Road Trip To Alaska! Part 2: Alaska

June 11
We finally crossed into Alaska and fueled up in Tok where diesel was only $3.73, I was shocked. I had fully expected much higher prices though not Canadian prices. Loaded up on fuel, tanks dumped, clothes washed and food restocked, we headed for Valdez, stopping to camp in random pulloff in the trees. The next day heading into Valdez we hatched a plan to utilize the Alaska Marine Highway system to hitch a ride over to Whittier. We were too late for the next ferry so instead got a reservation for the ferry in a couple days. We explored Valdez and got a site at Valdez KOA for the night.

We now had a couple days on our hands before our ferry ride. What to do. Well backtrack and head out to McCarthy where I had always wanted to go when living in Alaska but never made it out there! The road out is a little rough but it's a beautiful drive. Camped at Kennicott Basecamp beside the river. This is one of the very few places where the mosquitos were pretty voracious.

The public road does not cross the river but there is a nice foot bridge that replaced the cable trolley system. So in the morning we walked across the bridge but almost immediately were able to catch the shuttle into town. From there we continued on the shuttle up to the old Kennicott Copper mine and spent several hrs exploring the old mine and hiking around various trails. Fascinating!

Eventually we caught the shuttle back into town where we ate lunch, then walked back to the bridge. It was a beautiful walk back.

We had to catch the ferry the following day so we packed up and drove back to Valdez and stayed again at the KOA where I already had made a reservation for the night. Our delayed ferry day proved to be providential as we had great weather in McCarthy and now a promising sunny day for the boat ride. One of the attendants directing us where to park on the ferry was stoked as this was the first sun they had seen in weeks. An incredible over water journey ensued with much marine life spotted such as Orcas and Sea Otters. And of course the now ever present Bald Eagles were abundant.

Sea Otter

Arriving in Whittier we departed the ferry and drove through the Whittier Tunnel and found a campsite at Williwaw Campground. One of my favorite camps of the whole trip.

The days were passing it's now June 16 and we're on to the Kenai Peninsula. We spent a few days exploring around including Kenai, Soldotna, Homer and the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. This was my home turf in the late 70's. Lots of changes.

Arc lake. Scene of many stupid but fun shenanigans in 1978

June 18th we camped on the shores of Skilak lake. Day tripping to Seward we returned in time for a nice paddle on the lake. So beautiful, so serene! Of course the eagles kept an eye on us. Skilak is known for it's sudden wind and I had planned the paddle so that if the wind came up it would push us back to camp. So we paddled our outbound leg against a slight wind. Such a newbie. The wind did begin to come up but of course from the opposite direction so we battled our way back against an increasing wind. It wasn't bad or dangerous but 2 upwind legs? Even with that, we agreed Skilak was another trip highlight!

June 20

We could've stayed at Skilak for days but we had to move on. Next was Anchorage and a visit with a friend from my old climbing days and his wife.

It was great to see Randy and Cathy and of course Joannie had to tick another in her growing list of climbing gym's she's climbed at. We climbed at the Alaska Rock gym twice.

Staying at the RV park in Anchorage was our least favorite experience of the trip. The park was fine but by now us and Wyatt were used to open country.

June 23

We were staying in Talkeetna campground. Inquiring at Talkeetna Air Taxi we made another reservation for a scenic flight around Denali and Ruth Gorge. This flight included a glacier landing. Another first for Joannie. We had a day before our flight so we rented bikes and explored Talkeetna and the surrounding area.

The following day was our flight. As usual superlatives are inadequate.

Moose's Tooth massif

Incredible Ruth Gorge

Denali

Here is a link to my You Tube play list for the video we took during our flight. The videos are very short. Don't be scared.

Denali Flightseeing

From Talkeetna we headed to Denali National Park. With the park road still being closed at mile 43, and no camp spots available, we only drove as far as Savage River where the mandatory busses start then opted to leave and head out the Parks Highway, a 135 mile mostly dirt connector road between Cantwell and Paxson. In our opinion this was the best drive we did. I have driven it before but not in a leisurely sightseeing way. Anyway, we camped at a random pullover that night.

June 26. It was time to start heading south. We had planned on being back home by July 1st. Wasn't happening. More driving and a random overnight somewhere along the highway short of Beaver Creek.