2023 Alaska Girdwood to Fairbanks

Life is a winding road, no telling where it goes, driving through days and nights. In this episode, we're going to be moving from Willowall Campground in Girdwood, Alaska all the way up to Denali. We're going to stop in Anchorage at Cabela's and then we're going to move on to Taquitna and then to Denali and then deep into Telenika Campground of Denali National Park. Today was a rainy day when we left Willowall. We actually left a day early because it was just raining every day. It's August 12th and we're here in Taquitna. We're on the Sistina River. This is actually a feeder river that goes into the main Sistina River that goes up to Denali. Today, we're going to walk into Taquitna and we're going to check out maybe some bakeries. I heard there's a big spinach bread place there, but also there's the Berks Surf Place and Denali Brewery's here, so we're going to go check that out here. It's kind of an overcast, slightly rainy day today, but we're going to go make the best of it, so let's go. We're downtown Taquitna and evidently a train or buses came through because there's like a thousand people here. It is lunchtime, but we're going to grab us some halibut tacos. We're going to check that out. Check out the town here. There's just tons of people. We're right across the street from Denali Brewing Company, which is a really popular spot. We're going to maybe check that out later, maybe tomorrow. We'll see, but we're going to go ahead and cruise the town. We're going to see what's out here. Well, we decided to stop here at a little taco truck and get some halibut tacos. You always eat the halibut tacos. I just got regular chicken, but they are pretty awesome. In fact, they're pretty spicy. We didn't get anything to drink, and I'm thinking now, that was a mistake. I really probably need to go get some water or something to extinguish the fire in my mouth. Great tacos, great conversation with great people, having fun in Taquitna, downtown. You make me feel alive. Another train or bus came in because there's just another thousand people just came into town here. It's just past lunchtime, and we just got an influx of another at least 500 people. Saturday is not the day to come into Taquitna. There's just too many people here, that's for sure. You make love so hollow, like I'm not even hot. You make me feel hollow, like you don't even care. Goodbye, Taquitna. We're packed up, heading over to the birch syrp farm. We're going to get some birch syrp. Right now, it's Sunday, I guess August 13th, and we're heading out of Taquitna. There's still a lot of people in here, so we're heading out. We're at the birch syrp farm just outside of Taquitna on our way to Denali. So we thought we'd stop in here and taste some of the birch syrp and go for the tour, and see if we can fill up on some good Alaskan birch syrp. Let's go check it out. If I knew that you'd be with me, I'd get you spinning. I would sit and hold my breath, if I knew that I'd be with you again. It's not that I can't be alone, but I just don't want to be denied. It's not over till it's over, baby. I'm standing here with Ted. I was here five years ago, actually with my mother. We love the birch syrp and all the different stuff. We came in today, and this guy is sitting out on the front porch. I said, is he a stalker? What's the deal? He comes up to us and starts talking to us. His name is Ted, and he and his brother just bought this place this year. They're going to ramp it up and make it awesome. Ted, what do you have to say about this place? We're just really excited to be part of the community and help out the local Alaskan birch. This is the place to be if you're into birch. The highest concentration of birch trees in the world. We're really excited about the health, wellness, and sustainability of the whole thing, and how our local community is. I heard you gave up law to do this? I did, yeah. I'm a recovering attorney. That's right. Oh, my gosh. Four years practicing commercial litigation in Los Angeles. Don, did you hear that? My neighbor Don, he's a contract attorney guy. Anyways, good to see that this is moving up and out and going places. We'll see you down the road at the next birch. This is how they tap into the birch trees. They actually drill a little hole and put a little spigot in there, and this thing just dribbles syrp down into the bucket. Pretty amazing. And so they have these buckets all over the place, and all these different trees, collecting syrp to process. Well, we just came out of the birch syrp farm, and it was awesome. We scored some good stock. Can't wait. Man, we got like rhubarb syrp or raspberry rhubarb syrp. Did you get any caramel? No caramel, but I know... Oh, that was good. Yeah, no, we got toffee. Toffee? Okay, that was really good. And you have to believe, the guy that owns this now, his name is Ted Hammers. So we had a ball with that, Rusty Nail and Ted Hammers. Anyways, great guy. Gave up law to get this thing started with his brother. Just took it over this year, so hasn't spent in Alaska in summer, winter up here. But anyways, looking forward to coming back here next time we're up here in Takeetna, Alaska. We're at Kasugi Ken Campground. It's a state park just south of Denali, about 100 miles. And we're at the Chootenai, I can't pronounce it, Chootenai Trail. It comes off of the Kasugi Ken, I can't even say that. I was just going to say, you're going to have to practice that. Yeah, Kasugi Ken. Because I'm not even going to attempt. Look at these birch trees. Yeah, beautiful trail here. They're gorgeous. But anyway, let me finish this. Kasugi Ken Trail, and this goes out to Interpretive, some kind of hike. But anyways, we're enjoying this hike because it's absolutely beautiful today. So, see you later. Well, there's no denying Denali, but Denali can deny you. No Denali today. So, we've got 10 more days to see Denali. So, wish us the best of luck. Just check that out. We are now at Upper Session Road It's August 17th. We're in Denali. It's about 55 degrees. We're on the McKinley Station Trail going up to Triple Lakes. So, this is a suspension bridge that goes across the river. And we're just heading up for this 9-mile hike today. And the weather is absolutely perfect. A little overcast. About 55 degrees. So, let's get after it. Let's go do it. I come to you and hopefully I can contain myself Pulsing blood that flows through me and wants nobody else See through me and all of my charades I am not any less afraid You're mine Am I hanging on too tight? You're mine I never wanna fall away or lose my sight Am I hanging on too tight? For me, it's just the thought of you that sets it right Baby, you're my light I never wanna fall away or lose my sight Am I hanging on too tight? For me, it's just the thought of you that sets it right Baby, you're my light I never wanna fall away or lose my sight We had to stop along the trail to collect some raspberries. They've got wild raspberries and wild blueberries growing up here. They're absolutely just wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful. So, we're going to pick a handful here. Am I hanging on too tight? For me, it's just the thought of you that sets it right Baby, you're my light Me, I want it Without you, you left me all alone To take it on myself This can't be Take your time And make very sure that you've made up your mind I know you Don't let anything go easy And if you wouldn't mind I'd like to see you one more time To tell you what's been on my mind Please You make me feel higher Like you don't even care You make love so hollow Like I'm not even there Oh, hollow It's not easy to say out loud Some kind of stranger speaking from my mouth I'm not the only I'm different now I keep all my secrets buried It's August 18th and we're at Teklanika Campground 30 miles inside of Denali Park. Just got here today, going to be here for four nights. We're out in the Teklanika River and we're going to hike a couple miles down the river and see if we can find some bear, caribou, or some kind of wildlife. So, it's just sprinkling a little bit right now. It's probably about 53 degrees. Let's get after it. We're out here in the middle of Teklanika River. Kind of a wash basin. Looking for wildlife. So far we've seen bear, caribou, some quail. That's about it. So, we're going to go out here. You see the view is actually beautiful out here. It's overcast, missing rain just a little bit. But absolutely gorgeous out here. So, we're going to keep hiking. See if we can find some more wildlife. Okay, we're deep in Denali. We've seen at least three or four bears. And a dozen elk. Right, caribou? Are they caribou? And we did see a moose, yeah. But it's just amazing out there how far you can see and the vastness of this area. It's absolutely stunning to be on this road. There's no cars, there's only buses. And it's very secluded. And you can see just for miles and miles. Awesome. Now, most people would understand what this sign means. But how do sheep know what it means? What it says is it says at the top of the hour and ten minutes past you've got to stop. But ten minutes past the hour further to the next hour you can proceed. So, I guess the sheep just know when it's the top of the hour and they want to say, hey, it's safe. I can cross the road because the people are stopped. I don't get that. Okay, it's day three. Light rain. We're heading out from Teclonica Campground back over to Savage Creek to do the Savage Alpine Loop hike and maybe the Savage Loop Trail. So, it's going to require a little bus ride to the trailhead and then a six-mile hike today. So, let's hope it doesn't rain more and it's just light mist. But we're off to the bus stop. So, we'll see you on the trail. We're hiking on the Alpine Savage Loop. Still sprinkling rain a little bit. Not bad. It's a really nice trail. Well-maintained, well-traveled. Lots of people, so to speak. We've passed about eight people so far. But it looks like a really nice trail. We're getting so high up, we're getting actually into the cloud level here. We just passed the cloud level. So, it's really kind of foggy and misty up here, but it's pretty cool. So, we're almost to the top. We've got another couple hundred feet of elevation to go. See you at the top. I'm hanging around this city I'm really getting to know this town There's nothing quite like it here Leaves are turning yellow and brown I smile and I wave for the paper My warm breath fills the air I'm laying bricks in this city Feeling all the people stare And just like you I hurry along Like it's all so important Like I'm the only one walk on by me by me These feet they scurry on by me to go Does anyone know So, we made it past the summit. It was about 4100 feet at the top. Total climb 1441. And now we're heading down. We're actually going to make a steep mile, mile and a half descent down this way. We've come about two and a half, almost three miles. And now it's a little over a mile to get way down here to the parking lot at Savage Creek Loop trailhead. So, let's go check out the steep trail. See what we can... See? See if we can make it down to the bottom without slipping and falling because it's still misty rainy. Walk on by me Walk on by me Walk on by me Walk on by me This is your life too And everything that you feel inside of you is but a memory that you keep alive This is the storybook you get to write My mouth is a desert running dry On the tip of my tongue I can taste your lies How to measure the love you throw around I could never hold you down One of us will have to take a bow Feeling you so close to make me drive around Everlasting love so much to go around You got me so high I can't come down I hope you know that I will never let you go It's August 21st and we've got no rain days so we're going to go for a hike. We're actually going to go up in the tundra on an off-trail hike just up the ridge looking for wildlife. So we started off at Teklanika Campground where we've been staying for the last few days and we took the Denali commuter bus down to mile 21 and we just got off the bus and we're just going to bushwhack it up this creek and up to this ridge up here to see what we can see. Hopefully we'll see some wildlife today. Some bear, moose, caribou. Let's go check it out and see what we're going to see. Everlasting love so much to go around You got me so high I can't come down I hope you know that as you go I can fall in your glow. Just go I can't feel you there where I once had you all alone in the back of my mind I'm under your spell I can't get out My heart falls to the ground and I'm sitting here freezing cold Well we've made it to the top of the ridge. Score. Reward is a panoramic view of about 270 degrees of the canyon going up to Denali. Absolutely gorgeous today. Hiking in a t-shirt so that's nice. No rain gear. But the rain gear is in the bag just in case. And I ain't letting you please just go I hope you know that as you go I can fall in your glow. Just go I can't feel you there. Just go Oh it's true with words left on the shelf full of dust you know it's me and from nobody else Grab your seat at the fantasy parade What I see is all inside my head I come to you and hopefully I can go. Pretty awesome hike today. We're heading back down the ridge. Gonna go catch the bus. Seen some caribou out in this valley so we're gonna run down see if we can get a closer look at the caribou instead of through the binoculars. But there's a road right over there where we can catch the bus back to camp. So it's been an absolutely fantastic day out here. Any less afraid You're mine Am I hanging on too tight You're mine Baby you're my light Am I hanging on too tight Never wanna fall away or lose my sight Am I hanging on too tight For me it's just the thought of you that sets it right Baby you're my light I never wanna fall away or lose my sight Am I hanging on too tight For me it's just the thought of you that sets it right Okay, we made it on our hike. We're back down to the road. We're going to catch a bus back to camp. We saw two moose and a few caribou, and that's about it. What else do we see? Tarragon. Rock of tarragon. That's about it. But it was a great hike. Great day. Got a workout for sure. That soft... What is it called? Tarmac. What is it called? That stuff? Mossy stuff. Yeah. I forgot what they called it. Tundra. Yeah. That's it. Tundra. So anyway, walking that tundra was pretty gooey and soft. It was about six inches. Like walking in probably knee deep of soft powder snow. Just a lot of work. So we only did a couple of miles today, maybe two and a half, but it was definitely a lot of work. Climbed the mountain and walking in the slushy tundra. We had a great hike today. We picked a whole bunch of blueberries. Back to camp. Pack it up. And we're going to head to Riley Campground for a couple days before we head back to Fairbanks, Alaska. Well, it's August 23rd and we're here at New Wave Adventures here at Denali Village, Denali Park. We're going to go for a six hour float trip and it's going to be awesome today. Weather's looking pretty good today for what we've seen. Clouds are high and the sun's kind of peeking out. But this six hour trip is going to take us up the river and we're going to do some three hour float and a three hour rough rafting area. So let's go check out New Wave inside and see what they got. Okay, we're on the bus. We're going to go do a what? Six hour trip today? Five hours? Five hours. Christina's ready to knock it dead? Yeah. And stop. There you go. We're on the river here. We're on the Nanta River with Gordon? No. Corbin. Gordon. Morgan. Gordon. Corbin. Okay, his name's Corbin. He's going to get us safely down there without being ejected. Don't make promises on my behalf. And forward. Alright. Gordon is missing from the boat. Where did he go? Corbin. And stop. Trying to take the brightest lines possible. Everyone else, that seems to be like the vibe, man. Hey team, check it out. Over there on the left side of the river, we got our photographer. Looks like it's Chicago. Make sure you can see. And stop. And forward. And stop. And forward. And stop. And forward. And stop. Oh yeah. That'll high five. Woo! It's not over till it's over. Well, after a four hour float trip, the girls did not get enough. So we are back out hiking. We packed up. We went home, had lunch. And we packed up and we're heading down to the Savage River Loop. So we're going to go do the Savage River Loop and then see what else we can hike. But the weather's really nice. Sun's out a little bit. So we're going to go see what we can enjoy on that. Savage River Loop. Yeah, look at that. Look at that photo bomb in there. Ha ha ha. Nice river walk. Let's do a little roller coaster ride. Here we go. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Oh yeah. Roly-poly. I swear to God. That's good. We're on the side of the road here at Denali National Park looking for moose. The sun's come out. Visibility is great. So we're on the hunt for the moose. Because we've heard the moose is loose. Moose. Okay, we are leaving Riley Campground in Denali. We had a wonderful 11 days. And we're going to run over and dump and fill our tanks and head to Fairbanks. So it is August 25th. And we are going to, it's about 120 miles. About a two hour drive. So we're going to hit the road. Well, it's August 25th. We're in Fairbanks, Alaska. We had a nice little 120 mile ride today from Denali here. And right now we're at Expressions in Glass. Which is a Harvest Host location. So we get a free night spot here. And we're going to go over to the airport this evening and pick up my mom over there. Probably at 1 o'clock. But right now we're going to head off and do things like laundry. We're going to shop REI again. Do some exchanges over there. And then hit the grocery store one more time. And then tomorrow, looks like we're going to be going to Chena Hot Springs. So check that out. So it's Friday night, August 25th. And we're doing laundry. I think we found the nicest laundromat I've ever seen. No cash. You get these little cards and you put it in the machines. We're doing two loads of wash into one dryer. It's going to be like $30. So it ain't cheap here in Fairbanks. But it's a really nice facility. No lines on a Friday night at 8pm. I can taste your lies. How to measure the love you throw around.