6/25 We left Fairbanks at a “later” time and headed south to Talkeetna. We had reservations for a 4 pm flight to Denali. However, a proper breakfast was wanted by all. So we headed back to the HotSpot Cafe.
After lunch we hit the road. The smoke had come in from the wildfires so the town had an eerie look to it. We made decent time with many stops for gas and other things and we finally arrived at Talkeetna. We had a cabin reservation so we checked in.
Well, it was tight there were only 3 beds and a couch so I offered to take the couch because I got a room to myself the night before. I don’t mind most couches.
Anyway, on to the cool stuff. We arrived at the Talkeetna Air taxi on time for our flight. They weighed is and gave us some gore Tex booties to go over our feet. Then we got to see the planes. These were from the 50’s and retrofitted with Turbo props.
We got ours which was a “newer” one and got our pre-flight instructions.
I think Harv was back in coach.
We took off and started to see the landscape as we headed to Denali National Park.
Then We entered the park. I have tons of pictures and tons of video that will get added into a trip video but here are a few of my favorites from the flight
Then we Landed on a Glacier
The Pilot offered to take s pic of the group
We all got off the plane back at the airport and were all pretty excited we took the tour. It was a gorgeous day and the weather was amazing.
We then decided it was time for dinner and as usual we weren’t good at deciding. A guy at a gas station suggested a place, but looking at it it was out of the little town. We decided on the Denali Brew Pub. I should have seen if they had T shirts but we were all pretty tired.
We got back to the cabin and it wasn’t long before we were all asleep. I iced my foot and decided I was going to wear ear plugs to sleep. Hoping it would get me a better night sleep.
6/26
We loaded up and were ready to go at 7:30 as planned. We headed out to the breakfast place and it was closed. Everything was closed except a small outdoor coffee shop. We all ordered our bagels with an egg and waited. After a while Harvey was starting to get the look, but then our stuff came out.
We headed south towards Wasilla and then North East. We made it to GlenAllen by lunch and ate at the Mexican place right there. It was expensive, but my “Pork Tacos” were good.
As we were riding I felt a bug smack my cheek and thought it had fallen away. Eventually I felt something crawling around my chin and when I went to open my helmet I felt a bite. It hurt. However when we stopped in a bit it didn’t seem to have left much of a welt
One last break before Tok and we would be good to go.
We got to our cabins for the night and realized that there were only four beds. If we had the five someone was going to have to share. We learned that it Talkeetna we should have kept the second cabin and here in Tok it would have been better to have two Deluxe, but with the four of us we were sorted.
We headed into “town” to get provisions as the only restaurant in town has been banned by the elders of the group. it was ok, we had a big breakfast and lunch and no one was really that hungry.
I grabbed water, a bag of ice to put in my water jugs and a Lean Cuisine Rigatoni. The cabin has a fridge and microwave. I also go some of the Gatorade Lyte as the past few days It has helped rehydrate.
Once fed, we hung out on the porch for a bit making plans for tomorrow. At minimum a duo is taking off to get an early start to make it to the Wheelers of the Yukon for a tire. I told the boys, if Im not ready go. I will either catch up and meet you there. I love the comradery of no man left behind, but in this case we are not out in the lesser traveled areas and I am used to traveling solo so I would rather they leave me behind and me not hold them up.
Starting to think of those last two long days from Prince George to home. The weather in the Central Valley will be hot for the last 300 miles.
It’s almost 9 and everyone is asleep and to top it off I keep finding cat hair in this cabin. Which would be great IF I wasn’t super allergic to cats. At this to the list 🤦🏻♂️
Phat Barstewards 