Denali National Park to Little Willow Creek
Fr
om Denali we are heading for Anchorage - with a few stops in between. The first stop was at the Denali State Park North View. This was a parking lot with sites on it. A bathroom (chemical toilet), dumpsters and a beautiful view of Denali - when it isn't cloudy, which it was. So again, we didn't get to see the "mountain". We stayed one night and then the next night we went across the road from the park to a rest stop for the second night. The total mileage for this day was .4 miles - not a very big travel day for sure! We hoped to see the mountain as we traveled further south, but no luck at all.
om Denali we are heading for Anchorage - with a few stops in between. The first stop was at the Denali State Park North View. This was a parking lot with sites on it. A bathroom (chemical toilet), dumpsters and a beautiful view of Denali - when it isn't cloudy, which it was. So again, we didn't get to see the "mountain". We stayed one night and then the next night we went across the road from the park to a rest stop for the second night. The total mileage for this day was .4 miles - not a very big travel day for sure! We hoped to see the mountain as we traveled further south, but no luck at all.We stopped at Talkeetna, a quaint little town with a population of 848. Talkeetna began as a trading post in 1
896, and grew as a riverboat supply base following the Susitna River gold rush in 1910. The population boomed during construction of the Alaska Railroad, when Talkeetna was headquarters for the Alaska Engineering Commission in charge of railroad construction, but declined following completion of the project. Talkeetna is the jumping-off point for most climbing expeditions to Mount McKinley (Denali). The town is also the site of many flightseeing businesses. There was one nice pull off on the road to stay the nig
ht but we decided we would try to get out on the river bank. When we got to the river we rea
lized that we would not be able to take the RV out on the gravel as there were some steep slopes to climb so we turned around and tried another river access which wasn't a good spot either. We could have fit there nicely, but it was where the local fire company fills their tankers and there were signs posted for no parking. We went out to the main road looking for a pull off, but for the next 12 or so miles, there was heavy construction on the highway so we wound up going about 20 miles from the Talkeetna Spur Road and parking along the Little Willow Creek. With this being the 4th of July holiday weekend, we re
alized that camp sites were going to be few and far between so we settled in for a 4 night stay along the quiet creek! Hah! Quiet it was not! The locals park at places like these and bring all of the family toys - mostly 4 wheelers and dirt bikes - in all sizes from kids to a
dults and everyone has a good time!! We were on the side of the creek that was posted no ATV's - habitat area, so we were the only ones parked on our side, but the opposite side has at least 4 small motor homes, 1 or 2 small trailers and 2 or 3 tents plus a large community eating area. With there being almost 24 hours of daylight, the toys made noise almost the entire time. When the kids went to bed around midnight, the adults took over. Mornings were pretty quiet as everyone slept in.
896, and grew as a riverboat supply base following the Susitna River gold rush in 1910. The population boomed during construction of the Alaska Railroad, when Talkeetna was headquarters for the Alaska Engineering Commission in charge of railroad construction, but declined following completion of the project. Talkeetna is the jumping-off point for most climbing expeditions to Mount McKinley (Denali). The town is also the site of many flightseeing businesses. There was one nice pull off on the road to stay the nig
ht but we decided we would try to get out on the river bank. When we got to the river we rea
lized that we would not be able to take the RV out on the gravel as there were some steep slopes to climb so we turned around and tried another river access which wasn't a good spot either. We could have fit there nicely, but it was where the local fire company fills their tankers and there were signs posted for no parking. We went out to the main road looking for a pull off, but for the next 12 or so miles, there was heavy construction on the highway so we wound up going about 20 miles from the Talkeetna Spur Road and parking along the Little Willow Creek. With this being the 4th of July holiday weekend, we re
alized that camp sites were going to be few and far between so we settled in for a 4 night stay along the quiet creek! Hah! Quiet it was not! The locals park at places like these and bring all of the family toys - mostly 4 wheelers and dirt bikes - in all sizes from kids to a
dults and everyone has a good time!! We were on the side of the creek that was posted no ATV's - habitat area, so we were the only ones parked on our side, but the opposite side has at least 4 small motor homes, 1 or 2 small trailers and 2 or 3 tents plus a large community eating area. With there being almost 24 hours of daylight, the toys made noise almost the entire time. When the kids went to bed around midnight, the adults took over. Mornings were pretty quiet as everyone slept in.The 3rd of July started the celebration. Lots and lots of fireworks - on the opposite side of the creek. When the fireworks dwindled, out came the guns. Now around Alaska, if you are going to carry a shotgun it has to be big enough to down a bear, so they were shooting off 10 and 8 gauge guns - which sounded like cannons! And they were automatics. The 4th of July, the celebration continued - this time with a limited amount of fireworks and more guns. Not only were they shooting the shotguns, the pistols came out. It made for a loud, nerve wracking two evenings. The 5th of July was a little better, no fireworks, some guns and now the music blasted from the opposite side of the creek. Music I can handle, but not the bass that rocks the earth. I wanted so much to be able to make a lot of noise the next morning, but we didn't come equipped for that. Darn it!
We did do a little sightseeing while we were at Little Willow Creek. We went into Willow - population 2,048 and the true starting place for the Iditarod. The Iditarod actually starts in Anchorage, but they have what they called a "restart" which is the official start. The Anchorage start is a ceremonial start on the first Saturday in March. Mushers make their way across by trail from downtown Anchorage to Eagle River, then drive to Willow for the "real" start of the race the next day. Between Willow and Nome, they are on the trail for 1,049 miles. Willow was a virtual ghost town after the mining slacked off but the community made a comeback upon completion of the Parks Highway in 1972. In 1976, Alaska voters selected the Willow area for their new capital site. However, funding for the capital move from Juneau to Willow was defeated in the November 1982 election.
On one of ou
r day trips we went to the Nancy Lake Recreation area and walked down to the lake where we met a family just starting to pack their rented canoes. They were going to canoe across 6 lakes and portage b
etween the lakes to spend 3 nights in a remote cabin. The man kept saying, "what was I thinking?" as he diligently packed and repacked. The best part was the dog - Ruby, a boxer who had never been in a canoe. Mom and son headed out first, then Dad put the dog in the canoe with the daughter and he proceeded to push the canoe in
to the water. With that, Ruby gets up and turns around as if to say - what do you think you are doing? It was comical and the daughter and dad kept say to Ruby - "Ruby - sit down, it will be OK". I hope they enjoyed their trip and had an easy time of getting the dog into the canoe each time they had to cross the water. Better them than me!
r day trips we went to the Nancy Lake Recreation area and walked down to the lake where we met a family just starting to pack their rented canoes. They were going to canoe across 6 lakes and portage b
etween the lakes to spend 3 nights in a remote cabin. The man kept saying, "what was I thinking?" as he diligently packed and repacked. The best part was the dog - Ruby, a boxer who had never been in a canoe. Mom and son headed out first, then Dad put the dog in the canoe with the daughter and he proceeded to push the canoe in
to the water. With that, Ruby gets up and turns around as if to say - what do you think you are doing? It was comical and the daughter and dad kept say to Ruby - "Ruby - sit down, it will be OK". I hope they enjoyed their trip and had an easy time of getting the dog into the canoe each time they had to cross the water. Better them than me!Another day
trip was to Hatcher's Pass. This takes you into scenic alpine country and up to the historic Independence Mine. This 49 mile long road
loops over Hatcher's Pass - elevation 3,886 feet and the views are breathtaking, although when we got to the top by Summit Lake, visibility was next to nothing which made going down the other side a little more breathtaking - as in not knowing where the road is exactly.
trip was to Hatcher's Pass. This takes you into scenic alpine country and up to the historic Independence Mine. This 49 mile long road
loops over Hatcher's Pass - elevation 3,886 feet and the views are breathtaking, although when we got to the top by Summit Lake, visibility was next to nothing which made going down the other side a little more breathtaking - as in not knowing where the road is exactly. 
The next destination will be Wasilla - the home of Sarah Palin. It will be another laundry, grocery shopping day.
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