DrewE's Alaska Trip Travelogue
I returned about a week ago from a marvelous ten-week trip to and through Alaska (and back) with my dear mother. I went in a 32' class C, actually about 35' overall with a bicycle rack on the back, w...
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Hey! Two posts today, but this one is pretty short. Our next major destination was Denali, so there's a little bit of travel between Fairbanks and Denali on the Parks Highway.
August 7th -- We left the Fairbanks area, clean and stocked up and full of gas and propane.
Click For Full-Size Image.
A view of the Tanana river, not too far from Fairbanks. I think this may be from the turnout with a monument in honor of George Parks, for whom the Parks highway is named, but perhaps it's at a different turnout.
Our first stop of any significance was at Nenana, home of the Ice Classic contest (guess when the ice breaks up on the Tanana river and win a fabulous cash prize). We stopped in the little railroad museum in the rail depot building (in my opinion, an unexceptional museum, but it's free admission/by donation so one can't really complain), the cultural center (which displays and sells some nice native handicrafts, and has a few other exhibits), and St. Mark's Mission chapel/church. The church is a neat little building, still active.
Click For Full-Size Image.
St. Mark's Mission, showing off the neatly joined corners on the logs
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St. Mark's Mission interior; the beadwork on the fabrics is impressive, at least to my untrained eye.
Click For Full-Size Image.
The tripod and appurtenances for the Ice Classic. The tripod is connected via a cable to the tower, and when it pulls free it causes the official time to be recorded in the little hut.
We spent the night at the Riverside Park in Anderson. This was a rather disappointing campground. The riverside sites were not near the water (the river having shifted away some; it could eventually be accessed by wandering over the gravel riverbed a fair ways). Many of the primitive sites without hookups could use some refurbishment and cleaning up, as could many of the pit toilets. The fees seemed a little out of line for the quality and upkeep of the facilities, and had gone up a good bit from what was recorded in Church's book. I got the distinct impression that the campground was used heavily during the annual music festival and pretty much ignored for most of the rest of the year. We hoped the increase in camping fees would go to fund some maintenance and updates at the park.
Still, we did find a perfectly adequate site in the trees and enjoyed a pleasant night. The water fill at the dump station was extremely slow going, and the bugs were pretty bad there when I was taking care of that business.
August 8th -- on to Denali.
We made a stop at the Tatlanika Trading Company. The shop is worth looking through, if only for the many mounted animals, including a superb polar bear. The stuff for sale was nicer than many places, too, and included some things beyond the typical odds and ends.
The highway as it approaches and goes through the Alaska range is quite scenic indeed. The Alaska Railroad largely parallels the highway, sometimes across the river. (Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the highway parallels the railroad, since the railroad is older.)
Click For Full-Size Image.
Click For Full-Size Image.
At the Bison Gulch turnoff, with a little free lens flare.
Click For Full-Size Image.
And then we arrived at Denali National Park, and I'll describe that in the next installment or two.
August 7th -- We left the Fairbanks area, clean and stocked up and full of gas and propane.
A view of the Tanana river, not too far from Fairbanks. I think this may be from the turnout with a monument in honor of George Parks, for whom the Parks highway is named, but perhaps it's at a different turnout.
Our first stop of any significance was at Nenana, home of the Ice Classic contest (guess when the ice breaks up on the Tanana river and win a fabulous cash prize). We stopped in the little railroad museum in the rail depot building (in my opinion, an unexceptional museum, but it's free admission/by donation so one can't really complain), the cultural center (which displays and sells some nice native handicrafts, and has a few other exhibits), and St. Mark's Mission chapel/church. The church is a neat little building, still active.
St. Mark's Mission, showing off the neatly joined corners on the logs
St. Mark's Mission interior; the beadwork on the fabrics is impressive, at least to my untrained eye.
The tripod and appurtenances for the Ice Classic. The tripod is connected via a cable to the tower, and when it pulls free it causes the official time to be recorded in the little hut.
We spent the night at the Riverside Park in Anderson. This was a rather disappointing campground. The riverside sites were not near the water (the river having shifted away some; it could eventually be accessed by wandering over the gravel riverbed a fair ways). Many of the primitive sites without hookups could use some refurbishment and cleaning up, as could many of the pit toilets. The fees seemed a little out of line for the quality and upkeep of the facilities, and had gone up a good bit from what was recorded in Church's book. I got the distinct impression that the campground was used heavily during the annual music festival and pretty much ignored for most of the rest of the year. We hoped the increase in camping fees would go to fund some maintenance and updates at the park.
Still, we did find a perfectly adequate site in the trees and enjoyed a pleasant night. The water fill at the dump station was extremely slow going, and the bugs were pretty bad there when I was taking care of that business.
August 8th -- on to Denali.
We made a stop at the Tatlanika Trading Company. The shop is worth looking through, if only for the many mounted animals, including a superb polar bear. The stuff for sale was nicer than many places, too, and included some things beyond the typical odds and ends.
The highway as it approaches and goes through the Alaska range is quite scenic indeed. The Alaska Railroad largely parallels the highway, sometimes across the river. (Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the highway parallels the railroad, since the railroad is older.)
At the Bison Gulch turnoff, with a little free lens flare.
And then we arrived at Denali National Park, and I'll describe that in the next installment or two.
