The distance to our next campground near Palmer, AK (population 7,456) was just under 200 miles. We drove south on Parks Highway (AK 3) until in intersected with Glenn Highway (AK 1) just past Wasilla (population 10,838), about 40 minutes drive northeast of Anchorage. We learned, while touring Denali National Park, that the best views of Denali from the east were along this route. Again, we were grateful for cooperative weather, and the mountain panoramas were indeed spectacular.
We pulled in to Fox Run Lodge and RV Campground under overcast skies with light rain. The woman at the desk was extremely nice but equally clueless. She couldn’t find our reservation, and as a result, didn’t know where to park us. Her manager was running an errand and couldn’t be reached by phone, so she had us check out several sites, which frankly were unacceptable. Fortunately, the manager returned and came to the rescue with a roomy and level site in the middle of the park. This was the first time in a year we could set up our Solo Stove and actually enjoyed a fire. Exciting!
The rain continued for several days before clearing just enough that I could climb a nearby hill and take this video of what we’d missed on our way to the park.
After a couple more days the weather improved further, and we took a drive along the Knik and Matanuska Rivers as they spilled out of the Alaska Range. Until that drive, we had little idea of the beauty around us.
We soon had a neighbor who shared he was a contractor with responsibility for maintaining a number of remote sites along Alaska’s western coastline. As a result, he relaxed by camping alone in a huge RV after a grueling work schedule and lots of air travel. He was a very friendly guy with a lot of stories about Alaska and its wildlife. He also had connections for getting fresh-caught salmon and kindly gifted us with a number of fillets. MFI cooked two and invited him over for dinner. He was extremely grateful. Delicious!
During our drive to Alaska, MFI had been coordinating a possible visit by our niece Hanna. She had never been to Alaska, and luckily, she had a 10-day break from both work and school (grad student at UCLA) and joined us while we chilled in Palmer. We wanted her to see Denali if possible and heard from our neighbor that we could do so with a short trip west to Talkeetna (population 1,055). MFI also wanted to see where the annual 1,000-mile Iditarod dog sled race started in Willow (population 1,952), and we did both during a single day trip. The starting point of the race was a rather non-descript wooden arch about 100 yards from Little Willow Creek. We walked down to the river’s edge and tried to imagine the difficult challenges of mushing across the Alaska frontier.
The Iditarod commemorates the 1925 lifesaving delivery of diphtheria serum by dog sled to Nome (population 3,870) and preserves the historic trail (originally Seward to Nome), which provided dog-sled transportation in support of the gold rush and a vital mail route. The race officially began as a two-heat 56-mile event in 1967 and 1969 in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of purchasing Alaska from Russia. But it took the vision and hard work of mushing enthusiasts Joe and Vi Reddington and historian Dorothy Paige to create the original 1,000-mile race format in 1973. Early contestants were still responsible for breaking much of the trail and carrying all their supplies. As such, the first winner, Dick Wilmarth, required nearly 3 weeks to finish. Today, with the traditional help from an army of volunteers along 23 community checkpoints, 50 mushers and their dog teams typically complete the race in 8-15 days. Alaska became the Mecca for dog sled racing and saved the sport from being totally abandoned when the snowmobile emerged with explosive popularity in the early 1960’s.
Adjacent to the starting spot, there was a library and community center. We went inside to see whether they had any interpretive displays or related information about the race. There wasn’t anything aside from a very informative and congenial librarian. I took these pictures of two monstrous (3′ X 5′) paintings hanging on the north wall of the library. The bright colors and style jumped out at me, and we felt they depicted typical Alaskan heritage. The Alaska-born and educated artist, Scott Clendaniels, drew his inspiration from Alaska’s scenery. His signature technique involved coating wood panels vice canvas with three layers of white primer, sanding each lightly to expose wood grain before the next was applied. He then coated the panel with layers of red and gold paint. These colors shined through small gaps in the oil painting, which made his pieces glow when lighted at certain angles.
About 26 miles north of Willow, we saw Denali peeking through the clouds, turned onto the Talkeetna Spur, and stopped in a pullout to take pictures. A bus full of German tourists pulled in behind us and this made for crowded sightseeing. I got a big laugh at watching the tour-guide go full-deutsche on her charges as she barked orders to get them back on the bus and keep them on schedule. We were so excited to have Hanna with us, I took a lot of pictures of her during her stay. So glad she was with us!
We stoppped for an excellent lunch on the way into Talkeetna. Our waiter was one of many young foreigners we encountered across Alaska and Canada who worked in the hospitality business as part of employment programs designed to fill summer seasonal needs, while providing both career and travel experience for interested participants. Those with whom we interacted were universally engaging, provided attentive services, and seemed to enjoy the benefits of their employment opportunities. Most were highly interested in our RV lifestyle, so MFI gave them our “new-this-trip” business card. It contained our blog site logo and website, as well as, our names and contact information. Having these cards available for people we meet was MFI’s idea. Brilliant!
We drove into downtown Talkeetna, but except for getting out to take pictures, we didn’t join the throngs of tourists crowding the streets and shops. The streets were heavily potholed, which when combined with the congestion, made our drive through town agonizingly slow and frustrating. We felt Talkeetna was a bit of a tourist trap, much like what we experienced in Skagway weeks earlier.
Once outside of town and back near the Parks Highway, we did stop at an interesting and uncrowded retailer call Birch Works. We passed on the $10 tour of their “goods from the woods” birch and berry production line. Instead, we wandered the landscaped grounds and partook of all the free tasting (separate $10 tour) happening in their store. We spent our $10+ on this bottle of their premium birch syrup.
We found a terrific restaurant in historic downtown Palmer, which became our go-to morning place where we often decided to eat or enjoy our second coffee of the day. There was abundant parking along a flower-lined street with plenty of photo ops. We stopped here for breakfast and coffee on our way out of town as we continued our summer with a loosely planned loop through southeastern Alaska.
