We haven’t posted for a couple of days, and this is our next-to-last post of a wonderful trip. Once we got to Anchorage we were busy getting things ready for the next phase of the trip (laundry, getting the luggage for the cruise, shipping the bike, etc). Plus, I think we were more tired than we realized since it seems we have slept more than we have in awhile.
The big news is 17 grizzly bears! After listening to Margo talk about (complain?) the bear myth, she is now a believer. We saw 17 grizzlies while in Denali. Plus who knows how many moose, Dahl sheep (which were way up on the hill and required some imagination in lieu of binoculars to see.) We saw so many caribou that after awhile the bus was saying, “oh just another caribou.” How quickly we become jaded.
So to back up – we left Anchorage around noon on Saturday for the pretty boring 255 mile ride to Denali. We were so looking forward to riding through Wasilla and seeing Russia (“I can see Russia from my back yard”) but no such luck. We know we were looking in the right direction!
Speaking of Sarah Palin – she is quite a hero up here. Many people talked about how Wasilla was “nothing” before Palin became mayor, and now “Anchorage and Wasilla are just one continuous city.” Uh… We didn’t see the continuous city. But as one guy on the ferry said to Mark, “you have to be from here to understand.” If you consider a road with every fast food restaurant and chain retailer a success, you might like it.
You betcha…
We stayed at McKinley Chalet in Healy, and recommend it.
We did the 90 mile each way, 13 hour bus trip deep into Denali. You can only drive your own vehicle into the first 14 miles of the park. Denali is the largest National Park exceeding 6 million acres or about the size of Massachusetts. We were cautioned when we boarded the bus to not get too high of expectations, saying fewer than 30% of people see even a bit of Mt McKinley, and the wildlife are very unpredictable. We had heard cautionary tales about riding the school buses deep into Denali. The bus was fine and we highly recommend the all day trip – the 13 hours passed so quickly, our driver was remarkably interesting and his stories of the area were mesmerizing, the school bus was probably the most comfortable school bus we’ve ever been on, and even without the wildlife, the scenery was magical.
And the bus tour company kept feeding you! We stop for a bathroom break and come back to chocolate chip cookies. After another bathroom break, we have hot drinks – tea, hot chocolate. Another break we return to fruit – apples and oranges. Lunch was adequate at a really neat place (I forgot the name). And then MORE chocolate chip cookies and fruit late in the day.
At the lodge where we had lunch we were given the opportunity to mine for gold or have a dog sled mushing demonstration. We chose the dog sled mushing. Mark claims this is his first lesson to prepare for the Yukon Quest. The demo was so fascinating! Dog sledding is such a way of life up there. The guy giving the demo is the son of Emmitt Peters, who was called The Silver Fox, a musher who won as a rookie in 1975 and has completed the Iditarod in 4 different decades – 70s, 80s, 90s and 00. In 1975 he shattered the previous record by almost 6 days. The amount of info his son gave was too much to convey in this post. One thing that was particularly interesting is how the perfect dogs are a mix of Siberian Husky, golden retriever, black lab, and border collie. Each breed offers particular characteristics that contribute to a successful dog.
One thing this guy does now is train “rescue dogs” to be sled dogs, and then gives them to charitable organizations. We have a video of the dogs in training but its taking too long to upload on the hotel wifi. Here’s a picture of the guy doing the demo and one of the dogs. The glasses were just to increase the dog’s image as a Rock Star.
Here is a picture of where we had lunch. So beautiful and peaceful, right by a stream.
On the return trip we thought we might sleep but the animals had different ideas. The parade of animals continued including these. Margo took about 150 pictures and the ones below best represent the numerous wildlife we saw.
Two bear sightings were particularly interesting. The first was when a male grizzly came sauntering down the mountain side out of the woods. We followed him from far away for quite some time. He kept walking towards the river, walked / swam across the water, and just walked up and across the road. The whole bus was mesmerized!
The other particularly impressive sighting was the momma bear and 2 cubs. They came out of the woods as we rounded a curve and were on the side of the road, walked up to the road and across the front of the bus. They then slowly sauntered down the left side of the bus. As they were walking away, one of the baby bears was particularly curious and kept turning around to look at us. We could just imagine the conversation going on. Momma bear: “come on now. You don’t need to get too close.” Baby bear: “but MOM… Look at the strange creature. Particularly the human head sticking out the window!” Yes, the human head and top half of Margo was hanging out the window trying to connect with baby bear and get just the right picture. Yes, we had been repeatedly warned to keep all body parts inside the bus but….. Notice the female bears are more blond colored while the male are darker colored.
Male moose
Female moose
Baby moose – he was far away so the picture isn’t as clear.
Male caribou
More caribou
And more bear!!
We also saw Dahl sheep and a porcupine, but Margo wasn’t able to get adequate pictures.
When not watching the animals, we were busy watching the scenery and the road. Notice the very safe, protective guard rails.
And perhaps to top everything off (as if this wasn’t enough!) we were some of the lucky ones who saw both the North and South peaks of Mt. McKinley. Here is a picture. If you have ever seen McKinley, you will be able to make out the point of the north peak surrounded by clouds and the rounded south peak. For those who haven’t seen it before, it will likely just look like clouds.
Wow oh wow. What an incredibly inspiring day!!
We rode back to Anchorage on Monday with rain much of the way. Of course there were two long construction zones with a pilot car through the muddy road work. Our chaps had a layer of mud and the motorcycle did not fair much better. The final mileage totaled 4,800 miles ridden. About what we expected.
Mark was at the Harley dealer when they opened and they took pity on him and washed it for us. Then it was off to Classic Motion where Ron and Krista are shipping the bike back to Scottsdale. They will crate it and then it goes into a container with other motorcycles and transported by ship to Tacoma, WA where it is put on a truck to Arizona. They ship about 300 motorcycles a year back to the Lower 48.
Margo is using these couple days in Anchorage and good cell service to have a number of work calls. Mark is using this time to rest from the 3+ weeks of driving he has been doing.
Thursday morning we take the train from Anchorage to Seward. Friday we board the Celebrity Millennium ship to cruise through the inner passage. For those who have asked, our journey is as follows:
Seward to Hubbard Glacier to Juneau to Skagway to Icy Strait to Ketchikan to Inside Passage. We arrive in Vancouver on Friday and look forward to seeing Margo’s brother Robert and his wife Anne on Saturday and Sunday.
We fly home on Sunday, scheduled to arrive about 10:30 pm.
Monday and Tuesday we will be attending the AZ Tech Council CEO retreat in Sedona (Margo is doing a presentation there). And then we may have withdrawal.
This trip has been a true dream! We have had incredible weather, the fruits of great planning, awe inspiring scenery, wonderful people and a few interesting characters, and a shared love of adventure. We learned so much along the way. Most important, we learned that we could stretch ourselves to accomplish more than everyday expectations.
Life is good!
Thanks to all of you had been following the blog along. We will have one final post, either later today or tomorrow, to discuss the riding portion of the trip. We have had such a great experience and have really enjoyed sharing it with you. Thank you for being part of this journey.