Talkeetna, AK to Anchorage, AK – 121 Miles
We boondocked last night alongside the Talkeetna Spur Road, just outside Talkeetna. There were two other motorhomes plus a VW Vanagon camper at the same location. More light rain overnight and into the morning. We drove back down into town to go to the 9:00 Mass at St Bernard’s Catholic Church, a tiny little church tucked back in the woods a couple of blocks off the main road. Since we had to pass right by the McKinley Overlook, we pulled in to see if the mountain was visible this morning, but with all the rain, it was totally socked in.
Talkeetna has no resident priest, so we had a Communion Service led by a deacon. They were having coffee and donuts afterwards, but we wanted something more substantial so we drove over to one of the restaurants on the town square, which is actually more of a triangle than a square. The restaurant, called the Roadhouse, was pretty full so we squeezed into a long, family style table next to a young couple from upstate New York. They had just come from Denali National Park as well, and they had wilderness camped, backpacking in from the Polychrome Mountain rest stop. They saw much more wildlife than we had seen from the bus. The most interesting thing was a wolf kill (a moose), and two grizzlies had chased the wolves from the carcass and were fighting between themselves for possession of the meat while the wolves silently circled around, sulking.
After breakfast we stopped by the Talkeetna NPS Ranger Station, a beautiful new building just around the corner from the main street. All McKinley climbers have to check in at this ranger station, register, and go through an orientation process to make sure that they are equipped and prepared for the rigors of the climb, which can take up to three weeks or more. The main attraction for non-climbers is a very good video about the climbing experience that plays continuously through the day.
Leaving Talkeetna we stopped at a lake to watch some float planes take off for sight-seeing flights, then it was back on the road toward Anchorage. Traffic started picking up around Houston (not Texas) and got heavier and heavier as we passed through Wasilla and Palmer, where by now it was a four-lane, divided highway. Even though it was still overcast and showering intermittently, we could see the Chugach Mountains looming ahead, covered with wisps of cloud and fog. We finally arrived in Anchorage about 3:00 pm and checked into the Ship Creek RV Park, just a couple of blocks off the Glenn Highway near the airport. After five days of dry camping, we needed to do some laundry and grocery shopping so we chose this in-town location. The facilities are nice, but unfortunately it’s located right next to a railroad track, and every couple of hours a train comes rumbling by, blowing its whistle for all the grade crossings in this semi-industrial area. I hope we’ll get some sleep tonight.
A couple from the Vancouver area who are travelling in a large slide-in camper on a pick-up pulled in next to us. They had also stayed at Riley Creek Campground in Denali and had seen our Tiger there, so they were pleased to find us here also because they wanted to take a closer look at the Tiger. I gave them one of Mark’s cards (Mark Guild is the owner of Provan Industries, the maker of the Tiger motorhomes). So maybe there’ll be a new Tiger in Vancouver in a few years when they get ready to trade, assuming Mark gets Canadian certification for the Tigers by then.
We’ll spend the day tomorrow looking around Anchorage, and perhaps spend another night before moving on down to the Kenai Peninsula. I’m anxious to get on down to Homer and see if Tom Bodet left the light on for me.
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