Gravel Roads

7/11/07
Today it was raining as we got up. We'd planned to ride to Wiseman
(north of Coldfoot) and Ruth was still ready to go. She wanted to get
north of the Arctic Circle.
We had breakfast at LuLus Bagels which has GREAT coffee. We stopped
at a NAPA to get a tire plug kit just in case and we headed north in
the rain. The ride to the Dalton Highway was simply wet but
uneventful. As we were stopped at the beginning of the Dalton, a road
grader came from the road and turned around to go back on it. It was
an omen.
As we started, he was already refreshing gravel. The rain was
moderately falling and it was foggy enough for Ruth to have a hard to
even see me to follow. We were passed by a couple of cars but not too
many as we traveled along about 20-25. I was a little anxious as Ruth
hadn't done much gravel riding but she took to this like a duck to
water. She was keeping up and not having any trouble riding in the
gravel while I was slipping around with my road tires. Ruth had
knobbier tires and did much better on it.
The road was very rough. We entered on construction area where we
followed a pilot vehicle for over 8 miles. She made us get right
behind her and at one point she was following a massive dump truck at
about 6 mph. Its hard to ride a motorcycle that slow, and even harder
in the gravel.
We'd gotten gas prior to leaving Fairbanks but the Yukon River
crossing was about 150 miles. We arrived there about 1 PM. The road
construction had really slowed our progress. We got gas at a above
ground tank and then had a sandwich. A young man working there told
Ruth that we only had about 20 more miles to go to get to pavement
again and then it was paved to Coldfoot.
We also chatted with a tour that was traveling to Prudhoe Bay and then
some were flying to Barrow.
Ruth was eager to continue on because she was ready to get to the
Arctic Circle but the young man was off by a little. It was 35 miles
to pavement but then it was fairly easy riding to the Arctic Circle.
We'd passed a tour bus that was at a rest break and we were the first
to be able to get our photos. Ruth remarked about how this was just a
sign at a rest stop and there was really nothing else there.

We now had to continue north to Wiseman. It was another 75 miles
north but it was paved for 60 miles to Coldfoot. In Coldfoot, we went
to the Gates of the Arctic NP VC and met the owner of the Boreal Lodge
we're sleeping at tonight. Heidi gave us more specific directions but
we were going to get a bite to eat in Coldfoot first. Ruth had a
bakeless Bear Claw that she loved and I had a piece of cherry pie.
The road to Wiseman was again gravel and slow. It took us 45 minutes
to travel the 17 miles but the lodge is neat. Its obviously hand made
but is rustic and clean. There are two single beds in each room and a
common bathroom and shower. We liked it. We met the Japanese
researchers that are also staying there but we didn't chat much.
After a 275 mile day, we went to bed early.

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Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach

Winter???

7/10/07 comment
I've found it interesting that a number of Alaskans that we've spoken
with are already thinking of winter. According to Norm, the man we
met at the Alaska Salmon Bake, when it reaches solstice and the days
start getting shorter, he thinks of winter.
At the Slana Ranger Station at Wrangell-St. Elias, a naturalist told
me that they watch the fireweed, a purplish plant with flowers on a
stalk. They begin flowering at the bottom and the blooms open later
and later higher on the stalk. When the top flowers bloom, winter is
6 weeks away.
Its amazing that its only the second week of July and they're already
talking about winter.

--
============
Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach

Salmon to your hearts content!!

7/10/07
Ruth and I got up at our usual 6:30 time and packed for the short trip
to Fairbanks.
We stopped at the Denali entrance to get a photo of us there and then
at the vc to get the official stamp. We then traveled for a breakfast
at the Black Bear café.
The trip to Fairbanks was unremarkable for me but Ruth saw a moose cow
and calf on the way.
We went to the Ester Gold Camp on the outskirts of Fairbanks but they
didn't have anywhere to stay, only a buffet and show. We then
traveled into Fairbanks, set up at the College Inn (an old dormitory
that was cheap) and then rode to the National Park office. The NP
office had moved so we traveled to the Interagency Office on Cowles
street to get some NP Stamps and information about the areas. We then
returned to the Inn for a shower/laundry day.
After that, we went to the library for internet access however; the
computer churned for 25 minutes and I didn't get a single photo
uploaded. I've no idea why.
Ok, now it gets better. We went to the Great Alaska Salmon Bake next
to Pioneer Park in Fairbanks. Here, you pay $31 each and get all the
grilled salmon (or halibut, cod or Prime Rib) you can eat. Ruth ate 6
salmon fillets and I ate 4 but we also met a retired military officer
named Norm and his girlfriend, Shelly. Shelly just got here cycle
license so she was eager to talk about it.
Norm told us about the Alaskan Permanent Fund and lots of other things
about AK politics but he was fun to talk to. He also told us that
during the winter, the College Inn is a lot rougher than during the
summer.
We then went back to the Ester Gold camp for the show. There were 2
men and 2 women that sang, told jokes, recited poems and just had us
laughing. They also had a US Flag with only 49 stars (the only one
I've ever seen).

--
============
Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach

Foxes, Snowshoes, and Bears, OH MY!!

7/9/07
"Stop, MOOSE!"
The driver came to a stop and about 20 yards to our left was a huge
male moose feeding in a pond in velvet. Everyone clamored to the
windows to see and Pam, our driver, moved a few times so that all
could see.

This morning we awoke at 4:30 so that we could get the bus for the
Kantishna Wildlife Tour we were on. It loaded at 6:10 across the
street from the Grizzly Bear cabins. They also opened for breakfast
at 5 so we were able to get there, get coffee and even check email in
their lobby prior to boarding the bus. They also had a very tame
squirrel that kept darting into the lobby to get crumbs that folks
left.

We made it to the bus fine and we went to the second pickup point to
get more passengers. There were 43 of us all together. Ruth and I
got a window seat in about the middle fo the bus so it wouldn't be as
bumpy on the 90 mile trip out to Kantishna or back.
Sitting ahead of us in the bus was a nice couple from New Jersey and
their son, who will be a freshman in HS this year. We also had folks
from Missouri and Illinois near us.
The first wildlife we noticed were an abundance of snowshoe hares.
Many mistakenly called them bunnies and Pam, via the intercom,
announced there were no rabbits in Denali. She then proceeded to give
an excellent natural history of snowshoe hares. Their population
rises and falls every 10 years and they were close to the high.

We next saw a caribou at a distance of about 400 yards. Pam again
gave the natural history of the caribou and helped us all understand
how they live and act.
Pam continued to do this for every habitat and animal we saw. She was
very knowledgable about the wildlife and history of the park.
At the first rest stop, Teklanika, we saw some Dall Sheep. Well, we
actually saw white specks on a distant mountain top but we know what
they were.
We loaded the bus and Pam said we were in prima habitat for them and
we saw about 11 more as specks later on.
Our next rest stop was above a glacial river. The stops were about 20
minutes long and immediately after boarding the bus, I was able to
call out "Stop, Caribou" as a caribou trotted above us about 25 yards
from the bus. We all got a good look and I even got an interesting
shot of it.

The next wildlife was a grizzly feeding in low brush about 500 yards
from the bus. It was a deep brown shaggy bear that was meadering away
from us but we watched it for about 5 minutes.
Just a not about the stops. When Pam stops, she also shuts the bus
off. While the bus is off, we are ideally supposed to not speak.
This is so that the wildlife do NOT become habituated to human voices.
They'd like it so that when animals hear human voices, they run away.
This avoids problems with bear/wildlife interactions in other
situations.
We arrived at the Kantishna Roadhouse about 1 PM. We had a light meal
and then listened to Elmer ?? Tell us about his father, the Yukon Fox,
and the Iditarod Dog Sled race. His dad won it and he not only told a
funny story about it but he also took us outside to show us rescue
dogs hooked up to a sled.

On the ride home we immediately spied a moose about 100 yards to our
left but about 10 miles down the road we spotted the big male just off
the road in the pond.

We also spotted an arctic fox (perhaps a grey/red hybrid) that killed a ground squirrel as we got to it. It just munched on it as we all watched and snapped away.

As we rounded another bend, another bus was stopped ahead of us. We
stopped and spied a family of grizzly bears meandering through the
willows. There was a large dark brown one and three honey colored
ones behind. They were making their way along a creek and were in no
hurry so we got a good look at them.
We also stopped at the temporary visitor station where they had a
exhibit about antlers.
It started raining as we got about 1/2 way back and rained hard for a
short while.

Fortunately, Kira also called us right after we got cellphone
reception also. Why was that fortunate? Well, its her birthday and
we couldn't reach her at anytime during the day except for an email we
sent right after breakfast. Happy Birthday Kira!!! We love you!

--
============
Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach

Flightseeing at Denali

7/8/07
We woke and started tearing down camp about 6:30 AM. We took a break
to have a breakfast at the Roadhouse. There, we sat at a community
table with a man and his wife that were from MN. He was an assessor
and shw was a flight attendant. Both Ruth and he had the LARGE
breakfast while his wife and I had the regular ones. They were
hilarious. They were also going flightseeing but not until after us
and with some other company.
When they left, we had the ranger that gave the programs yesterday sit
at the table with her husband and we chatted for awhile. The
husband's age confirmed to Ruth that alleged age of the ranger. This
must be at least a second career for her.
We then returned to the camp site and tore down the camp, loaded the
bikes, and went to the airfield.
The weather was as bad as the day before and they still weren't doing
glacier landings. Ruth and I decided we'd do whatever they'd let us
do and we went for a walk and returned at 10:30. The rest of the
passengers canceled so we were flying alone with Eric. He gave us all
the same instructions flight attendants give and Ruth got up front and
I sat in the back of a 6 person Cessna. He gave us a tour of the
three rivers area prior to heading toward Denali. We knew we weren't
going to see Denali but we hope to see a glacier up close. On the way
we say a pair of bald eagles at eye level and a sow black bear with
two cubs in a clearing. The clouds were high enough that we did get
to fly to the Ruth Glacier and see the "tow" and up into a gorge. The
toe was very dirty with glacial till but you could see the ice under
parts of it.
On the way out of the glacier Ruth spotted a moose. We saw some
Trumpeter Swans also before we landed.
After the flightseeing, we mounted the bikes and headed toward Denali.
Ruth was cold and I'd not installed her Gerbing's plug so we took the
time at a gas stop to install it. She is impressed with the warmth of
the Gerbing's jacket.
We passed two vistas and Denali was clouded in both times. We arrived
at the Grizzly Bear cabins, unloaded and then took a quick trip to the
visitor center. As soon as we entered the park, a train was passing
and a cow moose was on the tracks as the train approached. The train
literally chased her partly down the tracks until she got out of the
way.
We were late getting to the vc so we returned to camp, showered, and
ran across the street for a VERY late meal. I'm sitting in the
restaurant now, its 9 PM and the sun is still shining brightly.

--
============
Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach

Noisy Campground

7/7/07
We'd gone for a coffee because it started raining again. When it
quit, we went for dinner and had grilled salmon at the West Rib. The
salmon was awesome!!
We then went to a program at the Talkeetna Ranger station on survival
in the winter (animals) and then returned to the tent to sleep. There
was a lot of noise in the campground so it wasn't nearly as nice as
other places we've been to.

--
============
Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach

Chillin in Talkeetna

7/7/07
Lucky Day!!
Ruth and I got up about 6 AM. She packed in about 1/2 hour and I had
to reload all the stuff I had in about 1.5 hours. Mary Ellen was gone
already but we say Roger leave and said our goodbyes and off we went.
We got breakfast in Wasilla (raindeer omelet and reindeer sausage!)
and rode north toward Talkeetna. Here, we talked to the folks at K2
about our flight tomorrow and visited the Ranger station for a NPS
Stamp.
We decided to camp in Talkeetna nearer to the airstrip so we'd be
ready for the flight tomorrow. We heard a ranger talk about Bradford
Washington mapping Denali and some of the early efforts at climbing
Denali. We then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering Talkeetna.
We had a coffee and bought some smoked salmon (yummmm).

We also just walked around town to see the brightly colored moose....

--
============
Todd Ryan; Hudson, MA
Westborough HS Science Teacher
MSF RiderCoach