Fairbanks to Anchorage

Fairbanks to Anchorage - Alaska 2005

Updated: 11/30/08

Departing Fairbanks, we headed for Denali National Park. We left a little later than expected and had 25 miles of off and on road construction. Some of it was a little slippery, so we used four-wheel drive.

Along the road we had a great view of the valley and the Tenana River.

The view out our window at lunch was not bad. We appreciate being able to select where we have lunch depending on the view.

The closer we got to Denali, the better the scenery.

We found our campground and set-up in our site. It was still early so we took a ride down the Denali Highway toward the town of Denali - it soon turned to a dirt road. It runs through a valley to the town about 60 mile away. As we got closer to this mountain, we saw part of a rainbow.

We are told Mt. McKinley is in these clouds.

In our campground the sites are very small, a shoehorn would help the bigger rigs fit. However, the view from our window during dinner is fabulous. This photograph was made just over the roof of the van conversion next to us. Before the clouds rolled in , we could see mountains on all four sides of the HHII.

We have made our visit to Denali a separate page.

Denali National Park, a two day visit

Heading for Anchorage, the road from our campground was cloudy again. It was cloudy most of the time we were in Cantwell. However, both days in Denali cleared. We were hoping for the same towards Anchorage.

A short distance from camp we stopped at Hurricane Gulch. Standing on the bridge to make these photographs, we found out that commercial busses do not move over very far for pedestrians.

It was a little farther down the road we got another look at Mount McKinley. Not knowing what was ahead of us, we waited over two hours for clouds to clear. The day just got better and better. We had lunch while we waited so the time was not wasted. And, we had company most of the time. This guy used his wife's head as a tripod.

The next stop down the road gave us this view if the mountain.

The views improved as we traveled. This location is Denali View North State Park and they had camping. It provided numbered stripped parking spaces perpendicular to the mountain. There was one unnumbered strip where a travel trailer was parked - we verified he planned to stay the night - we joined him.

We were greeted by a bald eagle.

These views were worth the $10 per night for dry camping.

Dining room view (evening) . . . Bedroom view (1:00am) . . .

We decided to stay up and enjoy the beautiful views and watch the changes into the night.

We saw the moon almost at the same time the sun was setting. We enjoyed one of just a few sunsets we have enjoyed in Alaska.

This is Mount Denali at 1:00am. Oh, did we mention that in 1980 Mount McKinley was renamed Mount Denali.

The South Peak is 20,320 feet high - the highest mountain on the North American continent. The North Peak is only 19,470. There are growing at 3/4" per year due to the earth's plates pushing them up.

Permanent snowfields cover 75% of the mountain. Temperatures range as low as -95 degrees at 14,500 feet in the winter. In the summer, the temperature range is a tropical +10 to -50.

At this location the mountain is 40 miles away.

We left our bedroom window open and woke up thinking 'mountain view'. This is what it looked like at 6:00am. It looked like another clear day was ahead. Many place tell you to expect to see the mountain only one of three days - therefore, some people never see it during their visit.

Mary Lou drank tea at the dining window. Fred made many walks to the road to make photographs all morning. Well, not all morning, we went back to bed at 8:00am for a nap.

He photographed this flower next to the HHII returning from one of his walks.

After a late breakfast, we moved to the 'camping spot' vacated by the travel traveler. That was a record 'short' move for us. We towed the HHII fifty feet. The previous record was a half-mile in Chicken. We unhitched so we could drive the truck about 35 miles farther south.

There was no pull-off, so we made one for this photograph.

Exiting the Alaska Veterans Memorial / POW-MIA rest area, this view was at the end of their road. The peaks are 35 miles away at this point.

Our destination was Denali South View State Park. Every time you see the mountain it is different. Either the weather and cloud pattern has changed or you have changed your location a little. It is amazing how short a distance you need to travel for a totally different view. At this point, Mount Denali is 41.5 miles away.

For additional views including those on this page, go to our Mount McKinley page.

Leaving our view of Mount Denali was a difficult decision ... but ... we had been two clear days. The last night's view was not as good as the prior night's. We did make photographs of the sunset and the mountain with the sunset reflecting on it.

As we approached Anchorage we ran into smoke from a forest fire on the Kenai Peninsula. This is our best view of the mountains around Anchorage. We headed for a campground in the city with electricity so we could filter the air with our air conditioner. After we were set up their news broadcast was advising people to stay in air conditioning tonight.

The smoke cleared in Anchorage the night we arrived - rain and a change of wind direction helped. The next day we could see the mountains around the city.

An author who sold Mary Lou a couple of books told her yesterday was the first smoky day this year. It was smoky all last year due to numerous and continuous nearby forest fires.

We have been seeing murals painted on buildings all over town. It is a nice touch.

Anchorage is known for its displays of flowers during the summer. The air fills with the scent of the flowers.

Our first visit on Saturday was to the Alaska Ulu Knife Factory. We have been seeing these all over Alaska and Mary Lou wanted one made in Alaska. Many stores carry the 'Made in China' ones - but, they aren't real. The factory has a collection of old knives found in Alaska. One dates back to 1000B.C.

And, of course, they also have a wide selection of knives you can purchase.

We were able to see very little at the factory except for a grinding operation.

We experienced another learning curve situation. They have parking lots without attendants all over the city. The attendant is a machine that YOU have to operate. It requires you to tell the machine what spot number you are parked in, how long you plan to be there, put in your money and place the ticket the machine gives you on your dash. It is too much like work!

After we paid for our parking, we went to three presentations. In the Alaska Experience Theatre we saw "Alaska, The Great Land" and a show on "The Earthquake of 1964". Then, at the Performance Arts Center we saw "Aurora, Alaska's Great Northern Lights" presentation. While we couldn't make any photographs of these theater events, we enjoyed them enough to purchase a video and DVD.

The next day we had to go to the Anchorage Market and Festival. It was highly recommended. Fred wished that there was someone else with us to go with Mary Lou. It is a summer event in Anchorage and had everything including music, a Mime, Tupperware, Mary Kaye, clothes, baseball hats, jewelry, crafts and a food court. Items from $1 to $1,000. Items made in Alaska and China.

The Earthquake of 1964 was a tragic event in Anchorage. In 90 seconds, a 8,000 foot strip of the bluff, 1,200 feet wide began cracking apart and moving towards the inlet 500 feet below. The Turnagain Heights area lost 4 people and 75 homes.

They have a park dedicated to the Turnagain Heights event but it is so overgrown at this point that only memories remain. The entrance arch reminds everyone of the twisted I-beams in large buildings in Anchorage that resulted from the force of the earthquake.

This was our last activity in Anchorage this visit.
(After our Kenai peninsula, we will pass through again.)

The Alaska Zoo is a private non-profit organization formed in 1968. It contains many rescued animals. The admission cost is $8.00 per person and we walked around the zoo for about two hours. carry a jacket, it was cool in the wooded parts of the grounds.

We think the zoo must have been very busy during the weekend. When we visited on Monday, most of the animals were very tired from entertaining the zoo's weekend visitors.

The Amur tigers and the Bactrian camels were.

The polar bear had a nice cold pool - he was too tired to use it.

The snow leopard was totally exhausted.

The caribou who usually 'roam' in herds, were relaxing.

The wolverine did not have the strength to play on his 'Little Tikes' slide.

However, some were busy as . . .

This Sitka deer was roaming around his compound.

Some were bribed with apples. We followed a zoo attendant with a group of children and a couple pails of apples. He said he was heading for the bears. When he arrived, the bears went into action. The bigger bear responded well for the apple reward. The other one was too tired.

The bears knew the routine. This one waited at the fence for the attendant. They were bribed again to get them into cages in their den so the children could hide food and the bears could scavenge for it.

The children entered the compound and, after checking out the 'dug' den, hid the food. the bears are fed dog food in addition to the hidden fruit.

It was also feeding time for the baby moose and baby caribous. They are feed every three hours. They are old enough now - they sleep through the night after their 9:00pm feeding.