It took a day to get sorted again after our short trip to Europe. We picked up the bikes from Jerry’s house, put the touring windshields back on and shipped the stock shields to California, repack, find room for the extra tires etc…
We left Fairbanks on the morning of the 22nd headed for the Denali Highway. The weather was perfect with blue skies and sunshine yet cool temperatures. We said farewell to Jerry who has been absolutely awesome to us, letting us use his workshop, helping us out and storing our bikes for 9 days without charging us for anything! He truly is a great guy.
On the road once more headed south this time back to Delta Junction (end of the Alaska Highway) then to Paxson where the Denali Highway starts, the west along the 250 kms gravel road to Cantwell and north 50kms to the Denali park. It’s definitely the long way to get there but worth it. Along the way we stopped at North Pole (name of the town, not that actual pole!) and Rikas road house a few kms north of Delta Junction. Rikas road house was built in the late 1800s as a stage for the horse coaches heading back and forth to Fairbanks from Valdez and provided food, accommodation and a barn for the horses. We looked around the property, have a light meal and a carried on to The Denali Highway. There is no fuel in Paxson but with the extra tanks we are able to go from Delta Junction all the way to Cantwell.
Rika’s road house near Delta Junction
The scenery as we approached the Alaska range changed from relatively flat pine forests to dramatic steep mountains and with the amazing weather was a breathtaking sight. The road to Paxson meanders through the snow peaked mountains on the west and abrubt rock faces to the east with the occasional glacier in the distance. In Paxson we got off the paved road and headed west along the Denali Highway, a now less travelled road since the construction of shorter alternative roads to the park. We stopped for some food at Tangled lakes, a beautiful lake with a lodge and some private cabins. It was still fairly early in the day and we decided to carry on further. Progress on the dirt road wasn’t as fast as we anticipated partly due to the extra weight on the bikes but also because of the condition of the road which was not quite a good as the Dalton Highway.
The Alaska range
One of the many glacial rivers flowing from the Alaska range
We eventually decided it was time to stop and we found a small side road near a lake where we could pitch our tent for the night. We cooked a quick meal, had a wash in the lake and fell asleep.
Quick wash in the lake along the Denali Highway
The following morning we woke up around 05:30 due to the jet lag and got going. We made it back to the paved road and up to the Denali park in time to catch a noon shuttle bus into the park. The road into the park is closed to private vehicles due to the shear cliffs on the side of the road and the fact that it is really narrow in places. So the only way to see the huge park is to take an 8 hour return shuttle to the visitor centre about 110kms into the park. The bus was of course crowded and there was nothing relaxing about this trip! Along we way we were able to see many caribou, some grizzly bears and take in the amazing colours and vistas that the Denali park offers. The weather was a little overcast and we weren’t able to see Mt Denali in full but the rest of the range and the scenery made the trip worth while. After a short 30 minutes at the visitor centre we had to board the bus once again and take the reverse trip back to the park entrance.
Bush camp breakfast
Our private bush camp beach
Denali national park
Bus ride along the narrow cliff edge road in the Denali NP
Denali park road
We arrived tired back at the entrance of the park where we had booked a campsite and quickly built our camp preparing for rain and went to sleep!
The following morning we were up again fairly early and cooked breakfast under our shelter (it did rain on and off all night) and packed up. The plan for the day was vague but we were going to aim for Anchorage and see where we got to. Our friends Lior, Dana and Andrew with whom we rode to Prudhoe Bay were in Andhorage and we planned on seeing them down there. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t in our favour with low clouds and drizzle so we missed the views of the glaciers and mountains as we proceeded south. Our first major stop would be at a birch syrup factory at the junction with the road to Talkeetna. Having never heard of Birch syrup we decided to stop and have a taste. It was worth the stop, we bought a small container and learned about this rare treat! From there we carried on up the road to Talkeetna where we had lunch at a micro brewery followed by a short visit of the town. Talkeetna is a small town geared towards tourists. The train stops here and being just a few hours from Anchorage a lot of cruise ship tourists end up here. It is also the gateway to the Denali mountains for those who chose to climb this 20,000′ giant! It is the highest mountain in North America and a such it is in the to do list of many mountaineers. wWhile in Talkeetna we got in touch with a lady we met back in April in New Orleans and who lives near Anchorage. She told us to contact her when we were in the the area. We did and she and her husband invited us over for a barbeque and to spend the night!
Buckets and hoses used to tap the Birch sap for the production of syrup.
Talkeetna general store
We spent the following day in Wasilla running some errands and hanging out at Jeanine and Jim’s house doing research for remainder of our Alaska trip and option for our southbound migration. The weather was grey and drizzly and we weren’t very motivated to keep riding.
TA
Haha, you’re riding again, packed 3 days in one post with lots of pictures.
On some you carry the tyres on the topcases and then they disappear again, or did I miss something?
I checked and I did miss you took them off at the bush camp-site!
The way South seems much more relaxed, almost without precise headings opposed to the North-road.
After all, you reached your goal and from now on you can enjoy the ride South, staying in front of the weather.
Good to have you back online, enjoy it
Baci
Welcome back online !!! Many times a day I come and click on the blog button to see if you wrote your daily story… and today Yay ! There was a long story, a story of 3 days If I count well ?.. Nice of Jerry to keep your bikes for 9 days indeed ! Thanks to him you were able to come to Europe and to get a new Visa stamp haha! All in one ! Organisation that’s what it’s called. Bravo !
Now back to nature and beautiful pictures and awesome stories !
You got rid of the extra tires which you don’t need any more I guess or did you send them further up your route ?
Did Zoe pushed you in the lake T ? I guess she must have as the water must have been a little too cold for you to get in on your own ? 😉
Anyway joke apart…. it’s a nice ” à contre jour” picture of you !
Enjoy your route all the way down to California and make us dream with your super trip, stories and pictures !
Bisous xxx to both of you – Mum