Month: July 2018

Saturday morning we packed up the Jeep and headed to Stampede Road which was just north of our campsite. The Stampede Trail is the trail that Christopher McCandless hiked in 1992 to the now famous Magic bus. His body was found in the bus deep inside the wilderness about 30 miles down the trail. The actual bus is still out there. A replica bus from the movie Into The Wild is located at the 49th State Brewing Company in Healy.

The first 4 miles was paved then turned to gravel. Another 4.8 miles on the gravel led us to the beginning of the trail. It was significantly narrower but the Jeep fit just fine. There was nothing difficult about the trail but it was bumpy and rocky and just a cool trail to be on since we didn’t see another soul once we got on it.

Almost right away, Craig spotted a moose. I backed up slowly and we were eye to eye with a mama and her baby. She definitely was keeping a close watch on us so I snapped a few pictures and we continued on our way.

The trail had some mud holes which weren’t that bad and a few that had by-passes for what we assumed were the really bad ones. Then we got to the creek crossings. The creek wound itself in and over and through the trail. At one point I was driving right down the middle of it. We really enjoyed this trail and were bummed when we hit a big mud bog with no clear way of getting through AND back. We could’ve winched ourselves across but looking behind us there was nothing to hook too. This was 5.3 miles in. We were really hoping to at least make it to the Savage River but oh well. Next time we’ll we bring friends with bigger rigs to help us.

Sunday we went to 49th State Brewing because they were having a blood drive. At home we try to donate regularly and thought it would be a good thing to do, it had nothing to do with the 1/2 off appetizer offered with donation. We got in the mobile bus and started filling out our information, the lady was happy to hear I’m 0 positive since most of the population is, and Craig is 0 negative. Unfortunately, we are honest folk and admitted our tattoos were gotten within the last 12 months and she had to defer us. We offered to give back our t-shirts but she was happy to let us have them, thanked us for even trying, and told us to go enjoy our beer and appetizer.

We toured around town a bit, window shopped and then headed to the bridge over the Nenana River. When we were rafting, our guide told us there was a foot bridge under it that you could walk on. It was really beautiful up there and it was cool to watch the train pass by under us.

While we were there, a guy had climbed the railing and made his way to the cross members of the bridge and was tying a rope to them. We watched intently as he checked his knots and walked the rope to the cement support of the bridge. And then…he jumped. He swung out over the Nenana River while we whooped and hollered for him. He let himself down to the ground and climbed back up so the next guy could go.

Monday we had a cleaning day. I cleaned the camper and trailer, Craig cleaned the interiors of the truck and Jeep. We had also found that the plys separated on one of the trailer tires causing it to tear. Craig changed out the tire and we are working on that warranty issue now.

Late in the day we left and drove south toward Talkeetna. It was a beautiful night and we were able to see Denali!! So beautiful!! Pictures just do not do it justice.

We found a great boondocking spot on the Susitna River just before the spur road to Talkeetna. We headed into town in the morning. Talkeetna is a cool little town. Lots of cute shops, good food and it’s right at the convergence of the Susitna and Talkeetna Rivers and flows really fast. On the river walk, we again got a view of Denali although clouds were hovering and hiding some of it. We popped into West Rib for a beer brewed specifically for that restaurant and ran into a couple from Newaygo, Michigan. Go figure! We also met Jeff who offered to take us rock climbing. We’ve never been so we took him up on it and that will be next weeks adventure.

Wednesday we headed to Chugiak to meet up with our friends from the Dempster Highway, Barb and Steve. We had helped them out with a flat tire and hit it off. They made us a King Salmon meal that was amazing! We haven’t had a lot of fish on the trip yet so this was perfect. It was so great to catch up with them and learn about some fun things to do in the area. We’re thankful to be able to reconnect again and be invited into their home. It was really nice to sit at the kitchen table, talking and laughing over beers, it felt a little like home.

We had a nice breakfast with them and got nice hot showers. We got the maps out and figured out our next adventure. We’re heading up to Hatcher Pass which has places to hike and take the Jeep out. The weather is a little iffy so hopefully the rain holds off.

Off to Hatcher Pass…

In our effort to get away from the busy summer touristy places, we decided to drive back up the Elliott Highway to Manley Hot Springs. A friend had told us that there is a road that was just completed in 2016 called Tofty Road and it goes west all the way to the Yukon River. That sounded like something we should do.

We had driven part of the Elliott Highway on our way to the Dalton Highway a few weeks ago, so we knew what parts of the road were crappy. What we didn’t know was how crappy the road all the way to Manley Hot Springs was going to be. But at this point, we’ve been on so many crappy roads we are used to it. The Elliott Highway is 150 miles and is 50% paved and 50% gravel and connects Fox to Manley Hot Springs. Manley Hot Springs is a small town with a natural hot springs, near the Tanana River.

We got to Manley Hot Springs around 10:30pm. We knew there was camping available across the street from the Manley Roadhouse. It was basically the parking area for a boat launch and it didn’t fit many RVs. There was one spot left for us thankfully. We walked to the Roadhouse to pay the fee and there were a few people in the bar. We decided to have a beer and get some info on Tofty Road.

While enjoying our first beer, we chatted with the bartender and learned that the guy across the bar worked for DOT (and didn’t appreciate me telling him how crappy the road into town was) and the guy telling funny stories used to be a Haul Road trucker. Before we could get out of there, DOT guy rang the bell, which means he bought the whole bar a round! There was only 5 of us in the bar but still it was pretty cool of him. What we didn’t know was he was going to ring the bell 3 or 4 more times. At 2:30 we left with wooden tokens in our pockets, which guaranteed that we still got the drink he bought us when we came back. He wanted us to stay for shots. Thanks, but no, we were tired!

Saturday we packed up the Jeep and drove the Tofty Road. When you first turn on the road there is a sign that says Rough Road next 50 miles. It was pretty rough but a much easier drive in the Jeep. We went through a few creek crossings and even saw a big moose! We made our way all the way to the Yukon River which is the 5th time we’ve seen it on this journey. It is really wide at this point. There is nothing at the end of Tofty Road except a boat launch and a parking lot for the residents of Tanana, which is across the river. So after a few pictures, we turned around and headed back. We learned later that this road is the most West you can drive in the United States on continuous roads.

We got back to Manley and had a quick lunch and decided to catch up on sleep. Around 10:00 pm decided we should go back in the roadhouse and use our wooden token. This was a good and bad decision. It was good because we met many new friends. A trio of gold buyers from Nome, Alaska popped in and we hit it off. Nome is now on our list of places to visit although not during this trip. Hagen & Nick are land surveyors living up here until their road project is complete. Hagen is a talented artist and photographer and a licensed drone pilot. Because of him, I now want to become a licensed drone pilot. And Yolanda works in hospitality in Denali. She had so much great advice as well and we promised to catch up with her when we were in the area. The night consisted of more bell ringing by all, stories and laughter and the night slipped away from us. Eventually, Missy, our awesome bartender nicely told us to go home. This is where our bad decision-making came in, we didn’t realize it was 4:00 am.

Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and made our way back to Fairbanks. We grabbed a bite to eat and settled back at the Chena Recreation area in Fairbanks again. We weren’t in the mood for Wal-Mart and wanted to charge everything back up.

We were setting up camp and I had Gus out when a nice gentleman walked across the road to his trailer just two spots over. He stopped to say hi to Gus and a conversation began and eventually he wanted to have the conversation over a beer. He was an interesting fellow from British Columbia with cool stories. As we sat on the picnic table, exchanging stories, laughing and drinking all his Budweiser, his wife appeared as if from nowhere and said it’s almost 3 am, time for bed. Oops. When we got up at 10:30 the next morning, we found a note written on part of the Budweiser box from our new friend, thanking us for a fun night and to call him if we get to his neck of the woods. Hopefully we didn’t get him into too much trouble.

We were still moving pretty slow and content to keep it that way. We went to the Fountainhead Antique Auto museum which was fascinating. We got to see a collection of over 80 vehicles, including horseless carriages, steamers, electric cars, speedsters, cyclecars, midget racers and 30s classics. These include such rarities as an 1898 Hay Motor Vehicle, 1906 Compound, 1920 Argonne and 1921 Heine-Velox Victoria. Remarkably, all but a few of the automobiles are able to be driven. The cars are beautifully restored and time appropriate clothing were displayed all around. It was very interesting and educating to read all about the different kinds of vehicles. Craig of course loved the 1926 Fordson Snow motor. We saw a video of it actually working and it’s a pretty cool toy.

We ended up spending a fair amount of time in Fairbanks and areas north. We are really glad we took the time to go to some of the out-of-the-way places. It might not always be the easiest or most popular, but when you go places not many others go, you end up hearing and having unique stories.

We traveled south to Healy and stayed at a campground for two nights and then moved to the boondocking spot we wanted when it was available. Healy is just north of Denali National Park.

Wednesday was a nice clear day so we decided to drive the Denali Highway. The Denali Highway is 134 miles, it links Cantwell to Paxson and is 15% paved and 85% gravel. When it opened in 1957, it was the only road to the Denali National Park. As we drove East, we stopped at a turnout and looked back toward Cantwell and were able to see beautiful Denali. They say you can see it 1 out of every 3 days. We hope to see it a little better as we continue to travel south. On the highway, there are many little off shoots which look like ATV trails that Craig was dying to explore, but because we were doing a day trip in the Jeep, we opted to keep going and decide to stop on our way back if we had time, which we didn’t. The drive was beautiful! The Alaska Mountain range is spectacular and the tundra covered valleys were vast. We couldn’t get enough of the views on this road.

It was a long day but worth the drive. We wished we had taken the truck and camper and camped out for a few days. We got back to town and saw our friend Yolanda walking. She offered to set up a river rafting trip for us which we accepted happily. We continued to 49th State Brewing which was right down the road from our campsite. The bus from the movie Into the Wild is displayed outside of the brewery and you can go inside and read a timeline of Christopher McCandless’ time out there.

Thursday we cruised 15 miles into Denali National Park which is as far as you can drive without getting on a tour bus. We opted not to do that because even the shortest one would be too long to leave Gus. We were hoping for a better view of Denali but it wasn’t a clear day so no luck there. We walked a quick 2 mile loop trail at the Savage River. We were bummed to learn Gus isn’t allowed on any of the trails except the bike path which is no fun but he seemed happy to nap in the Jeep.

Yolanda had contacted us to let us know we were booked for the 6:30pm Canyon Run rafting trip at the friend and family rate she can get. Awesome! We showed up and because we were late additions, they asked if we would mind being on an oar raft instead of a paddle raft. This meant we would not have paddles in our hands and the guide would be doing all the work. We love to paddle but we appreciated them fitting us on any boat and we had a good time just the same.

It was a 2 hour river trip that begins at the entrance to Denali National Park and journeys 11 miles to Healy, AK on the Nenana River. Our guide was great and very informative. We learned a lot about the glacial formations and about the railroad that runs right alongside of it. Not sure we want to ride on that train after hearing how difficult it is to keep the tracks maintained when you have rock continually falling apart underneath. We did go over some class III rapids and enjoyed quizzing our guide. We wore full drysuits because the river is fed by glacial runoff and is 38 degrees. Our hands did get a little chilly but otherwise it was a great night to be on the river.

To thank Yolanda for setting up that cool trip, we met her at the local pizza place and chatted over pizza and beer. She’s traveled all over the country and it was fun to hear her stories. It was interesting to learn that Denali shuts down by September 20 and becomes a complete ghost town. Everything is winterized and there are only about 500 people that stay here year round.

Our next fun adventure is to drive the Stampede Road/Trail as far as we can. This is the trail that Christopher McCandless hiked when he came across the bus. We are not sure how far out we can actually drive. We were told only 8 miles but then there are Jeep tours that take you in farther. So of course we are going to find out for ourselves.

Off to Stampede Trail…

We headed up Chena Hot Springs Road toward Chena Hot Springs. Many people along our travels had told us about the hot springs and that it was a must see. As we drove, we found many places where you can just pull off and camp for free on Chena River. We came across the perfect spot for us at mile 38.2. We tucked ourselves at the end, close to the river and stayed for five days.

Saturday was a gorgeous sunny Alaska day. I even put my suit on and laid out in my lounge chair. We both were happy to just sit. I think we are both on book #5 and it’s nice to relax and read for hours.

In keeping with our Road Angel status, we were able to help out two young men from Switzerland. They had camped by us one night and then moved just across the river. They wanted to be on the rocky beach but didn’t check before driving a little too close and got their 19 foot Class C motor home stuck. They walked over to our campsite asking for some help. I was happy to be able to use my winch for the first time and we pulled them out with no problem. They were so thankful and paid us with two Swiss chocolate bars!

Monday we geared up for a hike. We did the Angel Rock loop which is 3.5 miles. It was a nice, somewhat difficult hike, up a rocky trail. We were a little concerned about Gus but he was excited and didn’t show signs of slowing down until we were almost back to the Jeep. We were happy to have done it and continue to look for more hikes suitable for the three of us.

Tuesday we drove to Chena Hot Springs which is at the end of Chena Hot Springs Road. It is privately owned and they have quite the little set up. There are horseback rides, chickens, goats, reindeer and of course the hot springs.

We didn’t feel like soaking in a big bath with a bunch of strangers so we opted for the Ice Museum tour.

As we entered the ice museum, we vowed to follow all the rules which included not opening the door on our own letting all the warm air in that melts the ice sculptures, and we also had to promise not to touch or lick anything. Visions of The Christmas Story immediately went through our heads and made me want to try. Just kidding. We were also told that our coats were cute but it was 18 degrees in there and we would be in there for about 45 minutes so we donned the big puffy coats they supplied. I’m thankful that I did because as it was my flip-flops turned out not to be the best decision. Thankfully, we were warmed up by a nice appletini at the Aurora Ice bar. It was a pretty cool experience.

We grabbed lunch at the restaurant and waited for the 2 pm Geothermal tour that they offer as well. The tour was interesting and explained how they are able to generate their own power using the hot springs. We went through the greenhouse as well and learned they hoped to be totally self-sustaining in the future.

As we headed back to our campsite, we made a quick stop at Angel Creek Lodge. As we were bellying up to the bar an older gentleman was getting up from his bar stool. Craig said he was fine, as in he didn’t have to leave because of us, and the man said “I know, but you’re not my type” with a smile. He put something away in his truck and came back in and I told him he could sit next to me if he wanted, which he did. He turned out to be from Cadillac, Michigan and had been living in Alaska for almost 30 years. The owner of the lodge was from L’Anse, Michigan and has been here for almost 50 years. We remarked that we continue to meet many people who originated in Michigan and wonder if we’ll feel that draw as well.

Wednesday we woke up to rain and it rained all day. We packed everything up and stopped to do a quick load of laundry. We knew we were going to head up the Steese Highway to a gravel pit that had a cool trail but because it continued to rain we stopped back in at the Silver Gulch Brewery. Here we met a group that also belong to the RVing to Alaska 2018 Facebook group that I’m in. They are from Texas and have been hitting all the breweries on their way. They were fun and we compared our adventures. This is when Sheri sat down on the other side of me. She is from Homer, Alaska but working road construction up here. She had so much great advice on the towns she thought were worth stopping in and the places to see and eat at. We were feeling guilty for going back to the brewery but we had another great night of meeting people.

We made our way up to the 12 Mile summit Wayside on the Steese Highway. It was overcast and foggy and we couldn’t see much. It was also really cold. Thankfully, it cleared up in the morning and we could see we were surrounded by awesome scenery. We packed up the Jeep and headed out on the trail. It was rocky and hilly and muddy and so much fun. It was so peaceful to be out and not seeing another person or RV. We went about 9 miles in before a big muddy bog turned us around. We didn’t feel comfortable trying to get through even with our winch. The trees out there were not big and we didn’t want to get stranded.

It was a great day anyway and took us about 4 1/2 hours. We figured we had time to run up to Circle, Alaska. The road there was the best gravel road we’ve been on so far.We drove into Circle, which isn’t much, looked at the Yukon river, again, and turned around. We stopped in Central at a small bar/store and grabbed some dinner. The owner and his son were bartending and we chatted with them well after they had closed. The son is in the National Guard and works on Blackhawk helicopters. How cool is that? Central is also a stop for the Yukon Quest 1000 mile International Sled Dog race and the family is really involved with that. They even said if we came back in February they would put us to work because they could use all the help they could get. We finally had to say goodbye and got back to our camper around midnite.

We love that this week we were able to do a few things off the beaten path. It’s cool to see the stuff that many people won’t get to. We don’t want the same pictures that everyone else has, we want our Alaska experience to be a different. Thank you to all those that have helped make that possible so far. We are headed to our next town excited for the next trail and more stories.

Off to roads less traveled…