| July 13, 2007 - Glennallen, AK to Fairbanks, AK |
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The contents of the bag were easily replaceable sans one critical item: my medication. I
“manage” my gear and equipment by having a routine that includes every item having it's own “place”
and the pack/unpack process being very consistent. I don't know where or when I became distracted
and misplaced my bag but the reality that I had no medication was not a happy one. Since the Yukon
is remote, trying to coordinate receiving an overnight package there was very difficult. The best
plan was for me to steer to the first place in Alaska that had a Post Office that I could meet an Express
Package that would guarantee a Friday noon delivery. That PO was located in Glennallen, AK, which
is where I arrived late last night. With great relief I picked up the package late this morning:
(Thanks, Lynette & Kobi for the help!!):
While I was walking back to my motorcycle with the package a lady with Alaska plates pulled up beside me
and said “I saw your 'Alaska Bound' sign while you were inside and wanted to say 'Welcome to Alaska!'
before you took off.” I ended up visiting with her for at least 20 minutes and before I departed
she gave me her family's phone number and said if I needed anything while I was in the area to call
them. If this is any indication of an AK resident, I'm going to love this state!
Since I didn't have a concrete plan for my routing while in AK, I didn't exactly have to “reroute” to go
to Glennallen. After leaving the PO I wanted to head north to Fairbanks but when I was leaving the
one red light town of Glennallen I saw a sign pointing south to the Wrangell St. Elias National Park in
Copper Center, AK. Whoa! National Park in Alaska means one thing for me.... GOLD!
Anyone who has been following my journeys knows that I've been collecting National Park Passport stamps
for the Iron Butt Association's (IBA)
Master Traveler award. (If
you are clueless, click: HERE). What
started as an initiative to meet the minimum requirements of “Collect 50 stamps in 25 different states in
less than a year” over time ceased to have anything to do with an award and became an addiction! I
met the minimum requirements and kept going. I then met the “Silver” requirements while on my USA
Four Corner Tour last September, and kept going. The “Gold” requirements include a stamp from Alaska...
and while going to Fairbanks today I made a detour, of course, for a stamp. It is was my 296th stamp to
date.. and the one that meets the requirements for the Gold Master Traveler:
Surely no one thinks this will be my last stamp. With over 360 stamps available in the varying units
of the National Park Service, I've got a few more to get... and I'm sure some beautiful country in the process!
So, I headed for Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve:
Geez, this place covers some space.... larger than Denmark, larger than Costa Rica, and larger than Vermont
and New Hampshire combined! In all, it covers 13,200,000 acres. Here is a map showing it's
location and area covered here in Alaska:
While at the Visitor Center one of the Park Ranger's noticed my book full of stamps and inquired about my
collection. She insisted on taking my photo after I told her about the Golden stamp (something I'm
sure the Matriarch will appreciate):
After leaving Wrangell St Elias, I headed north towards Fairbanks on Hwy 4 also known as the “Richardson
Highway.” I wanted to take a longer route via the Denali Parkway (Hwy 8) to Fairbanks (a rather zig
zag route) but to do so meant another 100 miles of gravel, something I didn't feel my rear tire would be
too happy about encountering. My plan became simply to enjoy a very leisurely 250 mile saunter up
the Richardson Hwy, arrive Fairbanks, and get consecutive days of rest. I'm not overly tired but I
did encounter the unexpected stress with my medication loss. I'm not very good at resting (my friends
would say I down right suck at it). I figured the best place for me to rest, regroup, and do so
without either becoming bored or spontaneously getting involved in another adventure would be to stay at a
hostel, especially one that is located in an area known for being a jump point for those involved in rather
adventurous journeys. If you are ever running low on mental stimulation or internal motivation, or want
to just hang out with some very interesting folks, go stay at a hostel. I,love to meet kindred spirits
“on the trail” and hear their stories. Fairbanks seemed like a match for my needs and I knew Billies
Backpacking Hostel would have a bed for me.
My ride up the well paved Hwy 4 was just superb. I didn't know what to expect from this road, in fact
I wasn't prepared for it... the incredible beauty, the searing serenity, the gentle sun in a sky with
countless shades of blue, the mind bending expansiveness. At one point I was just so overtaken by the
experience that it brought tears to my eyes, likely because my senses were completely overloaded. I didn't
hear sirens, I didn't see snarling faces, nor did I smell or taste pollution. The external world felt so
authentic and real it was difficult to process, an frequent byproduct when traversing wilderness areas as such:
Glaciers and mountains were seemingly shouting “YO!” in every direction I rode. I don't usually research
an area before I arrive, preferring to experience it almost as an explorer might. The unfiltered approach
gives me a chance to form my own opinion as well as experience surprises along the way. Each gentle hill
or lazy sweeper in the road offered a view unlike the one I had just past, much like this...
... and this.....
... and this...
Just a lovely day to ride, to be alive!
One of many glaciers:
Close up of a glacier:
Not many places you can stop along the journey roadside and refill your Camelbak with cold, pure mountain water:
The only “bad” part about the Richardson Hwy is not only is there no shoulder roadside but also there
seemed to be a lack of available places to pull off the road completely to take photos. The challenging
combination required either creative parking or hiking to get to an area, and after passing a lake and seeing
something out of the corner of my eye, I did both. I walked back about ¼ mile and tromped through weeds
that were chest high so I could see this:
I had heard moose like certain plants that grown on the bottom of lakes and ponds in the summer and that they
completely submerge their heads to eat them. I've seen photos of this but now I have my own!
YIPPEE!!
As I hiked back up to the road and started walking back to the bike the moose apparently decided he was
done with lunch and came out of the water:
I got back on the bike energized from the moose experience, when I came over a hill, looked to my left (west), and saw this:
HELLO, Denali!! W-O-W!!! I finally found an unmarked road to pull off, which happened to be heading
straight towards Denali, and was able to get a few closeups...
... as well as one with the Strom (my motorcycle):
Someone standing beside me might have thought based on my mesmerized response to seeing this sight that I had
never seen a mountain (actually I've spent most the last decade living on a 7,000' mountain that gets 285” of
snow annually). Nonetheless, not a bad place to eat lunch, huh? There is something inspiring and
motivating to me about such experiences, so much so that when I got back on the bike I felt so recharged
probably could have ridden to the Atlantic Ocean and back!
I didn't ride to the Atlantic and so continued northbound towards Fairbanks. At one point on the road
I came across an area with signs explaining the famous Alyeska Pipeline:
Interestingly, while at the Post Office this morning I saw several pickup trucks with “Alyeska Pipeline”
marked on the doors of the trucks along with “Nobody Gets Hurt” on the sides. I have yet to figure
out what the story is behind that rather interesting motto.
En route to Fairbanks it became clear my “critter mojo” is back on! YEE-HAW!
Thanks to the zoom on my camera I could stay at a safe distance and still get closeups:
If that wasn't enough to energize me to ride to the moon, about half hour later as I was cruising up the
road scanning intensely in front of me, out comes #3 from the bushes roadside:
Once again, a close-up from far enough away to not be concerned that Bullwinkle would mistake the Strom for another moose:
For those unsure if the moose should be voted “Least Sexiest Critter”:
I made it into Fairbanks and, as expected, the hostel is full of some serious – and I do mean serious -
adventurers. I'm sure I'll make new friends and have an interesting next Journey Report.
On another note, exactly 2 weeks from today Kobi will fly into Anchorage. Yup, the “2 Chicks & 2 Wheels”
part of this journey will commence. WOO-HOO!
End of day GPS:
AGirl
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A few days ago I had no idea I'd be waking up in Glennallen, AK today. I had hoped to spend
an extra day in either Whitehorse or Dawson City (Yukon) but that idea was struck the moment I
realized that I had somehow lost a small bag out of my gear.
It was ultra-cool to just to stand in the weeds and watch this moose. While I was gazing in awe at this
mammoth critter across the lake, for whatever reason, I thought about people who were likely sitting in front
of a TV watching essentially their life going by them. I've seen moose several times during my life but
I've never been able to snap a photo. So, today I took quite a few of Bullwinkle enjoying his lunch buffet of weeds:
Must be interesting to walk around a business convention with that slogan embroidered on your company shirt.
Goodness knows what that's going to be like especially since she is a bigger animal lover than me! A
special thank you in advance to those who are keeping Kobi calm over the next two weeks.
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