Yesterday, I was able get a new rear tire installed and completed an oil change on my bike so she is a clean machine and ready to go.
I met up with Jeff this morning at Mikey D's for breakfast and we designed a plan to visit Denali National Park and try and see Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain on the North American Continent at 20, 320 feet. Alas, we did not see the mountain top due to cloud cover but from what I heard, this is a common issue since the mountain causes it's own weather.
The on the way out of Fairbanks, we made a stop at the Alaska Pipeline for pictures and to OOH and AHH at the size of the darn thing.
We quickly climbed out of the valley heading south and rode the ridge up to about 1300 feet from the 600 feet of Fairbanks. The views were very tremendous and showed just how much vacant land there is in Alaska. The cities are usually very small and the space is very large. Lots of rivers, streams and marshland.
After about 40 miles, we entered at large low plain that led us to the Denali Park area. The plain was at about 223 feet in elevation and covered with evergreens and small ponds with marsh areas all around. This area did not have any population as there is not very much land that would be suitable for building.
We could see the mountains of the Denali area on the horizon with snow capped peaks and large cloud cover surrounding their flanks and peaks. Some of the clouds were dropping rain and some just created fog banks. Pretty and dangerous.
The mountain arose very abruptly from the low plain and the road quickly rose to 1300 feet and became very twisty and quick changes in elevation. Fun riding. The road traveled through steep walled canyons with several creeks, streams and rivers moving the snow runoff into the Susitna River that runs south toward Anchorage.
Just before the park entrance, there is quite a bit of commercial development serving rafters, RVers, hikers and so on.
Once in the part, the visitors center is a complex of several buildings due to the high traffic volume of people visiting the park. Also, the park has limited vehicle access into the back country. You can drive your vehicle in about 15 miles but if you want to go further, you have to hike or take the park provided tour bus on an 8 hour ride about 90 miles further. They do make several viewing stops and at the far end, you may get a view of the top of Mt. McKinley but the is questionable due to the weather. More often than not, you cannot see the top.
After we left the park, we once again traveled along the river between snow covered mountain peaks and a wonderful riding road. Twisty and hilly. A good day riding.
While riding along the river, we passed a jet tour boat on the river speeding along in shallow water giving the passengers a thrill. They were going about 35 mph which is quick on water.
After about 20 miles, the valley widened out between the mountains and became more like low hills with lots of wide open spaces. We were still riding next to Denali Park and the tall snow topped peaks filled the right side of our view. Great stuff to see.The highway then made a more southerly turn and we lost sight of the row of cloud crowned peaks the reside in the park and moved to a more level valley terrain heading to Wasilla and Anchorage.
We refueled at Trapper Creek and while there, had a terrific lunch at a roadside restaurant. Taco soup, turkey sandwich and chips. Jeff tried the lentil soup but it was not as tasty as the taco soup.When we walked out to get ready to leave, Jeff notice that part of his saddlebag cover was missing. He has had a problem a couple of times of it popping open while riding before but this time, it was a goner. We then fabricated a replacement out of Duct Tape.....naturally. Works good, lasts a long time and not rust, bust or breakdown.
The further south we rode the more traffic we encountered and this was kind of a bummer as we had the road to ourselves for miles but that was over now. Road construction and development slowed our progress.
As we approached Wasilla, yes the home of Ms. Palin (she wasn't home), the traffic got quite heavy. Also, the mountains that surround the Anchorage area became visible. More snow capped peaks, cloud banks and wonderful views.
We stopped to check on a hotel for the evening and found a room for $199 at a Best Western.....we did not stay there.We checked about a hotel at Palmer we found using the GPS database and the Valley Inn at Palmer,AK., is very nice and much cheaper.We checked in an me Peggy, the front counter person, and convinced her to give us a real discount for AARP, AAA, Military discount and anything else we could think up. It ended up that the room she quoted me on the phone at $118, cost us $83!!!! Life is good.
We then had a Halibut "Fish and Chips" dinner in the hotel restaurant and are calling it a night.
Rode about 329 miles today. Off to Tok, AK., and Beaver Creek, YT.
All for now.
Mike
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