July 14: We heard conflicting reports about the fires and smoke in the Fairbanks area but decided to head that way anyway. We rode east out of Anchorage, the same way we can in 10 days ago. I can’t tell you how nice it was to know the way and not have to wonder if you were on the right track. While this is my concern, David just plugs away and very seldom makes a wrong turn. He is a great guide.
Soon we were making the turn north going through a major construction zone. There is a big construction project at the highway interchange that connects Anchorage, Palmer and points north (Fairbanks). It will be great when it’s done but for now it was “hairy.” We found a motel in the town of Wasilla (population 5,213), did our wash, and settled in to watch “The Tour De France” on TV.
Wasilla is located between Wasilla Like and Lucille Lake in the Susitna Valley, about an hour’s drive from Anchorage. Wasilla’s 1917 railroad depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Our road, which runs all the way to Fairbanks is the “Parks Highway.” I had thought the name comes from the fact the it runs along side two parks, Denali National Park & Preserve and Denali State Park. But I have learned it really named in honor of George Parks, the territorial governor from 1925 to 1933.
Wasilla - Visit the Dorothy Page Museum (celebrates homesteader history), the Iditarod Trail Museum and the Museum of Transportation.
July 15: It was a cool and cloudy start to our ride but on the great side was once we got out of town the road turn pretty good (it’s about time.) There even was some bike paths, which we enjoyed. At breakfast we met Jerry and Shirley (on vacation from Kansas). Jerry is a biker and we really enjoyed talking to them. Of course you always wonder if you ever see them again.
With not a lot of choices for places to stay along the highway we headed 14 miles off our route for the town of Talkeetna (population 868). The road into town was great but also there was a bike path along side for the whole 14 miles. We checked into the “Talkeetna Hostel (a really nice a friendly place) were I met Ben. Ben lives in the Portland area so it was nice to talk to him. As usual we headed into town to look around. This is a first-class tourist town. Besides the normal auto visitors there were bus loads of visitors as well as train loads. Our choice for dinner was not the best but we made up for it with a great place for breakfast (tomorrow).
Talkeetna - Take the walking tour of town and discover the mining, railroad, aviation, and mountaineering heritage of Talkeetna Alaska. If you happen to be in town during the 2nd weekend in July, don’t miss “The Moose Dropping Festival.” Sorry to say we just missed it. Talkeetna is the jumping-off point for many climbing expeditions to Mount McKinley. They fly in specially equipped ski-wheel aircraft to Kahitna Glacier to start the climb from about 7,200 feet to the summit of South Peak (elev. 20,320 feet). Visit “Thistleberries” for unique Alaska Gifts.
July 16: Lets start with breakfast and what a breakfast it was. Have you ever heard of a breakfast so big that two guys on a long bike tour had to shared one. For the price of $10. 40 we got, OJ, coffee, 6 pieces of bacon, 4 eggs, tons of pancakes and 2 very thick slices of French Toast (Talkeetna Roadhouse - stop only if you are hungry.) The waiter suggested that we just might want to share the breakfast.
We are now getting close to Mt. McKinley (20, 320 feet) and hoping to get a look at. We were told there is about a 25% chance of seeing this great mountain. As we rode along a car stopped and out got Jerry and Shirley (who we met yesterday) they gave us a large bag of smacks (nice people.)
Our overnight was at “Mary McKinley View Lodge.” Known for the best view of the nation’s tallest peak (only 40 miles away). The Lodge is located on Mary Carey’s original homestead. Mary is known for fighting for the highway completion to share her magnificent view with travelers. A major movie is in the making about her life (“My Three Lives In Headlines” - coming to the big screen soon), staring Julia Roberts as Mary. Mary passed away June of this year at age 90. Mary’s daughter, Jean, now runs the lodge. Due to Julia’s pregnancy the movie was delayed.
Just a few steps from the lodge is a state view point that was under construction, when we rode through. It was closed to cars but on the bike we could ride in a take a look around. It’s going to be a very good place to get a great view of the mountain (weather permitting). It must be our lucky day as the clouds broke just enough for us to get a look at the mountain, not a very good look but never-the-less a look.
July 17: When we woke the first thing we did was to look out the window to see if the mountain was visible and it was. Grabbing our cameras we stepped out on the deck and began snapping pictures. Within 3 minutes the clouds filled back in and the mountain was gone. We got a late start today due to the poor operation of the restaurant. The best I could figure out is that night person did not cleanup as normal and the day person was ticked off. After breakfast we headed north, with a few rain drops, but nothing serious.
As we rode along a black bear crossed the road in front of us. I don’t think it even saw us (bikes don’t make much noise.) We rode 77 miles before we found a place for lunch. It was a long slow climb to “Broad Pass - 2300 feet.
We met Heidi from North Carolina who is a gal riding solo. She has ridden 12,994 miles in 315 days, as of Dec. 10, 2004, she is now almost back home. Her story/web site is called “North To Alaska And Back.” and it’s address is: http://heidi.crazyguyonabike.com
Our overnight was at the “Denali Mountain Morning Hostel” which is just south of Denali Park. The plan was to get close to the park today so tomorrow we could spend some time in the park before moving on. We took a private cabin and as you can see it looked really small. Inside was larger that the outside looked as we were not only able to get us in but both bike too. You guessed it, we had bunk-beds.
July 18: When we got to the Danali Park we found out that we could only ride in for the first 14 miles and it was almost all up hill, but the other hand we could take the tour bus in with our bike and then just coast back to the start. Do I have to tell you what we did? It was a wonderful down hill run all the way back.
It was a great morning but it’s now time for lunch, which was at “Bob’s Subs.” Now these are not your ordinary subs, these were “BIG SUBS” and they were very tasty. No wonder there was a line to place your order.
Our overnight was in the town of Healy (population 889) and after checking out several motels we decided on staying at the “Denali North Star Inn.” This was another one of those Pipeline places but it was at the other end of the spectrum from the one we stayed at in Glennallen. This one was a very clean three story building with great showers and a cafeteria.
Healy has the state’s only operating commercial coal mine. The mine supplies coal to 3 military power plants (Fort Wainwright, Eielson AFB and Clear Air Station) and 3 non-military power plants. Healy coal is sub-bituminous with relativity low BTU’s per pound, although it’s low sulfur and nitrogen content make it a clean burning fuel. We rode to see two of these plants, the 25-megawatt Healy Power Plant and adjacent 50-megawatt Healy Clean Coal Project.
July 19: It was another cool start but turned warm very fast. The road was good and we had a trail wind. We stopped to watch 20 wheelchair racer go by in the other direction from our direction (Sadler’s Ultra Challenge.) Each racer had a trail car which allowed the racers to use the car lane. This is a race from Fairbanks to Anchorage, coving 267 miles. If I remember right there are 6 stages to the race and they do skip some sections of the road. Never-the-less it’s quit a race. The first group of racers that passed us where in racing wheelchairs, the kind that had hand cranks and gears like our bikes have. There were not many, but some, that were using a normal wheelchair.
We are heading for the town of Nenana (population 435), which is famous for the “Nenana Ice Classic” a 89 year old event. The object is to guess the exact date and time that the frozen Tanana River ice will break up at Nenana. A large wooden tripod is place on the ice and has a clock tied to it. When the ice breaks up the tripod moves thus triggering a clock to stop. For a $2.50 correct guess, you could win over $300,000 (the prize in 2004 was $301,000.) The earliest it’s ever happen was April 20 at 3:27 PM and the latest it’s happened was May 20 at 11:41 AM. In the Visitors Center I looked through the yearly record books, what I noticed that was very odd to me was that there were guess for dates that were way out of the possibilities, like January and February.
We found another “Pipeline Motel” for our night’s stay. This one was some where in between the other two. It’s kind of dumpy, but we did have a shower in the room. We also had a coffee pot with all stuff we needed to made a nice cup of coffee. The only problem was that the cord on the pot was to short and did not reach the power. Yes, if one stood there holding up the pot it would reach (we could not find anything in the room to put under the pot.) Oh well, it was a nice thought to put a pot in the room (like the big and fancy places have.) Have I said that these “pipeline” places are very reasonablely prices, compared to other places.
Dinner was at “River Front Diner” which is right on the river giving us a great view. It’s a new place with good food. We met Ryan, a guy from Roseburg, Oregon, who is “trying to find himself.”
July 20: It rained overnight and was overcast when we headed out. The temp was cool but no rain. It was a hilly ride, with one long climb. The kind, while not steep, it just keeps going. At one point a super heavy and wide load came along. The lead truck asked us to go to the other side of the road for safety reasons. It was some huge piece of machinery and it took two big trucks to get it up the hill, one pulling and one pushing.
We stopped for lunch at “Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn.” Skinny is a legend! An Anchorage newspaper once carried the story of Skinny being pulled over by a State Trooper who suspected he was driving while intoxicated. The Trooper asked Skinny to jump up and down on one foot. Skinny replied, "Hell, I can't even do that when I'm sober."
As we approached Fairbanks (population city only30,224) the smoke got stronger and stronger. The town is in a valley and the smoke just sits there. As usual David guided us into and through this big city to our overnight, “Billie’s Backpackers Hostel.” You can tell from the picture it’s was a pretty wild-place. Fairbanks has a lot of bike paths but most were in bad shape, very rough. My guess it that the paths were in bad shape because of the hard winters. While exploring town we found two places of interest, “Pioneer Park” and “Hot Licks” (ice cream.)
In 1901, Captain E.T. Barnette set out from St. Michael on the stern-wheeler Lavelle Young, traveling up the Yukon River with supplies for his trading post, which he proposed to set up at Tanana Crossing (Tranacross), the halfway point on the Valdez-Eagle trail. But the stern-wheeler could not navigate the fast-moving, shallow Tanana River beyond the mouth of the Chena River. The stern-wheeler captain dropped off Barnette on the Chena River near the present site of 1st Ave. and Cushman Street (Fairbanks). The town name came from Charles W. Fairbanks, an admired senior senator from Indiana. The senator later became vice president of the United States under Theodore Roosevelt. The town of Fairbanks first appeared in the U.S. Census in 1910 with a population of 3,541.
We were looking forward to getting out of this valley and to start the last long leg of our tour. Tomorrow we will head south to Valdez.
Fairbanks - Visit Pioneer Historical Park. Have an ice cream at Hot Licks. Continue north to Prudhoe Bay. Visit North Pole, Alaska just 15 miles south. Take the “Shuttle on the Rive” the Chena River (Others have told me that this is well worth it - we missed it.) Visit the University of Alaska Museum, voted the museum in Alaska (there are 9 museums in town). Stay at “The Captain Barlett Inn.” Why, “because good things come in log packages....” Jump aboard the “Riverboat Discovery.” Ride the “El Dorado Gold Mine” train. Stop in the “Malemute Saloon” for the Bunkhouse Buffet and the Northern Lights Show. Jiffy Lube has this ad, “After driving the highway, you’ll want to make us your first stop in Fairbanks,” just might be the thing to do (if you are driving.)
