United States
Fish Lake

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    • Day 12

      ANCHORAGE TO TALKEETNA

      June 5, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 12 °C

      We left Anchorage around 9.30 am and set off on our three and a half hour drive to Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge, near Talkeetna. The route was mainly on a two lane road and we went through a couple of little towns including Willow and Trappers Creek, again we followed the rail route and spotted a train today. There was a considerable amount of damp meadow land, ideal for moose, and plenty of road signs saying look out for moose but despite all my best efforts I didn't see one, still on my to see list!

      The Lodge is in Denali Park and it is another beautiful and clear day so we have had great views of the mountain including Mount McKinley, also known as Mount Denali, which is the second highest mountain in the USA and the Alaskans claim from base to peak it is bigger than Mount Everest.
      After eating lunch, sat outside with a great view of the mountains, we went on a very interesting and amusing nature walk with a park ranger. She was bought up in Alaska on the army base in Anchorage. She told us how Alaska has a very quick switch from Spring to Summer, it was snowing here just a few weeks ago but now the sun is out and there is daylight for 19 hours everything bursts into life very quickly, for example, she saw no forget me knots (Alaska's state flower) in bloom yesterday but today they are blooming all around the property. A number of the birch trees show signs of where the moose have eaten the bark during the winter when nothing else was available. We can also now recognise moose poo!!! There are plenty of ferns in the forest, lupins, geraniums, elderflowers, alder trees and lichen. After this walk we set off on our own to walk the hill trail, we read the instructions about if we saw a bear we made lots of noise to let him know we were there, if it was a big brown bear and he attacks just curl up and play dead, if a moose's ears go back he is going to charge so go and hide behind a tree!!! Ok we know what to do! We set off on the trail, enjoyed visiting the tree top house and looking at the magnificent views of the mountain range and returned to the lodge with no wildlife encounters. We were told by a member of house keeping she had just seen a moose at block 20 and she showed us a picture, we rushed over there but 'mooseteriously' it had disappeared.

      We had a delicious (and expensive) meal at 20,320 Alaskan Grill which included salmon with blueberry sauce, chocolate s'mores, lemon cake and huckleberry ice cream. We watched photosymphony in the Hudson Theatre which was pictures of the Aurora set to music.
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    • Day 12

      End the Day in Talkeetna

      May 14, 2021 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

      Part III of today’s story. Which didn’t really end in Talkeetna as we needed to get back home to Anchorage from there. But that was a boring drive, with considerable traffic in the Palmer/Wasilla area. Nothing exciting about that portion of our day ... except that we were grateful not to be heading north as the traffic in that direction was horrendous.

      Heading south from Denali State Park, we took the spur road to Talkeetna. Some of you may know it as the town on which the 90s TV show “Northern Exposures” was based.

      After parking the car, we stopped at the ice cream shop for a sweet treat. Fireweed ice cream — yes, made from the edible flowers of the iconic Alaskan plant — was quite tasty. Afterwards, we strolled around the town ... which, unlike many places we’ve been to so far, seems to have opened up for the tourist season already. I’m not one to take photos of shops and such unless there is something of real interest, so no images of the town to accompany this footprint.

      Down by the river, the Susitna was flowing fast and furious, carrying along small chunks of ice. Talkeetna means “where the rivers meet.” An appropriate name as the Chulitna and Talkeetna Rivers merge here with the Susitna. The demarcation line where the Talkeetna “weds” with the heavily-silted Susitna was quite obvious and interesting to see once again. In the far distance Denali and the Alaska Range added interest to the scenery.

      We drove some 324 miles today ... much of it not very exciting. But just seeing Denali uncloaked ... well that was priceless and well worth the miles.
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