I forgot to mention I had a casualty. Lola, my GPS, died. Well she really didn’t die but the bracket holding her on gave out. I may do my manly thing tomorrow and duct tape and plastic tie her on. I should not have been using it on the trip to Prudhoe Bay and back. I was getting close to Coldfoot on the way back when she fell on my leg. I was able to keep her there and come to a stop or I am afraid she may have been a goner. Other things that shook loose was my lens filter while inside the padded tank bag, two lids came off some of my pills and spilled inside my overnight bag as well as the cap came off some hand lotion. I was able to get everything straightened out. I have now traveled about 6,500 miles.
The stay at The River’s Edge Resort was just great. The food was good and the rooms were super. This is a great place to hang your hat if you are so inclined. They do many tours out of this place.
What a great day this was. The only thing that didn’t happen was to get the bike washed off. Maybe tomorrow. I headed south towards Denali. It was a great day to ride with the temperatures mostly in the 50’s. It was partly cloudy but was actually clear overhead and I had high hopes of seeing Denali. There is a lot of snow in the mountains.
I went to the entrance of Denali Park then decided that is not where I need to be. I went back north a few miles to McKinley Park and gassed up for $3.60 per gallon. I was looking for someone to ask directions of where to view Denali when this young girl walking by looked like she may work in the area. I caught her attention and asked if she was from around there. Yes, she said, I live here. So she said the best place to view Denali was to go back to the Park and I could drive in 8 miles. Before I get all the way to the end there will be some places where I can pull to view if it is possible to see her. I thanked her and she wished me a good day.
Well it was a good day as the sun was shining on Denali and no clouds.
You could probably go there 100 times and not find a better day for viewing.
I took some great pictures then headed back out. I went on south to Cantwell then started up the Denali Highway. This has to be one of the highlights of my trip. The ride was just super with the sun shining on the mountains and all the snow. It is such a gorgeous day. Once again I took many pictures, over 50 I think. I would no sooner get moving than I would see something else that caught my attention. There are many beautiful streams in the area. It is not a tough ride but it did have bigger rocks and many potholes. My shocks really got a work out today. There were quite a few small campers, pickups pulling trailers with several 4 wheelers on board and a few motorcycles. There were many people camping along the 135 mile route and many fishing. I saw several large beaver domes but never seemed to get a picture.
You get the picture. It was hard to stop taking them.
If you can only go to one place while here do the Denali. If you don’t want to do the whole Dempster do the first 250 miles to Eagle Plains and just north to the Arctic Circle. These two places, in my opinion, are the best. I have now been to Alaska twice on a motorcycle and once flew in and rented a car and have yet to see a bear in Alaska. I have seen many in Yukon and British Columbia though. Don’t know why that is. Maybe I am too busy looking at other things.
Tonight I am in Paxton at the Paxton Inn and Lodge. What a dump. And for $80 too. Entry way:
The room seems pretty clean and it has a shower and bed so I guess I will survive. I do not recommend it though. They have Wifi but the connection is to slow to get anything uploaded. Erin greeted me. He road up on his bicycle and had a stuffed Ninja turtle tied on the handle bars. He wanted to trade for Tweety but I said no. Tweety is a survivor of the F5 tornado in Greensburg Kansas two years ago. I was a volunteer with the Salvation Army and found him in the rubble. He has been my companion on several rides.
I think I will head to Valdez tomorrow then head back to Watson Lake for my tires. These knobby tires have just over 3,000 miles and by the time I get to Watson Lake they will be shot. I can see the pipeline here in Paxton so if I go to Valdez I will have followed it the entire was so to speak. I wonder if the oil that was pumped in Prudhoe Bay beat me down here?
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