2024 Alaska Road Trip (Week 5)
This journal posting chronicles the first part of Week 5 (Sunday July 21st - Tuesday July 23rd) of a road trip to Alaska and back with Diane, Kenny and Deneen.
Note that halfway through this week, I switched from weekly to daily, or near daily, posts.
Index for first part of Week 5
Day 29 - Sunday July 21st
Today was our third and final full day in Denali National Park and Preserve.
After spending some time on computers in the morning, just before noon we headed out to hike the Primrose Ridge trail. This trail is east of our campground, so we waited for the east bound transit bus. The buses should come about every half hour, but one did not show up for about an hour and it only had one seat available. Finally 20 minutes or so later another bus showed up and we headed towards our hike.
Teklanika River Campground Bus Stop (East Bound), Park Road, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Along the way, we spotted a grizzly having lunch.
We had told the bus driver which hike we wanted to do, and he dropped us off in front of the very brushy trailhead shown in the photo below.
Remember that we had just seen a grizzly about 10 minute earlier, so the thought of hiking the first part of the Primrose Ridge trail in heavy brush meant that the bear spray was out and ready…
Primrose Ridge Trailhead, Park Road, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Fortunately it was only a half hour or so hiking through the dense brush.
Finding these ripe blueberries (aka bear food) didn’t relax our bear awareness.
Blueberries (bear food), Along Primrose Ridge Trail, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Below is a collection of photos going up the, at times somewhat steep, assent towards the top of Primrose Ridge.
We ended up not going all the way to the top of the ridge, but we got close and turned around on a small knoll with a great view. Our elevation gain from the trailhead was about 1000 feet and the length was about 1.5 miles each way.
This next set of photos is from, or near, our turn around point. Note Kenny, in the middle photo below, celebrating making it to the highest point on our hike.
On the way down, we stopped for a rest and another look at the view, and Deneen snapped this nice silhouette of Kenny, Diane and I.
Kenny, Steve, Diane, Along Primrose Ridge Trail, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Below is a gallery of various flowers Diane found along the trail.
For dinner we had some very nice pan fried chicken thighs with orzo mixed with onions and sweet peppers.
Dinner, Teklanika River Campground, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Day 30 - Monday July 22nd
We left Denali National Park today and drove to Mat-Su RV Park to spend the night and do some laundry. We drove a total of 179 miles/288 km.
Sunrise as Taklanika River Campground was 4:37 AM and sunset at Mat-Su RV Park in Willow, AK was 11:09 PM.
We had 15 miles of dirty and dusty gravel road to traverse before hitting pavement again.
Park Road, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
I have previously talked about the Sheep Stop signs, but on our way out was the first time we were stopped by one, and the trucks in front of us ensured we stopped.
Along the drive out there was another nice view of Denali.
Once we hit the checkpoint we were able to transition back to pavement.
Checkpoint, Park Road, Denali National Park and Preserve
Once we reached the Parks Highway (Hwy 3) and turned south towards Anchorage, the views of Denali were excellent. The following set of photos shows some of the various views we had while we drove south.
We stopped at what is known at the North Viewpoint to get yet another view of Denali.
Our somewhat narrow campsite at Mat-Su RV Park. Unfortunately we had miss-read the information and they did not have laundry due a wildfire a couple years ago that took out most of the RV park.
Mat-Su RV Park, Parks Highway (Hwy 3), Willow, AK
Dinner was delicious New York strip steak, mashed potatoes and spinach salad.
Dinner, Mat-Su RV Park, Willow, AK
Day 31 - Tuesday July 23rd
Today was a travel, grocery, and laundry day. We drove from Mat-Su RV Park along the Parks Highway (Hwy 3) south to Wasilla, AK where it became the Glenn Highway (Hwy 1) south to Anchorage, AK where it changed to the Seward Highway (Hwy 1) along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. Once we reached the Portage Highway at the base of the Turnagain Arm, we turned east and shortly arrived at the Williwaw Campground that we will spend the next five nights at. We drove a total of 192 miles / 309 km today.
Sunrise at Mat-Su RV Park today was 4:40 AM, and sunset at Williwaw Campground was 10:53 PM.
Along the drive we stopped in Meadow Lake, AK to get fuel, do some grocery shopping and visit a laundromat. The laundromat was nice because Diane and Deneen were able to do six loads of laundry all at the same time.
While we were there these two large Air Force transport jets flow over in formation at least five times.
Air Force Transport Jets in Formation, Meadow Lake, AK
With laundry done, we headed towards camp, after passing Anchorage we drove for many miles along the north side of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet with scenic but rainy and cloudy views.
Upon reaching camp, we discovered an excellent view from our campsite.
View from Camp, Williwaw Campground, Portage Highway, AK
It was a nice campsite and I would stay here again.
Campsite, Williwaw Campground, Portage Highway, AK
After arriving at camp and getting set up, we contacted our friends, John and Pat, who had flown in and rented a house about 20 minutes away in Girdwood, AK. We drove over and joined them and went out for pizza in Girdwood, which made Kenny happy.
Note that halfway through this week, I switched from weekly to daily, or near daily, posts.
See the next post in the series for the next day.