Greetings my wonderful readers. Lady Wanderingwise is back with you! Please settle in, it has been a crazy wonderful ten days since we left Fairbanks and this could be a long read.
We started off from Fairbanks with Dale having tested positive for Covid – yes we still carry all the tests. We are so glad he tested right off the bat, because he was within the window to get Paxlovid. Note to all – when he received his prescription, he was informed it would cost $1400 because insurance does not cover it. I guess they figure you should get the vaccine instead. Anyway, we then found out that the manufacturer offers a once a year coupon and after he applied for that, it turned out to be free! Like all things covid, its so hard to tell if it was worth it, but all we can say is his symptoms stayed mild, and he rebounded quickly. Which is good, because one thing Dale is not very good at is sitting and resting for multiple days. We left Fairbanks, and the stop for his prescriptions, and headed for Denali RV park. Not to be mistaken for the National Park Campgrounds, this RV park is about seven miles north near the town of Healy. We arrived late in the day, so we got set up and settled in so Dale’s resting could begin. Our entertainment, besides watching the Olympics (thank you Starlink!) consisted mainly of watching a group of four, sometimes three, sometimes two, young women walk the circle around the campground, at least 25 times. I guess they really wanted some exercise! The next day it did nothing but RAIN and RAIN, so it was the perfect day for Dale to rest. And for me to catch up on some reading.
Still keeping things easy for Dale, the next day we were both so stir crazy that we had to get out, even if the weather was not perfect. Fortunately, there was a great trail head at the campground up a short and steep climb to a ridge looking over to the Denali park boundary. We were so HAPPY to stretch our legs. Then we shuttled into the “town” of Denali and spent a couple of hours doing the “town” things. Glad we did it, it killed the afternoon. There really wasn’t much there to entertain us, especially since we have been there before. But we went looking for the photography studio we had visited in 2016 to get a cheesy Yukon dress-up photo on our 25th Anniversary. It was no longer there! Made me appreciate the picture I packed away all that much more!
The next day I was off on an all-day adventure into Denali NP while Dale moved camp into Riley Creek Campground within the National Park. We were there for two nights, and it was our first time to go without hookups since Canada. We figured this time we knew all the things we needed to do to make sure we were not rudely awoken from low battery warnings, and Dale was on top of the generator hours and we used them completely. He was gracious enough to get the photo in front of the National Park sign, since I wasn’t there. Since he’d been into the tourist town, he spent the rest of time “resting” and exploring around the visitor center. When I made my way back to him after my tour, all I had to do was follow the sound of our generator. A beacon calling me home!
I am soooooo glad I took the tour. It is a new offering in the park, hosted by Alaska Geographic, our group was ten people in a van, and it included stops where we got to take short hikes in the three types of park ecosystems, the boreal forest, subalpine woodlands, and the alpine tundra. The boreal forest entailed a little over a mile roundtrip, straight up a hill with absolutely no defined trail. Shrubs up to your shoulders, walking on shrubs suspending you above the ground surface. It was something else! How any wildlife traverses that area is a marvel, and fortunately we did not cross any paths. We did see Moose, Grizzly, Ptarmigan, Caribou, Dall Sheep, and a Red Fox with dinner in her mouth for her kits as we drove through the park. It was by far a more successful wildlife spotting than the last time I was in the park, and I feel like I earned my Denali Park stamp!
Between Dale’s cold and the change in the weather, we had changed our original plan of getting to Denali, via Richardson Highway and heading west over the Denali Highway since it is about 100 miles of gravel roadway. But we couldn’t leave the area without at least saying we were on it. So we joined a jeep tour the next morning. We traveled only about 40 miles of it, and while it was some beautiful scenery, it definitely was NOT a wildlife tour. We did see one rather comfy looking porcupine, however! Our guides did their best to entertain over the CB radios. We drove by the filming location of “Into the Wild”, the 2007 movie about the young man who died of starvation during his first summer living off the land. Little did we know that while were in the Denali RV Park we were very near the area the kid went into the woods and never came out. The town finally pulled the bus he died in out of the woods, because silly damn tourists kept hiking in to see it and getting stuck and needing rescue. The bus itself is in Fairbanks, soon to become part of the History Museum there. But we drove by the movie prop bus that they have on display in Healy right off the highway. When we saw it I didn’t know what it was, so when I saw the sign for the “magic bus” I thought it was yet another one of the cannibus stores you drive by here in Alaska. We never saw the movie when it came out, but of course I had to stream it. We sure did enjoy it that night! We capped off our visit to Denali with some hiking around the visitor center and then tucked back into our RV just in time for the rain to return. We really had a lovely time, and I’m happy to report that we have successfully found the way to “dry camp” without incident!
Our next stop was Palmer, AK. Having heard from too many people, both locals and tourists, that Anchorage proper leaves much to be desired, we opted to stay in Palmer. We had stopped in Talkeetna on the way down, and after seeing that it was nothing but a lovely tourist stop for folks taking the trains, our expectations were not all too high of enjoying our time during this stop in Palmer, but as it turns out, it was one of the best so far!
We decided ahead of time that we would drive the RV wherever we wanted to go, rather than try and find Ubers and taxis. It was a really good call! The first day we drove up Hatcher’s Pass and stopped at the Independence Mine State Historical Park for a little hiking and education. The views were spectacular, we really got an Alps vibe with the green peaks all around us and the glaciers in the distance.
The next day we drove down to Kincaid Park in Anchorage, and took a 20 mile bike ride along the Coast path into downtown. We saw so many moose along the route I’m convinced the city of Anchorage stocks them there to entertain tourists! While in Anchorage we stumbled upon a little farmers market where I found our newest camping Mascot, we’ve named him Moose. These little Gnomes caught my eye, and had me hooked when the artist told us that the beards are made of different wildlife hides. Can you guess which animal is ours? We then stopped at Tequila 61 for lunch and an adult beverage, then successfully made it back to our parked RV tho the trail had become treacherous with tourists who had a hard time staying in their lane. Dale had a teenager clip his rearview mirror….fortunately nobody crashed, but it was frightening to witness!
Our last day in Palmer we went kayaking along the Knik River. We drove the RV to the meeting location, a place obviously frequented by guides and colorful locals. It raised our eyebrows a bit, and we left it hoping we’d find it in the same condition when we returned. Although a guided tour, there was just Dale, I and our guide Anna. The only wildlife we encountered were salmon making their way up stream beneath our boats and some of those colorful locals enjoying the sunny day on the shores of the Knik. When we made it back to the pickup spot, we were VERY happy to have our home waiting for us and in just as good of condition as when we left. It may have been a beautiful Alaskan day, but once you get wet, its just plain cold! We wasted no time getting changed and back to our spot in Palmer, to settle in for our last night. And once again, the weather changed that night – this time with wind so strong we rocked all night long. But we were up and ready for the next phase of our adventure….the Kenai Peninsula.
And with that, dear friends and family, I will end this chapter. We are living a dream up here, but please do remember, we miss you and think of you often! Till next time then, dear readers, yours truly, Lady Wanderingwise.
Weise's Wanderings 
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