Don't lose your dreams to protect your days

When we left Fairbanks on Tuesday my spirits were slowly being lifted. With all the trouble we had with my bike we didn’t get the chance to see anything of Fairbanks and the surroundings, but honestly I wasn’t really in the mood, I just wanted to get going!

Mount McKinley

Oh well, the weather remained nice and hot and we were off to Denali Park. It is a big Nat’l Park with Mount McKinley included, but all very touristy.

We decided to stay for 3 nights at the campground to get the chance and time to do some hiking.

Arctic Ground Squirrel

They have a shuttle bus system that takes you to various points or trailheads, to avoid motor vehicles into the Park. You are only allowed with your vehicle to a certain point with permission.

Yesterday we hiked up to Mt.Healy for 4.3km one way… boy was quite steep. We are slowly losing our fitness level after being cut off from “ Goodlife”. The reward was a beautiful view of the Nenana River valley and a little glimpse of Mt. McKinley. The afternoon was filled with doing laundry and catching up on the computer.

Alpine tundra in bloom

Today we took the shuttle bus bright and early at 8:20 am to get a bit further into the interior.

We took the Savage Alpine Trail (6.4km) with an even better view of the mountain vista and … it wasn’t so strenuous any more! The weather was still nice and hot, almost too hot for hiking! We enjoyed numerous different little flowers up on the mountain but only saw an arctic ground squirrel for wildlife. Oh wait, we were woken up by a moose and her 2 calves this morning, who were strolling by our tent site. That was pretty amazing!

Mister Serious

So this afternoon I went to see a sled dog demo, while Heinz did more laundry. The motorcycle jackets and pants were in desperate need of a wash after the Dempster ride.

Tomorrow we will move on towards Anchorage and that’s the area where apparently the forest fires were, so I hope they will let us through.

Feli