From Talkeetna, we drove north toward Denali National Park. We were not able to see the actual Denali peak, as it was overcast and cloudy that day. It is said that you can only see it 25-30% of the time. We did drive through the park, as far as you can go, which is only 15 miles in. It is pretty, but nothing spectacular. We did see a momma moose and her baby (though this is the best picture we were able to take).
From Denali, we trekked north toward Fairbanks and found a little camping spot along the river, where Garry panned for gold. We are not rich YET, but he will keep trying!
From Denali, we trekked North to Fairbanks and over (not my favorite scenery – it is drier and not so pretty) to Harding Lake Campground (which was truly nearly deserted, which was so strange. – even the camp host commented on it.) Nothing much to report there. We saw this girl somewhere along the way (I don’t remember where).
Then it was south again to VALDEZ!
Valdez is probably one of my MOST FAVORITE places on the trip. It is stunningly beautiful with amazing snow capped and glacier filled mountain rising from sea level. There are waterfalls and glaciers everywhere you look!
We fished for salmon and each caught one – that is all we could take, being in the camper with a very tiny fridge/freezer. It was fun though and a first for both of us.
Probably one of my favorite things to do – I could do this every day – is to watch the sea lions as they feast at the inlet near the fish hatchery where the salmon come back to spawn (having been born there). The sea lions are so close and so enormous and so goofy. They play and feast in the water right near the shore. You can also watch the salmon as they try to get back to their natural birth place to spawn. Below is a link to a video of them – so much fun!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tYy5Vzti7wc3J4Xv9
And, probably one of our most AMAZING adventures was kayaking on Glacier Lake in Valdez amongst the icebergs (as we thought – this might not be super safe – it was pretty warm and you could hear the rocks falling from the tops of the glaciers as they melted – if a big chunk of one of the icebergs had fallen near us, I’m not sure how big of a wave it would have created, nor do I want to know). I never thought you could “get lost” in a lake, but we had to backtrack a couple of times to find our way back to where we put in the kayaks. It was so beautiful, with waterfalls cascading down the mountains on all sides – just absolutely gorgeous! Definitely the best paddle we have ever taken and one of the most awesome places we have ever visited.
And to top it off, this afternoon/evening we went on a walk on a trail and came so close to a pretty large brown bear (grizzly). Bean was the first to notice and I could tell from the way he was acting that something was close. Then, literally right next to us on the trail (less than 5 feet from us), the bushes started to move, so I ran up ahead (I know you’re not supposed to run, but survival kicks in and I did not want to be right next to what I assumed was a bear). Garry then saw it and also moved up to where I had skedaddled. We moved a bit further down the trail and watched the bear as he moved through the brush. He then started to come our way, so we decided it was time to move on quickly. My heart was RACING!! He was a big guy! Unfortunately, we were not able to get any pictures!
I am behind in my posts. I will upload more from Valdez soon! It is a truly magical place! I have never not wanted to leave somewhere as much as I didn’t want to leave Valdez!