The day started at "Fast Eddies" in Tok, AK with a great big breakfast (biscuits & gravy) except Larry had a big omelet, but of course he shared. This is mentioned because we have been light eaters up to now (ha!). We are a good match for each other. When adult behavior runs cold we revert back to childhood foolishness. Its amazing on how many neighborhood stories we have recalled. Larry took charge and planned the day. We drove Highway 2 to Delta Junction, then the Richardson Highway AK4 south to Denali Highway AK8. The last stretch was 130 miles of gravel and real rugged. Every once and a while the road became smooth and drivable but most of the way it was just plain jaw jarring. The sights can't be described. I can best describe it as seeing the Colorado Rockies for the first time. Just Think Gigantic.This is the south side of the Alaska Mountain Range and was an ancient migratory route with some of oldest evidence of human habitation in North America. 
It is now the beginning of hunting season and along the road- trucks, 4X4s and trailers were pulled off where they guys would set up camps. The trees gave way to brush and tundra that are in the peak of fall foliage color. The Garmin Nuvii consistently gave us wrong directions until we realized that it could not pick up a satellite and our maps were not detailed enough-fortunately there was only one gravel road.
We drove past the headwaters of the Copper river and stopped to see a fisherman pulling in a Grayling-the water so clear that we watched a number of fish in various pools and watched the individual fish go for the spinner.
We made a stop at one of the three or four lodges we saw along the road. It was run by a young couple and open year round. People were their picking blueberries for the day, others were on 4 wheeler treks and a number of them hunters. This young couple were real pioneers with a interesting business plan. Oct 15 through about May the road is only passable by snow machines or dog sleds- 65 miles from the nearest village. The lady we met that was a blueberry picker who referred to herself as a "Willowbilly", (as residents of Willow AK call themselves) who also was a musher, dog breeder and sledder. Her truck had the name "Shameless Husky" on the back of it. We refreshed our tank with extra gas to ease our travel concerns to make it to the next highway. It was a pleasant stop meeting some nice people. We were feeling pretty comfortable when I shouted to get the camera. There was a fat beaver sized mammal in the road that turned out to be a porcupine that waddled off into the bush as Larry was getting the camera. 
This was the only "game" sighting we saw other than an Arctic Ground Squirrel.
And we can't forget the Alaskan Pipeline.
It is now the beginning of hunting season and along the road- trucks, 4X4s and trailers were pulled off where they guys would set up camps. The trees gave way to brush and tundra that are in the peak of fall foliage color. The Garmin Nuvii consistently gave us wrong directions until we realized that it could not pick up a satellite and our maps were not detailed enough-fortunately there was only one gravel road.  |
| This is where we watched the trout and grayling strike the fisherman' |
We drove past the headwaters of the Copper river and stopped to see a fisherman pulling in a Grayling-the water so clear that we watched a number of fish in various pools and watched the individual fish go for the spinner.
We made a stop at one of the three or four lodges we saw along the road. It was run by a young couple and open year round. People were their picking blueberries for the day, others were on 4 wheeler treks and a number of them hunters. This young couple were real pioneers with a interesting business plan. Oct 15 through about May the road is only passable by snow machines or dog sleds- 65 miles from the nearest village. The lady we met that was a blueberry picker who referred to herself as a "Willowbilly", (as residents of Willow AK call themselves) who also was a musher, dog breeder and sledder. Her truck had the name "Shameless Husky" on the back of it. We refreshed our tank with extra gas to ease our travel concerns to make it to the next highway. It was a pleasant stop meeting some nice people. We were feeling pretty comfortable when I shouted to get the camera. There was a fat beaver sized mammal in the road that turned out to be a porcupine that waddled off into the bush as Larry was getting the camera. This was the only "game" sighting we saw other than an Arctic Ground Squirrel.And we can't forget the Alaskan Pipeline.
We finally landed at Healy AK which is about 11 miles outside of Denali Park. We had dinner on a picnic table with elk sausage, pilot bread and of course kippers. We ended the meal with wine and some cigars that were brought back from Costa Rica. Monday nite was short sleeve weather with no bugs.
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