Alaska, the final installment

 Saturday, 7/6/2024

My trip was winding down and after a nice morning with Michelle and her dad, I headed north back to Anchorage to visit and spend the night with my friends Mike and Terry.  I had a great visit, we went to dinner, then they gave me a walking and driving tour of Anchorage. 

The 49th state Brew Pub

Sunday morning I left Mike and Terry’s house and headed north with no real plan other than to find a nice spot to spend my last night and maybe flip a few flies.

After checking out a few spots, I settled on Rocky Lake Campground in Houston, AK. It was a tiny 10 campsite non-electric campground and I grabbed a $20 site right on the lake. After unsuccessfully flipping a few flies, I started organizing and packing. It was a great spot to finish my trip. I did some reflecting on my Alaska adventures, watched the locals take off and land, in their little float planes, on the lake, and completely understand why people come back multiple times, hopefully, I’ll be back. 

Locals on Rocky Lake, enjoying their floating porch for happy hour

Three pics of my Rocky Lake Campsite, not bad for $20.

Monday, 7/7/2024

I drove a few miles to one of the many Alaska drive thru coffee kiosks, for a couple of cups of coffee and a muffin before my final trip to Anchorage to clean “Mac”, the rental unit, and return it to Michelle at Alaska Overland Adventures. My flight was 11:00 pm Monday night, so I did my final packing of my suitcases in her driveway, hung out with Michelle for a couple of hours, went to dinner with her, before she dropped me at the Airport.

  

Tuesday, 7/8/2024

One of my CORA neighbors and friend, Max, picked me up at the Denver airport. We arrived back at CORA shortly after noon.

Wrap-up

Over my 23 days in Alaska, I drove 2,325 miles, at a cost of approximately 26 cents a mile, gas prices ranged from $3.59 to $4.99 a gallon. I only paid for 8 nights of camping at a total cost of $215. I dined out more than expected, mostly because of the number of great rustic lodges I found along the way. I am so grateful that I had great weather, and was able to see Mt Denali as well as all the spectacular scenery Alaska has to offer. I would have liked to catch more fish, especially, a Grayling and or Arctic Char, two species, I have never caught, but I did fish in some very pretty spots. Total fish count was 3 Rainbows with guide on Willow Creek and 5 Rainbows on 48 pond, my own.

Thursday, 7/10/24, at 6:30 am, I headed south in Enzo. My plan was to spend the night in Socorro, NM and arrive in Benson on Friday. That changed when I reached Socorro at 1:30pm. It was too early to stop for the night so I continued south, made it through my first dust storm on I-10 west of Deming, and arrived in Benson at 5:15pm.

This ends my Alaska adventure. Please excuse the mixed tenses in my blogs, at times I was writing these in the present tense as it was happening and other times after the fact.

I have no definite future plans as of this moment in time. I’ll spend a few weeks or more in Benson before heading back to CORA for a few weeks.

Tight Lines and Safe Travels

Alaska Blog 6

 Sunday, 6/30/24

The was a wildfire north of Fairbanks on the road to the Arctic Circle. Rene spoke with someone who had driven it. They were escorting vehicles with a pilot truck and the flames were close to the road. We all agreed that the drive to the Arctic Circle was not a good idea. I had two reasons not to do it, I didn’t think Michelle would appreciate me returning her truck with the paint blistered and then if they closed the road when I was north of the fire I would me trapped. So we had a relaxing breakfast cooked by chef Rene.

 

I checked out from Chena at Noon, said my goodbyes, and headed to Pond 48, located at MM 48. I finally had a good day fishing and caught five nice Rainbow Trout, lost 2 and had a number of bumps. There was a Moose on the opposite side of the pond most of the time I was fishing, then she suddenly started swimming towards me, I had my air horn and after 4 to 5 blasts she turned and headed away from me. No picture of the moose swimming, I was a little busy, but here she is minding her business, earlier.

I spent the night just around the corner on the pond from where I was fishing, within walking distance of the vault toilet, for free, woke at 3 am with a spell of Vertigo, which cleared by noon, after a few doses of Mecyclzine (Bonnine). It had rained during the night and between the rain and Vertigo, I didn’t feel much like fishing.

Pond 48 campsite

Monday 7/1/24

Slow morning due to the vertigo, but finally got on the road by 1pm and made it south of Fairbanks to a roadside pullout, for another night of free camping. Not much to say about this day except I was esthetic that I was able to drive. I’ve had vertigo a few times and sometimes it has lasted a couple of days.

Roadside campsite south of Fairbanks

Tuesday, 7/2/24

After a good night’s rest and some Bonnine, just to be sure the Vertigo would not return, I headed south on Parks Highway. My plan was to stop at Denali NP for a $5 shower, but it wasn’t meant to be, the park was closed because of wildfires. After chatting with the Rangers, I continued south with no real plan. After about 15 miles I saw a young lady hitchhiking and decided it would be better if I gave her a ride rather than some serial killer :). Turns out she was a 29 year old woman from Japan traveling around Alaska by herself. I gave her a ride as far as the turn off for Telkeetna, then I turned back north a few miles to camp on the Susitna River for free. 

Campsite on Susitna River

Wednesday, 7/1/24

I did some fishing here and there, no luck, but I did get to fish at a HUGE Rainbow that was porpoising close to me. It never got scared off, and I threw a bunch of different flies at it, but it was not interested. So around 3 pm, based on Michelle’s recommendation, I turned west up the road to Hatcher Pass. As typical, Michelle’s recommendation was spot on, it was another breath taking drive. I stopped for the night on the east side of the pass at a large pull off rather than continue to the top, because it was in the sun and the pass was in the clouds. 

Hatcher Pass Road

Hatcher Pass Campsite and view from campsite

The next morning I went for a short walk and met two guys who were originally from Taunton, Mass, which is about 20 minutes from where I was born. One guy now lives in Alaska, the other was visiting from Queens, NY. We shot the shit for a bit and then I headed west over the pass with no plan other than to enjoy the scenery. A few miles after the road over the pass ended, I happened upon a gas station with showers and a laundry, so that’s what I did. 

After a clean body and clean clothes, I headed north towards Lake Louise, but changed my mind when I found myself in a steady stream of cars going the same way, it was a holiday weekend after all. I turned south, drove over Hatcher Pass again. At some point I came across two young couples with a flat tire. By this time it was raining lightly. The jack that came with the rental VW was a piece of crap and they couldn’t get the car high enough to put the spare on. I located the bottle jack in my rental and the problem was solved. I then drove the rest of the road, saw another moose and camped for free just south of the intersection with Parks Hwy, at the Willow Creek Dog Park.

Friday 7/5/24

After packing the truck up, I drove to a roadside coffee kiosk for coffee and breakfast. These coffee kiosks are pretty much everywhere in Alaska. They are about the size of a park model and are usually located in a large gravel parking lot with plenty of room to park and hang out. 

I had been in touch with Michelle, and she offered to play tour guide if I was interested in seeing Whittier, which is south of Anchorage. The flat tire couples had told me about a “hippie” festival in Gritwood, which was on the way to Whittier. Michelle and I made plans to meet at her house and then hit the festival on the way to Whittier. Again, neither were on my radar. Again the scenery was awesome. 

Beer kegs at the festival being chilled the Alaska way

Once we were able to make it to the parking area, we walked back down the road to the festival. We hung out, checked out the vendor booths with a bunch of local artists, listened to music, had a couple of beers for a few hours and then walked back to the trucks and headed south to Whittier. 

Whittier is accessed thru a $13, 2.5 mile one lane tunnel. The $13 covers a round trip. The tunnel is one way on the half hour going into Whittier and one way coming out on the hour. Everything goes through the tunnel, cars, buses and the train. Whittier is a small fishing town with a deep water port and a destination for cruise ships.

It was raining lightly when we arrived. After checking out the couple of campgrounds near town, we headed for a free boondock at the end of the road for the night. We had a late lunch at the festival, so I wasn’t hungry. The rain let up so we hung out, drank some bourbon sitting outside and enjoying the view, until the rain got a little heavy, then headed to our respective rigs for the night.

Michelle and I at the Whittier boondock.

Saturday 7/6/24

It was raining pretty steady, and first we were going to head into town for breakfast, but then Michelle changed our plans and we headed to her dad’s spare condo and she cooked a big breakfast. Her dad lives in the condo next door and he came over. The three of us hung out for quite awhile and I chatted with her dad for quite awhile, before heading out to catch the 11 am tunnel opening and heading out of town.

The view through my windshield driving in the tunnel

Stay tuned, 

Safe Travels and Tight Lines

Alaska Blog 5

 Alaska Blog 5

Wednesday, 6/26/24, headed out the McCarthy road,  about 10:30 am, stopped at some views along the way, one of which was Kuskulana Bridge. There was a catwalk under the bridge but the lower access ladder had been removed. In my younger days I would have just grabbed the top of the concrete and mantled onto and the walked out on the catwalk. Now I need a short ladder.

I then turned south to Valdez. WOW!  I had a clear day and the views driving were awesome. Valdez wasn’t even on my radar, but a number of people I’ve met in various places, along the way, said it was an incredible drive, they were not exaggerating. I got into town late afternoon, hit Safeway Grocery for some more food and beer, then drove to the dock area and just walked around. I decided to grab a tent site at the Valdez RV park, a few blocks off the docks, for $40, but showers were included. Nice view and I needed the shower. The showers were busy that evening, so I took mine at 3am, what the heck, I was awake and its light outside.

Thursday morning I treated myself to breakfast a a locals spot. There were four guys, each sitting at their own table. Great breakfast, $20 for two slices ham, two eggs, coffee, hash browns, toast and a coffee to go. Quite the dining out deal, for Alaska. After breakfast, I headed out of town and a Moose crossed the road in front of me. The mountains were socked in with low hanging clouds, so again, I lucked out with the weather the day before. After cresting a high point the clouds vanished behind me and I again had some great scenery.

Later that day, as I turned to check out a body of water, I saw a moose and quickly pop a u-turn.

I tried my hand at fishing at some spots along the way, but no joy, lol. Spent the night in a rest area 4 miles south of Delta Jct on Richardson Hwy, across from the Allen Army Airfield, I could see their air traffic control tower and heard Reveille in the morning.

Friday, 6/28/24, morning, I headed north to meet up with Rene & Jim at Chena Hot Springs. Turned onto the road to Quartz Lake to fish and saw a momma moose and her baby, but they ducked into the woods before I could get their photo. After a couple of hours of fishing, I continued North and the smoke from wildfires got thick. I stopped in a state campground, which was housing a wildfire crew, and was able to get their first hand knowledge of the local fires, two firefighters were from Colorado, so based on their info, I decided to continue to Fairbanks and then decide whether or not I would turn north to Chena Hot Springs or south. Fairbanks had much improved air quality, so I headed to Chena Hot Springs, $20 to dry camp, but real shitty outhouse, free WiFi at the resort and nice bathrooms in there, $18 as a senior to soak for the day, $5 for unlimited towels, one per soak. included showers. Soaked twice. Rene and Jim arrived around 9pm. It was great to see them again.

Campsite at Chena Hot Springs

The Chena Hot spring

Saturday, 6/29/24

After being convinced to renew my campsite, I went fishing late morning, at Mile Marker 43, no joy, I did however, slip and fall in while wet wading. Later that day we all met up and went to the Ice Museum for a tour and an Apple Martini in a martini glass made of ice. You get to keep the glass. Some people smash it outside, we took them back to camp to drink Bourbon until they melted.

These are the actual glasses made out of ice slowly melting

Stay tuned more to come, I'll catch up eventually.

Tight Lines and safe travels