Alaska Post 4 - Wrangell St. Elias National Park, McCarthy, AK and a long long drive

 On the road again.  Leaving Fairbanks going to Copper Center.  The drive is long but the scenery is amazing.

Saw the Alaska Pipeline along the way.  Pretty cool. 

I decided to book a shuttle for the road from Copper Center to McCarthy Alaska.  

 A cool ride and eventually made it to McCarthy, AK.  McCarthy is in Wrangell St. Elias National Park.  This mountain in the background is cool but my destination is on another shuttle to the mining district of Kennecot, AK. 

So much history in this part of Alaska.  Little Fox Archeologist needs to get his team from the University to do some research out here. 

My destination is a place called Root Glacier.  A short hike to a walkable Glacier. 

Made it!

After exploring the glacier there was some time in McCarthy. Saw this cool restaurant but we didn't stop. 

Our driver told us about an  ice cream shop on the way home with homemade ice cream so we had to stop.  By the way, it   was pretty darn good.  

Alaska post 3 - Yipee! I'm at Denali National Park

Goodbye Talkneeta, hello Denali National Park.  I made it to the National Park today.   

After sitting in the car for a few hours decided to take a quick hike.  Looks like I found evidence of beavers.  

Yep, a beaver dam at Horsehoe Lake.  I didn't see any beavers but they were probably too busy working to say hi.

Denali is the only National Park with a working dogsled team.  They don't race the animals but they are used during the winter for taking rangers to cabins in the park to do repairs, break trails for other dog sled teams, and act as ambassadors of goodwill. 

Our next day in Denali involved a bus ride.  The first 15 miles of the park road is open to everyone, the other 65 miles or so is only open to busses, walking, and bikes. 

Being short on time we didn't hike the road or bike it for that matter but took a wilderness tour.  Saw lots of tundra, wilderness and a few animals (brown bear, moose, arctic ground squirrels). 

Mother nature cooperated with us and gave us some rain in the night but it cleared a lot of the smoke from the air.  Got one more hike in Denali at Savage River. 

Not a lot between Denali and Fairbanks (our next stop) but we did find this nice little roadhouse.  Big salads and homemade beer (I recommend the hefeweizen). 

Yipee!  Made it to Fairbanks and checked in with the locals at the hotel.  

They recommended hitting the salmon bake for dinner.  Who can argue with that???

Yep, this is a salad, the salmon was scarfed down before the roommates had a chance to take pictures. 

Alaska Post 2 - Denali State Park, Pie and Talkneeta

Greetings blog world.

What a day! The mountain is out and ready to be explored.  The pink plant is fireweed and it's in abundance up there in the summer.  

Today, this fox is hiking the Curry Ridge Trail at Denali State Park.
A lot of great views along the hike.  The mountain, the river, glaciers.

I was hoping to see some wildlife but no such luck today.

The hike was a 5 star hike for sure.  The park had some nice viewing areas or  the mountain and a cool Veteran's Memorial Area. 

This fox worked hard adventuring and even though I had lunch it only seemed necessary to have some blueberry pie as well.  

Time to explore Talkneetna (moreso).  The historical society put together a nice walk and I came across a few cabins, old foundations and an airstrip. 

I also met the mayor of Talkneetna. The original mayor Stubbs won the election as a write in candidate in the mid 90s and this mayor has been serving since 2017.

A nice meal (poke bowl) and a few beers is a good way for this fox to finish up his day. 

Do I really need to share? 

Where will I go to next? 

Alaska Post 1 - Welcome to Talkneetna, AK

 Hiya Blog World.
After a few hiccups at the Airport (had to change equipment before we left.....) my gang arrived in Anchorage.  Got the rental and we are off!  First stop: Supplies.  Yep, that's the Liquor Locker.  

After a short drive my team arrived inTalkneeta, AK. Time for lunch and this bakery cafe came up on my research. Yep, an animal in the name, seems like the right kind of place for me.

Wandering around Talkeetna for some time and came across a ranger station.  Better check in with the ranger and let them know I'm here. 

They say that only about 30% of guests to Alaska see Denali.  Count me as one of those lucky individuals as the mountain was out today.  PS - it's the tall mountain in this photo :)

Whenever I travel I always like to learn the local rules.  Looks like these animals want me to mask up. Good thing I brought my masks.

Saw this cool sign and decided to go inside for a drink.

This bear is down to business.  A napkin around his neck, a pitcher of beer and a huge burger (I guess he does have to fatten up before winter).

Whoo, what a day.  Been crazy busy and tomorrow is going to be just a busy.  Time to relax a little bit at the air b and b.