Alaska 2014

[gotfiddle]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

In Anchorage, I'd recommend Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria.

Highly recommend Snow City Cafe for breakfast. Every day. For the rest of your life.

[Pschitt]

Seeing Vanessa right now on the Walmart parking lot in Fairbanks!

[REF]

Parked next to coyotearms on homer spit

[llamadave]

We are on our way home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and I have Wi-Fi and time to report on the rest of our trip (in case you are not reading our Alaska blog). Out of 6 days in the Denali Tek Campground we had two great bus rides and two great hikes. The first day was overcast with no view of Denali (Mt McKinley), but I got great shots of wildlife. This red fox had caught a rabbit and pretty much ignored the bus:



The second day started out very clear with great views of Denali:



We got off the bus and hiked up a ridge above the road with great views:



At Tek we had great conversations with SMBers Mike, Rick, Alex, Lake, Jim, and Jackie. I am very sorry that Mike got my bug and suffered so much during our stay at Tek. I know very well how bad it was.

After a day or two in Fairbanks, we joined Mike on a drive up the Dalton Highway. We made it to Galbraith Lake Campground then Vanessa and Janet decided that was enough punishment (rain, mud, and potholes) so Mike drove with just me up to Deadhorse. We took the tour to the Arctic Ocean then drove back to Vanessa in one day. Photo of the Arctic:



That night I got up at 2 AM when the sun is at its lowest point for photos (I think you can tell here that it had not set):



More rain and mud on the way back. We didn’t see enough of the Brooks Range and so will have to return some day. Here is Mike cleaning mud off his steps:



Then we spent a few days in Fairbanks to see a Sprinter mechanic because the weird computer-related troubles returned. He worked on some cable connections and it seems to be fixed. Then heading east, we went through Chicken, missed Eagle, stayed 2 nights near Dawson City, then headed up the Dempster Highway somewhat past Tombstone (finally) with great weather:



Then we headed home on the Alaska Highway. We made a quick dash down to Skagway which we missed before, and met another SMBer Suzanne from Austin:



Then back on the Alaska Highway we stopped at the usual places such as the sign forest at Watson Lake:



And the curved Kiskatinaw River Bridge:



After Dawson Creek we had enough time to return to Jasper and part of the Icefield Parkway:



From Jasper we headed east on 16. No more mountains for photos:



Happy travels!

David and Janet

[86Scotty]

Unbelievable pics!

[Pschitt]

Nice trip report! I'm happy you enjoyed Tombstone area with good weather. :-)

[JayBea]

Hey Dave, nice trip report.
To give you all an update (sorry no photos ):
After our great 7 days at Denali we went on to Anchorage and spent a full day bicycling all of the great paths from Eagle River to Anchorage and along the Cook Inlet.
We then spent the next 10 days or so on the Kenai Peninsula where we met up with Rick (sans Alex and Lake) in Homer then again in Seward. Rick had spent quite a lot of time fishing and was gracious to share halibut and salmon with us.
We eventually wound up back in Anchorage where we spent the night with John and Beth (Sprinter folk we met in Denali),
We are now in Valdez trying to stay dry. Shortly we will head up towards Chicken and the Top of the World Highway before heading back through Canada by way of the Cassiar.
We have been out now for almost 9 weeks and are enjoying every minute! See you down the road.
JIM and JACKIE

[Pschitt]

Hi Jim and Jackie,

On the road from Dawson City to Whitehorse, if you want to drink a coffee or have an ice cream or a homemade cookie, make a short stop in Carmaks at "the Barracks" which is also the post office. Shanon and Garry will welcome you.
And if you stop there, please say hello to them for me (Claude & VivaLaVida). Thanks :-)