of town. My niece had to evacuate her horses to a safe location, but the fire did not extend into the town or to the location where she boards her horses. Several others were not as fortunate. Midday Roberta, her Mother, my Mother, and I boarded a shuttle bus for a 6-hour tour back into Denali N.P. The scenery was incredible and we saw 6 caribou, 4 dall sheep, many arctic hare, and a grizzly bear. The large animals were all a large distance from the road so it was hard to get good photos even with the telephoto lens.
The next day Mom and I took the 8-hour shuttle tour back into the Fish Creek area—a 63 mile trip each way. It was a wonderful trip seeing the wild countryside and we were fortunate to see Mt. McKinley several times as the clouds parted. Some notes I took from the driver/guide’s comments:
--They have 8 months of winter in Denali.
--Tree line is at approximately 2700’ MSL.
--“Taiga” describes the lower forested areas. It is a Russian word meaning “little sticks”.
--There are 2 kinds of tundra: wet and dry. A brush line usually separates them.
--Road construction work in the park begins at 10 p.m. and goes all night during the daylight when buses aren’t running. (We saw some daytime; i.e. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., repairs being made because of mudslides caused by yesterday’s rains.)
--17 of the 20 highest peaks in the U.S. are in AK.
--The highest highway pass in AK is between 4800 and 4900 feet. (I didn’t get the exact altitude.)
We saw 6 dall sheep, 9 caribou, many arctic hare, 1 falcon, 1 hoary marmot, and 1 grizzly (seen twice) on the trip. Again, the larger animals were in the distance which made getting good pictures tough. I did get some decent shots of Mt. McKinley, though. It had been a long day, but we saw a lot of wild, wonderful country!
July 11th and 12th were spent in the Healy and Denali areas where we did local sightseeing, shopped for souvenirs, went through the Park’s Visitor Center and watched a dog sled 
demonstration. Dog sleds are still used by Park Rangers to patrol the back country in the winter where they are on the lookout for poachers, people in trouble, etc. These are extended trips lasting several days at a time. Mom and I took a short hike in the Park on the 12th and we saw a red fox in the silver phase a couple of times in the community of Denali. It was headed south at first, then back north with a hare in its mouth. Dinner for the pups? I learned later that a sighting of a silver or 
black phase red fox is quite rare; however, this one obviously lives in the area. I managed to come down with a flu-like bug in the early afternoon, so that was the end of my Denali area touring. Roberta took the Mothers on a drive in the afternoon to a backcountry overlook we had found which had beautiful views of Healy, the Nenana River, and south into the Denali area. They saw four moose during the drive which was a highlight for Mom.
We drove to Talkeetna on Friday, the 13th and set up at Talkeetna Camper Park—a neat camp ground right in town. I was still feeling lousy and running a fever, so spent the afternoon in bed. Roberta showed the Mothers around the town which is really an interesting, quaint little town. It has a back country feel to it that is really charming. The next day we all took in the Moose Dropping Festival which is THE BIG EVENT of the year. It was fun, complete with a parade, craft exhibits and entertainment in the park, and plenty of opportunity to people watch. We also saw a program about Don Sheldon (deceased) who really started the glacier landing business in Alaska. I’d heard about him for many years in the 1960’s and 70’s and enjoyed seeing the movie about him and his flying. We took the Mothers to Latitude 62 for dinner in the evening—a place we found the night before we picked them up in Anchorage. They serve good halibut in season.
TALKEETNA
The next day Mom and I took the 8-hour shuttle tour back into the Fish Creek area—a 63 mile trip each way. It was a wonderful trip seeing the wild countryside and we were fortunate to see Mt. McKinley several times as the clouds parted. Some notes I took from the driver/guide’s comments:
--They have 8 months of winter in Denali.
--Tree line is at approximately 2700’ MSL.
--“Taiga” describes the lower forested areas. It is a Russian word meaning “little sticks”.
--There are 2 kinds of tundra: wet and dry. A brush line usually separates them.
--Road construction work in the park begins at 10 p.m. and goes all night during the daylight when buses aren’t running. (We saw some daytime; i.e. 8 a.m.-5 p.m., repairs being made because of mudslides caused by yesterday’s rains.)
--17 of the 20 highest peaks in the U.S. are in AK.
--The highest highway pass in AK is between 4800 and 4900 feet. (I didn’t get the exact altitude.)
We saw 6 dall sheep, 9 caribou, many arctic hare, 1 falcon, 1 hoary marmot, and 1 grizzly (seen twice) on the trip. Again, the larger animals were in the distance which made getting good pictures tough. I did get some decent shots of Mt. McKinley, though. It had been a long day, but we saw a lot of wild, wonderful country!
July 11th and 12th were spent in the Healy and Denali areas where we did local sightseeing, shopped for souvenirs, went through the Park’s Visitor Center and watched a dog sled demonstration. Dog sleds are still used by Park Rangers to patrol the back country in the winter where they are on the lookout for poachers, people in trouble, etc. These are extended trips lasting several days at a time. Mom and I took a short hike in the Park on the 12th and we saw a red fox in the silver phase a couple of times in the community of Denali. It was headed south at first, then back north with a hare in its mouth. Dinner for the pups? I learned later that a sighting of a silver or black phase red fox is quite rare; however, this one obviously lives in the area. I managed to come down with a flu-like bug in the early afternoon, so that was the end of my Denali area touring. Roberta took the Mothers on a drive in the afternoon to a backcountry overlook we had found which had beautiful views of Healy, the Nenana River, and south into the Denali area. They saw four moose during the drive which was a highlight for Mom.We drove to Talkeetna on Friday, the 13th and set up at Talkeetna Camper Park—a neat camp ground right in town. I was still feeling lousy and running a fever, so spent the afternoon in bed. Roberta showed the Mothers around the town which is really an interesting, quaint little town. It has a back country feel to it that is really charming. The next day we all took in the Moose Dropping Festival which is THE BIG EVENT of the year. It was fun, complete with a parade, craft exhibits and entertainment in the park, and plenty of opportunity to people watch. We also saw a program about Don Sheldon (deceased) who really started the glacier landing business in Alaska. I’d heard about him for many years in the 1960’s and 70’s and enjoyed seeing the movie about him and his flying. We took the Mothers to Latitude 62 for dinner in the evening—a place we found the night before we picked them up in Anchorage. They serve good halibut in season.
TALKEETNA
Left to Right:
Carol & Betty
Roberta & Evelyn
The next morning I was up early and drove to the airport to see the planes used for glacier flights. I was particularly impressed with K-2 Aviation’s setup which was very clean and professional looking. I might mention that Talkeetna eats, breathes, and lives for “The Mountain”; i.e. Mt. McKinley. The National Park Service has a ranger station there and they station rangers up on the mountain (I think it was at the 14,000 foot level) during the climbing season. The vast majority, if not all, climbers use Talkeetna as their staging area and the local aviation operators fly the climbers and their gear up on the mountain. The success rate for reaching the top generally runs around 50%. I’ve never gotten into mountain climbing, but it has always fascinated me. I watch programs and movies about expeditions at every opportunity, so it was fun to experience the local ambiance surrounding The Mountain—even though the climbing season had drawn to a close a few days before we arrived.
After we had a hearty breakfast, complete with a tremendous crowd of locals and visitors at the Talkeetna Roadhouse, we drove to Anchorage. The Roadhouse is a quaint historic building in town—one of those places you have to visit when you are there. (The cinnamon rolls weren’t as good as the ones at Tetsa River Lodge.) We got set up in Anchorage and a fellow employee from the company I flew for in Missoula, MT, in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Tom Gummer and his daughter Gracie, came out to visit us. We made plans for a flight in the area the next day. I hadn’t seen Tom since our company reunion in Missoula four years ago, so it was really great to connect once again.
After we had a hearty breakfast, complete with a tremendous crowd of locals and visitors at the Talkeetna Roadhouse, we drove to Anchorage. The Roadhouse is a quaint historic building in town—one of those places you have to visit when you are there. (The cinnamon rolls weren’t as good as the ones at Tetsa River Lodge.) We got set up in Anchorage and a fellow employee from the company I flew for in Missoula, MT, in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Tom Gummer and his daughter Gracie, came out to visit us. We made plans for a flight in the area the next day. I hadn’t seen Tom since our company reunion in Missoula four years ago, so it was really great to connect once again.
Tom Gummer
Monday, July 16th, was a day that I will never forget! Mom and I were up early to meet Tom for his “glacier flight”—and what a trip it was! Tom has a Cessna 185 on floats based at Lake Hood, the busiest seaplane base in the world. As we were preparing to climb aboard, a bull moose showed up on an island next to the waterway we would be using to taxi for takeoff. It stayed as we taxied by—totally unconcerned. We took off and went southeast along Turnagain Arm, then turned northeast over Girdwood and up
Monday, July 16th, was a day that I will never forget! Mom and I were up early to meet Tom for his “glacier flight”—and what a trip it was! Tom has a Cessna 185 on floats based at Lake Hood, the busiest seaplane base in the world. As we were preparing to climb aboard, a bull moose showed up on an island next to the waterway we would be using to taxi for takeoff. It stayed as we taxied by—totally unconcerned. We took off and went southeast along Turnagain Arm, then turned northeast over Girdwood and up over the Chugach Mountains where we saw numerous glaciers. Our destination was the foot of a glacier that emptied into Lake George. The lake was a beautiful turquoise with ice floes scattered in it. We landed in clear water adjacent to and parallel to the glacier and parked there several minutes just to take in the beauty and serenity of the place. I could have stayed all day and not gotten tired of seeing the immense beauty surrounding me. However, we had to depart and Tom had some more beauty in store for us as we flew low down “The Gorge” which was a narrow canyon between Lake George and the Knik Glacier. We continued on alongside the front of the Knik Glacier before turning west. What a trip and what scenery! We flew on to a lake near Wasilla, landed, and had a cup of coffee at a picturesque resort before flying back to Lake Hood. Tom’s wife, Kristie, and daughter Gracie were awaiting our arrival and we all had an enjoyable lunch. Now for the confession. I “never” run out of battery power for my digital camera; however, my battery gave out as we were on final approach into Lake George so I don’t have any photos from while we were parked there by the glacier, from the flight down The Gorge, or in front of the Knik Glacier. I am still kicking myself about that snafu—thought I had a spare in the backpack, but it wasn’t there. That flight, though, will always be the highlight of this trip!
Left: Bull Moose on Lake Hood
Right: Chugach Mountains
east of Anchorage
Left: Glaciers in Chugach Mtns.Right: Lake George. Note "The Gorge" along the mountain going from the lake back to the foot of the Knik Glacier in upper portion of photo.
Left,Right, and Below:
Left,Right, and Below:
Lake George
The next day, July 17th, was another day for seeing glaciers because Roberta and I had made reservations for a glacier cruise in Prince William Sound complete with an all-you-can-eat salmon and prime rib buffet. We drove along Turnagain Arm to the one lane tunnel that is shared between trains and motor vehicles—each mode of transportation goes one-way at a time on a set schedule. Whittier is at the other side of the mountain (tunnel) and is where we sailed out of for the cruise on Blackstone Bay. We were about six hours on the cruise and saw several glaciers, including Blackstone Glacier which calved several times while we there. We also saw numerous kayakers, bald eagles, sea otters and waterfalls. We went with Major Marine Tours which has won awards for their shipboard cuisine and it was good. The cruise was enjoyable and seas were calm, so it was a good day. Then it was back to Whittier, through the tunnel (had to wait for a train to go through first) and back to Anchorage. A side note: Whittier was nearly destroyed by the 1964 earthquake as were many towns in south central Alaska. Approximately 80% of the town’s residents (town population is 300) live in one building that looks like an older apartment building but is reported in a guidebook to be condos. The mountains rise up rapidly from the waterfront here and they can get 14 feet of snow during winter. Other than some seaport activity, including glacier tours, we couldn’t find much to do in Whittier. We even had trouble finding a cup of coffee along the dock area while waiting to board the boat!
GLACIER CRUISE OUT OF WHITTIER, AK
Sea Otters
Blackstone Glacier (Calving in right photo)
Now here is some "cool" ice!
The 18th was a “down” day as we regrouped from yesterday’s activities. Mom and I went to Earthquake Park which commemorates the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake and walked around there. We then went downtown to The Anchorage Museum of History and Art before taking a walk to look at the beautiful flowers along the streets, on buildings, etc. We didn’t get through much of the museum—that is definitely a place I would like to spend more time in on a future trip. The afternoon was spent organizing and packing Mom’s belongings for her return to SD.
All too soon, it was time to bid the Mothers good-bye as they flew back to the Lower 48 on July 19th—Roberta’s mother to Sacramento, CA, and my Mother to Sioux Falls, SD. It had been a fun 12 days having them up here and they got to experience and see a lot of what Alaska is all about. We had to move to different sites within the campground this date, so we got that done after seeing our Mothers off and spent the remainder of the day working around the rigs.
Friday, July 20th, I was up early to drive to the Caterpillar dealer to see if they could determine what was causing the overheating issues I’d been having. They couldn’t tell much except that, yes, I’d had a problem. Roberta and I went over to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in the afternoon. This is an interesting facility where we saw native boys performing games that are done in the villages, artisans at work, and an interesting museum. Outside the central facility they have created five different areas showing the types of buildings used in traditional villages by the five principal native cultures in the state. This proved to be an interesting visit and well worth the time spent and the admission price.
All too soon, it was time to bid the Mothers good-bye as they flew back to the Lower 48 on July 19th—Roberta’s mother to Sacramento, CA, and my Mother to Sioux Falls, SD. It had been a fun 12 days having them up here and they got to experience and see a lot of what Alaska is all about. We had to move to different sites within the campground this date, so we got that done after seeing our Mothers off and spent the remainder of the day working around the rigs.
Friday, July 20th, I was up early to drive to the Caterpillar dealer to see if they could determine what was causing the overheating issues I’d been having. They couldn’t tell much except that, yes, I’d had a problem. Roberta and I went over to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in the afternoon. This is an interesting facility where we saw native boys performing games that are done in the villages, artisans at work, and an interesting museum. Outside the central facility they have created five different areas showing the types of buildings used in traditional villages by the five principal native cultures in the state. This proved to be an interesting visit and well worth the time spent and the admission price.
