July 20, 21, 22: Catching Up

I’m now way behind on my blog, since I’ve been so busy doing the things I came here to do.  But I have a few moments now, as I’m sitting at the Subaru dealership in Anchorage, waiting for my 6000 mile service.  That’s a lot of driving considering I’ve only had the car 2 months.  I can’t believe it’s the 23rd already.  I’ve started losing track of both the date and the day of the week.  I’ve already started forgetting the details of what I did a few days ago, so these days are going to be presented in outline.
Friday the 20th, I mostly spent catching up on museums in Fairbanks.  The Museum of the North at the University featured some impressive fossil bones and a mummified 35,000 year old bison.  Upstairs, a lot of quirky artwork was on display.  The building itself was of a rather striking design too.  I next visited the University’s Georgeson Botanical Gardens, where I saw lots of nice flowers and oversized vegetables.  My personal favorites were the 50 pound cabbages.
I wound up the day by driving about 50 miles out of town to Chena Hot Springs Resort.  The place featured a large hot spring pool, a cold water pool, and hot tubs.  I spent about three hours rotating in between them and just relaxing.  It was also a welcome opportunity to take a shower, my first in over a week.  I decided it was worth the $15 admission fee.
On Saturday the 21st, I decided to head north to Nome Creek in the White Mountains National Recreation Area, to try my hand at gold panning.  Along the way, I stopped and looked at the Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline, the primary reason for Alaska’s existence.  I thought it was surprisingly small, actually.  As I drove further and further north, the landscape became increasingly bleak and barren.  I spent about an hour panning for gold along Nome Creek, the northernmost point on my entire trip.  I didn’t find anything but I had a good time.  I guess my story was that of countless others in the far North: returning home with no gold, but at least with stories to tell.
I made my way back to Fairbanks and went to the Morriss Cultural Center to upload my photos and use the facilities.  There was a general hubbub around the place.  It turned out there was going to be a rubber duck race starting in about 15 minutes, as part of the city’s Golden Days celebration.  So I wandered up to the starting point just in time to watch a dump truck drive up onto the bridge and dump thousands of rubber ducks into the water.  I followed the crowd down along the banks of the Chena River to the other bridge, to see the conclusion of the race.  It was all over in about 15 minutes.  I was going to go see the Ice Museum, based on a suggestion from my mother, but I checked Trip Advisor and saw someone had posted that morning that the sculptures had thawed and melted.  I decided to give it a pass.  And with that, I bade farewell to Farebanks.  I realized later I somehow missed Pioneer Park altogether.  I’ll have to go see it if I ever come back.
I made my way back down to Denali.  The mountain wasn’t visible like it had been earlier in the week, but weather forecasts for Sunday, July 22 were looking like sun, so I decided to hang around and see.  I found a beautiful spot on BLM land just outside the park, and boondocked for the night.  The day had been very warm and it was broiling inside the car, over 90 degrees.  I couldn’t open the windows due to mosquitoes that could comfortably devour a chihuahua whole, and the sun blazed on.  After sunset, around 11:30 PM, it finally cooled off and I was able to get some sleep.
Around 6:45 AM, I got up and headed into the park.  I had the place all to myself.  Near the entrance I saw a moose with mooselet in tow, but otherwise scarcely another living thing, save some ground squirrels.  My intention was to drive into the park, out to milepost 15, the end of the line.  This I did, and was treated to incredible views of Denali towards the end.  It was obvious that the mountain would be out that day.  However, it was also obvious that the day was much hazier than it had been on Wednesday.  Everything was blue and indistinct, with muted colors.  So my timing for my earlier visit was mixed: what I did see on Wednesday, I saw very well.  If only those damn clouds hadn’t been there, it would have been perfect.
I drove the park road as planned, then went to Park HQ to see the sled dog show.  I arrived at 8:15, and the show wasn’t due to start until 10, so I had some time to kill.  I took a short but fairly strenuous hike up to the top of the hill, only to discover that there was no view whatever.  I wrestled with whether to take a shuttle bus out into the park and try my luck again.  In the end, I decided I couldn’t handle another 8-12 hours in a dusty, probably crowded bus.  I had also heard that there were great views of the mountain from Denali State Park, about 100 miles down the road, so I would try my luck there instead.  Around 9:30, the kennels were open, and I wandered in.  I was almost the only person there, so I wandered around and petted some of the dogs.  They were sitting up on the roofs of their houses, and were completely disinterested in me or my attentions.  Slowly, more people began trickling in until there was a sizable crowd when the show started at 10.
A ranger came out and talked to us a bit, then they selected 7 (I think) dogs to pull the sled.  There was much barking and howling from the dogs that weren’t selected.  The rangers hitched up the lucky dogs and away they went, pulling the sled around a loop and back in front of the viewing platform.  Then it was back to the kennels for them.  One dog escaped and raced wildly around, to a crazy chorus of barking, howling and yowling.  The dogs are used to patrol the boundaries of the park during winter, and I guess the summer months get very boring for them.
I was eager to be off and see Denali, if I could, from the other side.  But first, I took about an hour to wander down to a suspension bridge across the creek and just enjoyed some last views of the park.  Then I was on my way.
The reports I had received about the views of Denali from Parks Highway were absolutely correct.  There were stunning views of the mountain from multiple angles for hundreds of miles.  I stopped often and got many photos.  There wasn’t much else to say about the drive but it was totally dominated by Denali viewing.  I took some side trips down Petersville Road to see Denali, and then went up to Talkeetna, which was swarming with tourists, but I didn’t really see the attraction.  I got out and snapped a few photos, then continued southward.
I had heard Hatcher Pass Road was worth doing, but I didn’t want to cross the pass entirely.  All the same, I decided to take a side trip and drive up to the summit, a distance of about 35 miles.  It was a spectacular drive, and the lighting was great, coming in at a low angle that made every feature of the terrain pop.  I also got many “hero” shots of the Outback parked on steep hills in dramatic landscapes.  I should see if I can sell them to the Subaru marketing department.  The road itself was gravel, and then dirt, and in rough shape in places, as it is unmaintained.  Many places were very steep and winding.  The summit was teeming with people, including those walking on snow fields and hang gliding from the summit.  I plan to come back to the top from the other side later on the trip.
And with that, my Outback’s service is done, with no problems reported, so I am gonna post and skeedaddle.  If I can find some fast wifi, I will upload some photos.  Otherwise, it’s time to hit up Anchorage and see what I can find.