Day 71 (Wednesday): September 18, 2019
Woke up at 3 and 5 AM, raining, then 7 AM cloudy, sprinkling, cold, but not freezing. Bathroom and water are still open, they will close the Caribou and Wolf loops and all services later today, only the Bear loop will be open as a primitive camp, but we are prepared and OK. After breakfast, the rain just stopped, went down to Riley Creek, then drove on Denali Park Road to Mile 15, then Mile 30 as of today’s special. The landscapes looked good with storm clouds and fog, sometimes even the Sun showed up and gave interesting light effects. About mile 20, we saw and photographed a huge Grizzly bear searching for food on the tundra. I wished to be closer, but the bear was a really large male, so better to be safe. Photographed the landscape at the Sanctuary River then passing small lakes, arrived in Teklanika River at mile 30, where the road was closed, Looked around, then slowly drove back to mile 15 then to the Savage river historic Cabin, where we made the loop trail, saw a Tundra hare, saw a large flock of Sandhill cranes and talked to the interpreter and imagined the life of rangers, Patrols during the harsh winter. Back to our Camp, where everything was closed, only one pit toilet was open at the far end of the loop, causing challenging walk there especially when we had to go… but we had other solutions. Checked Denali Village, where almost everything was closed, only the Chalet was open till tomorrow morning. We were able to get WiFi there and uploaded files to the web. Drove back to camp, ate a good dinner, recalled our day trip memories.
Day 72 (Thursday): September 19, 2019
The rain stopped at 3 AM, cloudy, the moon was visible through the clouds, but 7 AM the rain started again, 42 oF, challenging walk to the faraway pit toilet… Made coffee, tea, luckily the phone worked and I was able to make few reservations for RV trailer camp spot and maintenance service at the Toyota dealership in Anchorage. Around noon, the rain stopped and we left the camp, photographed the Riley Creek and drove to the Horseshoe Lake trailhead, and hiked the moderate 2-mile hike. The lake was great, hiked around, photographed the landscape there, and watched the busy dam building, food collecting beavers. Talked to neighbor campers, enjoyed the sunset light painted sky, made a good campfire, ate our dinner, talked about the life of the beavers, and enjoyed the call of the Barred Owl.
Day 73 (Friday): September 20, 2019
The rain stopped during the night, cloudy, foggy morning, 43 oF. The shrinking moon was visible through the clouds, generated some mysterious feelings. The days are shorter here by 8 minutes daily. After breakfast, started to pack and closed our camp, left Denali Riley Creek around 10 AM, drove on George Parks Hwy to Cantwell, enjoyed the landscape and the roaring sound of the creek at Hurricane Gulch and the Alaska Range in the backdrop. Arriving at Denali State Park, we stopped at Denali View North, where we were amazed by the variety of peaks including the tallest Denali mountain of the Alaska Range. We got a nice clear view of the huge snow-covered Denali. Walked the Native Plants nature trail, then we wanted to see Denali again, but it was covered by the clouds, and we had to realize, the special gift that we received earlier from nature. Stopped at Byers Lake and at Kesugi Ken camp of Denali State Park, where we found a spot and stayed there one night. I walked around and photographed nature, then after dinner, I made a campfire, and when I chopped the wood, a moose family walked by not too far from our site. The rain started again, I killed the campfire then slept around 10:30 PM.
Day 74 (Saturday): September 21, 2019
Woke up for a nice and quiet morning, sprinkling rain, 43 oF. The fall colors were very intense and spectacular here in the south. After breakfast, left the campsite at 11 AM, drove to the trailhead and made the Moose Flats hike, photographed that area, the continued on Hwy 3 to Denali View South, but Denali was in clouds again. Learned more about names and mountain peaks, then drove on Hwy 3, to Trapper Creek, Caswell, Kashwitna, Willow, Wasilla, then on Hwy 1 to Eklutna, Eagle river then to Anchorage Creekwood Inn/RV, where we made our base camp. We bought few missing supplies, and ate dinner, and drank good micro-brewed beer at the nearby Matanuska Brewery. We were tired after the day’s drive, but happy.
Day 75 (Sunday): September 22, 2019
Slept well, got up at 7 AM, enjoyed the comfort of the warm bathroom with hot showers. Before we left for our day trip, we talked to our neighbor campers from Seward, got good directions and advice. Finally, we left the camp around 11 AM, drove south on Hwy 1, stopped many nice lookouts, stayed a bit longer, and photographed from Beluga Point, the snow-covered Alaska Range looked great at the north and we watched about 20 Dall sheep on the rocky mountain slopes. Stopped at Bird Point, which is part of the Chugach State Park, then at Portage, turned to Portage Glacier Road, checked the salmon hot spot at Willow Creek, then drove to Portage Glacier Lake, where we got a breathtakingly view of 7 large glaciers, then when we were on the other side of the Lake, we saw four more glaciers. Drove through the 2.5-mile long mountain tunnel to Wittier where we enjoyed the harbor life, the sea lions, the glacier view, and the authentic Alaskan seafood dinner at the Restaurant of Inn at Wittier. Drove back the same way as we came, then remembered for the huge glaciers and this beautiful land. I was asleep around midnight.
Day 76 (Monday): September 23, 2019
After my morning routines, I unpacked our camera bags and other valuable stuff from the car and stored them in our camper trailer, then drove to Kendal Toyota for the scheduled 25K (at 27K) maintenance service and complete check-up, engine and differential oil change and give the best treatment to our reliable, trusted, 4×4 workhorse. During my service time, I worked on our trip plans, Lexi stayed in the camp and worked on the laundry. Afternoon we made a nice walk on the long boardwalk of Potter Marsh, Anchorage Wildlife Refuge, saw two bald eagles, several ducks, shorebirds, two mergansers, harassed by magpies, and several salmons in the creek. Enjoyed the walk, then drove back home to our camp. We had a nice starry night, but the Northern Lights were not visible.
Day 77 (Tuesday): September 24, 2019
Woke up before sunrise, cloudy, 36 oF, took a morning walk on the nearby trail, and photographed the mountain landscape with the dawn-colored sky. After our usual coffee, tea, breakfast, packed for the day trip. Drove to Earthquake Park, Point Woronzof Overlook. We got a very nice view of the City with the Chugach Mountains in the background or to the Cook Inlet with mountains. When we drove to Coastal Anchorage Wildlife Refuge, passed the floatplane dock and enjoyed the colorful small single-engine large wheeled bush planes or floatplanes. We made a 2-mile hike Coastal trail, photographed the land, touched the water, and said thank you for all of the gifts that we received. When we hiked back we saw a moose cow with a calf then a large moose bull. We were tired after the hike, but we made an hour-long, late afternoon downtown walk, then ate a good dinner at a local people’s favorite Thai family restaurant, then drove home to Creekwood camp, worked on our trip plans, and replied to emails. Stayed late working with my computer, downloaded maps, prepared for the no WiFi, no phone, no electricity, no water, coming soon days.
