July 15, 2016 Today we reached the end of the road – Land’s End Park – on the Homer Alaska Spit. It’s our turn around point at 7,916 miles away from home. But is seems no matter how far away we roam, home is there. While having lunch Mark noticed a woman wearing a Green Wave Lacrosse jacket. I went to the table to ask if they were from Connecticut and the reply was “I went to high school there. My parents still have a house there.” She didn’t introduce herself (although I did see the name Sarah on her jacket) and I didn’t pry as sometimes people just want to be anonymous. Still, another little piece of home. Homer is not unlike the Jersey Shore. Wall to wall people and no parking. Boats going in and out. We had wonderful halibut. And stopped at another Beluga trail A chat with Carrie Pulliam - who we just missed seeing - gave us the insight to pull into an amazing little jewel of a campground.Camping at the Ninilchik View State Park afforded an amazing view. We ended our day with a visit from Charles and Nancy Pulliman. What a wonderful conversation with instruction on the fishing process and discussions of the work that Charles has done with the Native American kids. So heartwarming and delightful. That joy was followed by the most amazing sunset that went on until 12:30am.
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July 14, 2016 Today marks the end of 4 weeks since we left Connecticut. --We’ve driven 7,700 miles and finally arrived in Alaska --We’ve flown in an airplane around Denali and landed on a glacier --We’ve travelled through Canada - Ontario, Alberta, Sasketchawan ,Manitoba, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Yukon --We’ve seen moose, black bears, mountain goats, big horned sheep, a wolf, hares --We’ve camped in provincial parks, territorial parks, national parks, national forests, bureau of land management areas, at the airstrip and next to all the climbing school tents. Only 3 nights in a hotel which were, by far, he least enjoyable. Our steel tent is serving us well. The bed is comfortable, we’ve cooked eggs, pancakes, toast, spaghetti, hot dogs, sausage and made a bunch of meals combining quick cook rice/noodles with canned meat or seafood. It’s all delightful and it’s bringing a great deal of peace to my body and mind. I was sad when left Talketna this morning. I’ve heard tons of stories over the past 30 years of Mark’s climbing and over the past few days have come to understand why he is so drawn to this area.. From the moment I walked through the door at Sheldon Air Services, I felt like I had come home. The Lees were amazingly welcoming and I had a truly wonderful time visiting this small village that calls to those who want to climb the tallest mountain in North America. The road to Homer – our next destination - goes through Anchorage where we stopped to get food, fuel, a wonderful lunch at Siefert & Sons and some amazing bread at the Harvest Bakery.. Back on the road south we passed Beluga Beluga Point and had to stop just to look. It’s just one amazing view after another. We decided to stop early at Quartz Creek National Forrest Campground – just after the road splits and heads to Homer. We finally hit our first challenge with finding a campsite for the weekend. I guess this is Anchorage escape land. Mark made our first campfire tonight – to scare away the skeeters – and we’re trying out the tarp to shade the slider door. We’re set for tonight and there is always Walmart if we’re stuck tomorrow Amazing what man does to a beautiful place. Our need for power seems unbounded
July 17, 2016 The van is washed inside and out, clean sheets, clean clothes, ice, food. Of course, you never know what an Alaska license plate might say. The road away from Anchorage takes us through the Chugasch Range with it’s Matanuska Glacier with more amazing views of the mountains. This entire valley was once buried in snow and iceStopping for the night in the Dry Creek Campgound just north of Glennallen.
July 13, 2016 Last night we slept at a hanger at the Talketna Fairfield. It's where Mark has spent many days waiting to fly onto the glacier. It never really got dark, the planes flew until midnight and the train whistled through after that. A quick shower 15 miles down the road and a return to the river to see the mountains in their glory Just as the mountains are super sized, so was the sourdough blueberry pancake we shared for breakfast. By far the treat of the trip was a flight to the glacier by Shelton Air Services pilot Jok. Flying closer to those huge mountains makes you realize how small we each are. We flew around Mt Foraker and Denali and landed on a glacier. The mangnificence and quiet were church like. I enjoyed every minute - even the bullet speed takeoff that starts with a ski down the glacier. Exiting the plane I couldn't help but cry with the overwhelming sense of glory. Many thanks to Holly Shelton Lee for a unmatchable healing experience.
July 12, 2016 What do you say after 100 miles of driving on a WaShBoArD?? It's a bittersweet ending because the views of the Alaska Range were fantastic. And then we were on the road to Talketna - Mark's home a away from home since 1985 when he started climbing in Alaska. The views along the road we beautiful, but nothing compared to the views when we cam over the hill to see Denali, Mt Hunter and Mt. Foraker straight ahead
July 11, 2016 A shower. A hot unlimited time shower with towels and bathmat supplied and a mirror in the room. Luxury at the Snowshoe Motel Laundry with Showers. While Mark and Bono washed the van, I had tea and most of the biggest cinnamon bun I’ve ever seen. I was able to easily cut and paste my notes and photos into weebly while I sat a leisurely had breakfast. Left a $10 tip when I left (on the sly) and hoped it brightened the server’s day. Sometimes it just feels good to pay it forward. Back on the road to Paxson we stopped at mile 244 – a recommended point of interest. It was the pipeline! Going for miles and miles I could feel the excitement mounting until we turned right and started the route that Mark was most looking forward to – the Denali Highway. One beautiful scene after another flashed by until he saw the first view of the “Real Mountain” and had such a beaming smile of delight on his face that I couldn’t help but smile. I finally took over the driving after he keep trying to take a multitude of photos while driving and I had to say “road” a few too many times. Several pullout stops along the first 20 paved miles and we we at the end of the road i.e.the start of the gravel road. A few miles put us in the campsite for tonight From Tok to Delta Junction where we stopped at the visitors center. It made me smile and made me cry when I saw the sign that talked about how the road from the Canadian Border to Fairbanks was the Purple Heart Trail. How Dad would have loved to see the photo I took. A cheery stop at the local quilt shop – and a small purchase – and we were on our way..
Julyt 6, 2016 Some days you can drive and drive and drive through tree lined roads and glimpses of high mountains whoever the trees open up. And then you see the Yukon and know the splendor the settlers and prospectors saw and feel as if you’re living a little piece of history. When you ride and ride there is lots of time to talk to to try to solve the problems of the world. There is time to knit, reveling in the peace that comes from repeating the same stitch.There is time to thing which brings so many memories – good and bad – as I seek to accept the fact that my father is gone. And there is time to really see what is outside of the window. Looking across the river to the hills we saw a burst of magenta covering the mountains. Wild flowers – fireweed – that we saw on our hike yesterday blanketed the hillside like a covering of velvet. While we’re driving we’re listening to the audio book Ghost Rider written by the drummer from Rush who lost his daughter in a car accident and then his wife to cancer. He’s on a solo motorcycle trip covering many of the same roads we are traveling. It’s fun to hear the places he’s seen and to be able to picture the towns he talks about. It is also poignant to listen to the journey as he seeks to rebuild his life after losing his family. Very timely.
July 10, 2016 We started the day in Eagle on the banks of the Yukon
Arrived tonight in Tok (pronounced toke) and chose a campground. We came back after a dinner at Easy Freddy’s to find trees had blown down right next to our site. Whew…glad we weren’t here. We crossed the 7,000 mile point today. So, how is a 10,000 mile journey turning into 13,000 miles? Mark says to ask Lewis, or at least Google Maps..
July 9, 2016 We crossed back over the Yukon this morning to get some breakfast at the bakery and the use the wifi and the Vistor’s Center. My smile faded when during the upload of my last week’s musings I got an error message. Posts created offline were gone from my iPad. Only one post made it live. Lesson learned – create the text in word and then copy and paste into the website when you have access. So much for loving the weebly app technology. ARGHHHHH. Back once more on the ferry we started our drive across the Top of the World Highway. Fairly smooth only to become more rutted as it started to pour and finally hail. You never know what the weather will be. The end of the storm revealed a full rainbow. There is always something promising about a rainbow. It’s as if it portends a new beginning…the calm after the storm. Made extra special by the mountains in the background We decided to take another road less traveled to the town of Eagle. A mama moose and her calf munching along the road was reward for the numerous potholes that needed to be navigated and the extra ton of dirt Baby Beluga now sports.
Eagle was a town that supplied the prospectors as part of the gold rush. In it’s heyday, there were 1700 residents. Now there are 150. What a beautiful little town with a delightful Park Ranger with a wealth of knowledge about the town. The Yukon River runs past although it’s a much smaller river in Eagle. The town was the 3rd to be created in Alaska and was made more important by Judge Wickersham – a name known to Mark because of the Wickersham Wall on Denali. First ascent was done by Yale students – oops said Mark….”it was done by Harvard Mountaineering Club members”. “Yeah, one of those ivy leagues, ” was the response. July 8, 2016 After a night short on sleep we made our way to the Visitor’s Center to talk to the ranger about the young woman in a campsite across from us. When we arrived last night it appeared she was talking quite loudly on a conference call. Lots of comments about missing documents, court proceedings and justice. The call was quite lengthy and after half an hour switched to comments about generals, Bin Laden, Trudeau, Obama, Kevin Costner, Angelina Jolie. We realized that she was talking to herself and the discussion was quite angry and agitated. Peppered with plans to take action and strong language the monologue continued for hours until she finally fell asleep around midnight. There was quiet until around 5:00am when it started again. We were quite concerned about this persona as there was no car in her site. Our discussion with an interpreter let us know that the ranger was on his way as was the RCMP. Our concern was for her well being and also with the actions she was talking about taking. So sad and so unprepared for what to do to help her. Wish Andrea was here. We took a wonderful hike up to see the Marmots who whistled at our arrive. At the top was a solo motorcylist, Mike, from Santa Cruz. He’d been to Inuvik, the end of the Dempter Highway, and was full of stories. A delightful conversation. Again, we were chased down the trail by the rain. And Mark got frostbite. Not from the weather but rather from the anti-bear air horn in his pants’ pocket than he accidentally set off when lifting his leg too high. Guess that horn will find a new location for our next hike.
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