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Leaving Alaska: Fairbanks to Wisconsin
We spent our last workweek in Alaska in the Pioneer Park parking lot in Fairbanks. It was not the most scenic spot but the price was right and there was access to the Chena Riverwalk and everything we needed to prepare for our long drive south. We were surprised by how fast the weather was changing. We had seen termination dust (the first snowfall) on August 11th in the mountains near Denali. It was so cold we were running our furnace during the day. Fireweed is Alaska’s summer calendar as the blooms move up the stems. And we finally understood the saying “When the fireweed turns to cotton, summer is…
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Denali National Park
As usual with our National Parks, we loved Denali! We stayed inside at two of the park’s campgrounds which we feel enhances our experience. For the workweek, we dry camped in heavily treed Riley Creek and explored the front country. Denali is 6 million acres of pristine wilderness. There is one 90-mile road leading into the park but you are only allowed to drive the first 15 miles in your vehicle. In the first 15 miles, you can visit the sled dog kennels. These Alaskan huskies work hard with winter park operations but in the summer enjoy getting pets from visitors. There are also several established trails. We hiked the…
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Searching for Denali
I was determined to be part of the 30% of visitors who see Denali. Denali means The Great One and is the highest peak in North America. The mountain creates its own weather and is usually cloud-covered. The odds were against us in rainy August. If it’s visible, some of the best views are south of the National Park so I planned a weeklong stay in Talkeetna and another in Denali State Park. Talkeetna is a historic railroad town turned hippie artist town turned tourist town. We dry camped next to the Talkeetna River at the rustic Boat Launch Campground, a 5-minute walk from town. Its mayor is a cat.…
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Hiking Adventures Near Palmer, AK
We had a 2 week scheduled reset in the town of Palmer, 45 minutes north of Anchorage, in mid-July. We had figured we might need a major restock and also truck or trailer repairs by then, which we did. Our truck tires had not held up well to the Alaska roads so we got those replaced. Palmer is in a pretty setting in the agricultural Mat-Su Valley between the Talkeetna and the Chugach Mountains. We thoroughly enjoyed the full hookups at The Springer RV Park after 5 weeks of dry camping on the Kenai Peninsula. In addition to our Brooks Falls Bear trip out of Anchorage, there were several hikes…
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The Bears of Brooks Falls
Soon after deciding to go to Alaska, we started researching how to see brown bears. Katmai and Lake Clark National Parks are two of the easiest places to do this, although neither is on the road system so easy is relative, and it’s certainly not cheap. There are several guided tour options, but we just had to see the stars of Fat Bear Week fishing at Brooks Falls in Katmai NP. A day trip to Brooks Falls requires a float plane and the closest launching point is Homer. We went with Alaska Bear Trips out of Anchorage because of a coupon. And even though that was a questionable decision, our…
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Portage Valley Boondocking
We had a gloomy rainy week in Portage Valley, but I won’t complain. As I write, the town of Jasper and Jasper NP in Alberta are burning in a horrendous wildfire, the Alaska Highway is closed in both directions in BC due to flooding and washout, and the road in and out of Skagway in SE Alaska is closed in both directions due to a landslide. We’ve been incredibly fortunate so far. Portage Valley is a small part of the almost 7 million-acre Chugach National Forest that stretches from the Kenai Peninsula to the Copper River Delta past Valdez. We were about 15 minutes from the Turnagain Arm, so we…
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Kenai Fjords National Park & Seward, Alaska
We spent the week of July 4th in the coastal town of Seward and loved it! Like most of the small towns we’ve been to in Alaska, the campgrounds and RV Parks are in prime locations and at the center of all the action. In Seward, the waterfront land along Resurrection Bay isn’t strong enough for building, so the town has a row of municipal campgrounds and a nice walking path connecting them all. At $45 per night for parking lot-style dry camping, it’s not cheap, but what a view!! We were about 30ft from the water at high tide and it was one of the best views we’ve ever…
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One Week of Summer in Cooper Landing, AK
We spent what was possibly our only week of summer weather hiking and paddling near the little town of Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula. The shorts and sandals even made an appearance. Being near the confluence of the Kenai and Russian Rivers, Cooper Landing is known for fishing. But a boondocking spot on Upper Trail Lake brought us to the area. Alaska is very boondocking friendly but most boondocking sites near tourist areas are just roadside pullouts. That’s fine for a night, but not what we want to do for a week. Upper Trail Lake was off the road and lakefront and big rig friendly. We were entertained by…
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Alaska Beach Life in Kasilof & Homer
We had a lofty goal to drive 520 miles from Valdez to Homer, on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, in a weekend. Saturday was particularly long with a couple of planned stops, but there was no shortage of awesome views. This is the Matanuska Glacier from a pullout. We stopped for lunch in Palmer because they were having their Colony Days Festival. We learned that the difference between a reindeer and a caribou is whether or not a leash is involved. We had a reindeer hotdog, but I thought it would be strange to put a photo of it next to the reindeer, so here’s a picture of…
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Beautiful Valdez, AK
We had read/heard from many other RVers that the town of Valdez is a favorite. We can’t say that yet since it was only our second stop, but I do think it will be hard to beat. It’s one of the prettiest places we’ve been. First, the drive into Valdez is spectacular! You go over Thompson Pass, one of the snowiest places in Alaska, which averages 700 inches per year. Valdez is the snowiest city and gets 300 inches per year. After the pass, you drive through Keystone Canyon along a river and roadside waterfalls. The town is on the Prince William Sound and there are 360-degree views of the…
