August 29 -- 31; back to -- Alaska! (Part 3)

There is no way I'll be able to cram what's happened these past 3 months into one blog entry. For those who are following me on Facebook, you know I've been back home at Faranuf since November 9. A lot has happened since then, so let's get crackin', shall we? We'll be picking up from the day after my arrival at the Denali Highway...

I found a pullout along the highway where I could get a sunrise view of Denali the mountain. I was keeping my fingers crossed it would still be "out" -- and it was. 

Here's a closeup of Denali. I would end up calling the entire North To Alaska trip "The Trip of Serendipity" because of the consistent luck I had, even when it looked like things weren't going my way. More on that later. But for now, I was reveling in clear skies, and no bugs...

I moved my spot along the Denali Highway to Twin Lakes, about 5 miles from the George Parks Highway and the town of Cantwell, which is at the west end of the highway.  I tried to finagle Discovery into a spot off a large area used for parking at the lake, but once I saw a Princess Lines tour bus pull in a unload its passengers, I realized I wouldn't get much privacy there. (Princess buses drive the entire length of the Denali Highway a few times a week as it's part of their tour itinerary.)  So I found a small pullout right off the highway. Here's a photo of Discovery at the spot. Looks idyllic, doesn't it? Well, more on that later...Denali isn't that close; I took the photo using the 100-400 lens, which foreshortens the distance. 

Discovery at the Twin Lakes pullout. The bugs were few, but the traffic...The highway is right behind the trailer. And the lake's shoreline is about 5 feet behind me in this photo.  I spent 5 days here.

Up to this point I really hadn't seen much wildlife. There was a brief glimpse of a black bear and her cubs along the side of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway, a Bald Eagle or two, but mostly Black-billed Magpies and Ravens. I finally saw a moose while doing a day trip up to Denali; I wanted to check things out before I stayed at the park about a week after leaving the highway. 

Twin Lakes was beautiful, but kinda quiet in terms of wildlife. I'd hoped to see Trumpeter Swans there, but all I saw were 2 muskrats, though they were entertaining. Here's one of them in late-afternoon light. They were swim across from the far shore of the lake to my side, pull off branches with leaves, then take them back, swimming while holding the branches in their mouths. I was curious about their behavior, so I went online to Wikipedia and read they have burrows called "push-ups" that have an underwater entrance, and they close the entrance with vegetation that they replace every day. One was having better luck than the other with finding leafy branches, so I was rooting for the less-lucky one. 

Here's the Denali Highway, looking southwest to Denali. The road runs 137 miles,  and at this end is paved for only the first 2.6 miles. This is about 3 miles in from the paved section, and while it may look smooth and easy driving, it's not. According to Wikipedia, it's "poorly maintained, and closed to all traffic from October to mid-May." There are potholes, washboarding, sharp rocks and dust, so driving it can be quite an experience. And why I wouldn't take Discovery any further than I had to, though I did come across rental RVs driving driving its entire length at least part of the way. But then, they were RENTALS... The recommended speed limit is 30mph, but the signs say 50, and much of the traffic -- hunters with 4WD trucks hauling toy haulers and flatbed trailers with ATVs -- roared on by at more than 50mph. Or so it seemed to me. It's hard to believe that the highway was the only road to Denali Nat'l Park until the Parks Highway was completed in 1971. 

Here's Twin Lakes just after sunset. Looks pretty tranquil, doesn't it? It was, but not at my camping spot. The view from Discovery's front door was lovely, but others though so, too. When you're coming from the west, this is the first place where you get a great view of the lake. The parking area further on down the road can accommodate more vehicles, but tourists would invariably squeeze their cars and rental RVs into my tiny pullout, walk to the tiny area between the shoreline and Discovery, and take photos. Not much privacy. Though I got a kick when some Asian tourists in a rental RV ended up gawking at my 500mm lens, seemingly forgetting about the lake. They even took a photo of the lens!  That would happen a few times during the trip. 

On August 31, it was time for a daytrip with Tundra on the Denali Highway.  It was a perfect, still morning, with reflections of the ponds and lakes -- 

The road heading east climbs with views of the Susitna River to the west -- 

then levels out and you're treated to a tremendous view of the Alaska Range. The range is usually wreathed in clouds -- and many friends say they've never seen it during their trips there -- but on this day serendipity ruled once again; the views were wide-ranging and utterly spectacular. Here's Tundra on the road, with the Alaska Range in the background. And you can see some of the potholes that could easily bend an axle if you're not careful. 

Whew I was quite literally blown away by what was in front of me. It was a great visual example of how far-reaching and vast the distances are in the Far North. There's nothing like it in the "lower 48". It's almost intimidating,  honestly. And utterly, totally sublime. 

Here's a closeup of one of the major peaks of the range. The mountains are draped with glaciers. The Alaska Range, of which Denali is the highest,  runs in a 400-mile arc. California's Sierra Nevada is about as long, but puny compared to this. And the Chiricahuas, where I live, could fit into a tiny section. Or so it seems. 

The Denali Highway eventually crosses the Susitna River -- 

After about 80 miles, I regretfully had to start heading back. But before I did I was treated to this viewpoint, looking south to the Chugach Mountains near the southern coast, over 100 miles away across limitless boreal forest -- 

Here's a closeup showing the Chugach Mountains -- 

Even though the posted speed limit on the highway was 50, I didn't want to go above 25. I still had over 2 months before getting home, had a "bullet hole" and crack in my windshield, no cell phone service since my phone plan didn't cover Canada or Alaska, and I was traveling solo. So all the trucks -- and most of them were hunters taking advantage of hunting season -- passed me up, kicking up clouds of dust. I could care less -- I was revelling in the scenery. Well, what I could see through the dust.

Back at the lake, I was treated to a spectacular yet, well, downright weird sunset. They may have been lenticular clouds in the process of forming as they went from right to left. Lentinculars are formed by mountains that usually much higher down south, but this is so far north that things such as weather phenomena, treelines, etc occur at lower elevations.

What a wonderful way to end August in Alaska. Serendipity continued to rule. But the next day, September 1, would prove to be the highlight of my trip North To Alaska...