ALASKA Part 1

Saturday, 6/15/2024, Harvey picked me up at my place at CORA at approx. 11:15 am, he drove me to Denver, on the way we stopped for lunch and then checked  into a motel. My cousin Lou and his wife Kathy live in Aurora, so we visited with with them and went out to dinner. Sunday morning I grabbed a 6 am motel shuttle to the airport, made it to my gate about 10 minutes before boarding began, at which time I discovered my phone wasn’t working. The problem was a bad SIMS card. I was able to buy WiFi on the plane and touch base with Michelle, the owner of the Alaska Overland Adventures, she was picking me up at the Anchorage, AK airport. 

After my camper orientation, and signing documents, I headed to the Verizon store which was about 2 mies from Michelle’s house. Verizon replaced my SIMS card for free. Next stop was Three Bears Store for groceries, wine, beer and Bourbon. Having fulfilled all the essentials, I headed north to visit my “on the road” and good friends, Rene and Jim in Willow, and camp in their driveway.

The next day, Monday, I went on a guided fishing trip. The put in was about two miles from Rene & Jim’s house. It was a beautiful day. Cody, my guide, was from Denver, CO. The river had come up due to the warm temps and melting snow, which made it a bit murky. I did manage to net three nice Rainbows, the largest being 20 inches, two spit the hook and a number just tapped my fly, that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching. All fish were released.

That night, we headed to Talkeetna, for drinks and dinner. Jim and Rene headed home and I camped in a gravel pull off about 15 minutes out of town. 

Tuesday, I headed north to Denali National Park and was treated to a spectacular views of her majesty, Mt Denali.

I arrived at the Denali NP bus depot around 2 pm to check-in and get my documents. Oops, I was a day early. I forgot that I had changed my reservation to arrive on 6/19/24. SHIT !!!!!!! No worries, I was able to get all my documents required for 6/19/24, they didn’t have any camping space available, so I headed south 9 miles from the park to a very nice gravel pull off and settled in, had a beer, cooked lemon sautéed scallops with rice, got a little more organized, did dishes and then kicked back with a glass of wine. Live is good.

Alaska is a land of opposing energy. One minute, you are alone surrounded by amazing scenery, 15 minutes later a big tour bus pull up and vomits 60 people. But I have been fortunate to enjoy that 15 minutes of solitude a number of times. Only had two vans camping with me Tuesday night.

This morning, Wednesday, 6/19/24, I head to my campsite at the Tea campground, tomorrow I have a Tea pass for the bus ride into the interior of the park which is closed to private vehicles.

Three nights of camping, no connectivity and maybe some fishing.

Tight Lines and Safe Travels

Larry