We had a exceptionally clear and sunny day. Mt McKinley was difficult to capture in picture compared to seeing it in person. Another opportunity, by chance, occurred as we stopped to take some pictures. A couple of guys stopped behind us on the turnout viewing spot and shouted "Where from in Indiana". I spotted their Alaskan plates and figured they were locals with friends or roots in Indiana. Well as it turns out these nice guys were Lee White and Mark Forsythe who came in from Indianapolis on business. They had rented a car for a little sight seeing break. It turns out we have mutual friends in the same industry and enjoyed some time talking. It amazes me how small the world is and how random events become enjoyable and potentially important.
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| 58" rack, Hunter from Ann Arbor, MI (another landscaper). Got his moose on the last moments of a 12 day rafting hunt. He was on a hunters high and happy on his way home) |
Our next adventure started with the drive of Denali Highway that is a long gravel road without services and give you a chill if you get stranded. (To put the whole thing in perspective, it would be like driving the width of Indiana from Highland to Angola on a dusty, winding, gravel, sometimes rutted road!) Larry and I had just driven the road a week earlier but seeing this road from the opposite direction made the trip considerably different. Some of my impressions of the road were changed while keeping the feelings of grand and special. They did some grading to the gravel for the final time this season and it was a little less pot holed. The hunters were still our in force with campers, pick up trucks and trailers with atv's. We heard that the hunters were changing from moose to caribou since the herds were passing thru some of the nearby valleys.
A lot of successful moose hunters are heading home with their harvest in their truck or on their trailer. We have not seen any harvest of caribou yet. One large caribou that was not easy to spot within the background caught my attention but no picture. Its thought that Alaska is abounding with animals but the truth is more like the thought of density. For instance moose occupy 1 per 5 square miles. Alaska is very large and has many inaccessible places. We came upon a guy with a flat tire and provided some assistance. The real help came to the situation when a local Alaskan from Glennallen stopped and went into action by crawling under the vehicle and tugged on the spare tire cable and untangling it. No one welcomes being stranded 60 miles from almost nowhere.
Our next road was the Richardson Highway to Glennallen, where we settled for the nite in the one and only hotel.
Tired and road weary we enjoyed a nice meal at the one restaurant in this dry town and begged a beer from a group from Argentina that happened to be visiting. It appears that carry in beer is ok but the liquor store was over 3 miles down the road. We are heading for Tok tomorrow where we can determine if the Taylor Highway is open for travel.
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