May 19-Rising early we headed out to drive 390 miles as we start the final week of our trip and head into Alaska, the Last Frontier.  We continued our trip in Canada along the Alaska Highway which bordered the Kluane National Park.  Stopping at the visitor center for more information and to watch the movie there stirred our appetites to return to this vast wilderness one day for backpacking.  We were soaking up the landscape all along the way with huge expanses of icefields and glaciers, frozen lakes and Dall sheep. After crossing the U. S. border checkpoint, we stopped for a few picture opportunities before driving on the rough roads of Alaska Highway 2 into Tok for the evening.  Passing Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge, we decided to pull over and hike the Hidden Lake Trailhead. The one mile boardwalk led to a tranquil lake where a boat with paddles and life jackets seemed to be calling our name.  But with the looming rain clouds above, we passed.  We explored the beaver dams and then spotted two trumpeter swans in the distance.  We waited patiently for them to swim over to us with their two ducklings.  They are such graceful creatures!  On the return hike, a spruce grouse posed for us.  As we left the birder’s paradise, we passed a huge moose on the road which had been struck by a car.  It was a reminder to be vigilant looking for wildlife along the side of the roads in Alaska!

May 20-Our unplanned day of 400 miles of driving turned out to be great planning!  After checking the weather forecast for Valdez, we ditched our plans and headed down the Glenn Highway towards Anchorage.  Researching from the Milepost as we were driving by the blinding white snow views of Mount Sanford (16,237 feet), we developed a new plan to head to Portage Glacier.  Racing down the Seward Highway to make the last Glacier cruise, we took in views of Turnagain Arm, which has one of the world’s largest high tides with a range of 33 feet!  With blue skies above, we floated across Portage Lake to see waterfalls, chunks of floating ice, and up close views of the blue glacier.  It was mesmerizing!  Afterwards, we donned our hiking shoes and grabbed our hiking poles to walk a snow-covered trail to Byron Glacier close by.  We ended our evening at Porter Valley RV Park which had just opened for the summer season.  They offered spectacular views of the mountains and Avalanche Chute and a fire “hut” to gather in after dinner to swap adventures with other guests.

May 21-Because every day can’t be sunny, we drove 220 miles in cold and dreary rain.  We drove along the beautiful blue Kenai River, but unfortunately we arrived too early in the season to see salmon running. Since the rain never let up, we just continued on to the quaint town of Homer and made the Heritage RV Park our home for a few days.  What does one do in a fishing town in inclement weather? Visit the outstanding Pratt Museum to learn about the Kachemek Bay culture and what it takes to survive in a cold coastal community.  There were great exhibits on marine life and bears, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and a live camera to view Gull Island, a historic homestead with trails and even tide charts which showed a 16-foot tide for the next day. We enjoyed some delicious seafood in town for dinner and, then watched a sea otter and seagulls put on a show for us in front of our RV parked on the Homer Spit which juts out in the bay…

May 22-We were grateful to wake up to clearer skies and calmer waters and to know that we would only drive a few miles because most of our journey would be by boat and hiking! Mako’s Water Taxi carried us across Kachemak Bay to the Glacier Spit Trailhead.  Pulling up to the sandbar, we climbed down a ladder on the front of the boat to get onto the beach.  The 4.7-mile hike began in a forested area.  About an hour into the hike, the trail descended to the Grewingk Glacier Lake.  Stunning views of floating icebergs and a huge glacier awaited us! The hike back on Saddle Trail was more challenging with steep descending switchbacks, bridges and staircases which offered glances of Halibut Lake Lagoon.  The boat taxi picked us up at the end of the trail and then gave us a side trip to Gull Island.  We were fortunate to see thousands of birds nesting on the island including seagulls, murres, kittiwakes and the rare puffin!  We also got to see eagles, sea otters and humpback whales nearby.  I felt like I had stepped into a National Geographic magazine page, which made this my favorite excursion of the trip!  After returning to the spit, we explored the town taking in a coffee shop and great seafood for dinner and then driving up the hill for breathtaking overviews of the city.

May 23- Heeding a weather advisory of impending Chinook winds, we decided to leave Homer and drive 350 miles north to Talkeetna.  It was a beautiful day with temperatures perfect for hiking, but we pressed on to avoid the weather and just stopped for a few pictures of the turquoise Kenai Lake and the tide rolling in at Turnagain Arm.   We pulled into Talkeetna just in time for dinner.  After parking the RV at the campground, we walked into the charming town to have reindeer meatloaf at the Denali Brewing Company restaurant.  Several movies and television shows have been filmed in Talkeetna.  The town is also a hub for those who want to summit Denali.  We had hoped to get a view of the mountain from the town but the clouds hovered low.

May 24-We drove only 160 miles to Denali National Park for the trip’s finale! Most of the drive was in the rain but we managed to break out of the huge storm system as we neared the park.  While securing our campsite at Riley Creek, a moose yearling only two years old walked close by to welcome us.  We spent the afternoon at the Wilderness Access Center and the Visitor Center learning about wildlife and the history of the development of the park.  The park was founded for the intrepid traveler who was not afraid to brave its elements for the rewards.  As Sigurd Olson said, “they go to the wilderness for the good of their souls.”  And last but not least, we got our National Park Passport stamped.  While the skies hovered over the mountains most of the day, we did get a few breaks in the clouds.  Our evening ended with one of my favorite things to do in a National Park listening to a park ranger talk.  The campground program on migratory birds did not disappoint.

May 25-It was another day that did not go as planned which turned into 30 miles of local driving.  We woke up early to catch a 7a.m. shuttle bus into the park and noticed a light dusting of snow on the ground around the campground.  It was a hint of what would lie ahead.  With great anticipation of the 6.5-hour ride into the heart of the park, we grabbed our seats on the bus.  About five miles into the drive we were overwhelmed with the amount of snow on the grounds. Shortly, the bus driver informed us that he had been instructed to pull over at mile 13 while they determined if the roads could be cleared of snow ahead.  We got off the bus to walk the Savage River Loop, an unexpected stop for sure! It was a white wilderness wonderland with a foot of fresh powder snow on every surface! Absolutely breathtaking….We waited patiently for two hours enjoying the inspiring surroundings.  Finally, we got word that the road deeper into the park would be closed for the rest of the day. Although very disappointed, we returned back to the RV to grab lunch and then hike the nearby Horseshoe Lake Trail.  It was crazy that just ten miles from our morning stop of snow we could hike in a forest around a blue lake without a snowflake anywhere.  The lake had a double-decker beaver dam with logs chewed down by beavers all around the trail.  We spent the afternoon poking around the town of Healy and hoping for better weather tomorrow.

May 26-We tried the 7 a.m. shuttle again and we were so happy that “Bear”, our shuttle bus driver, drove us all the way to Toklat, about halfway into the park, which was the furthest you could go in this shoulder season.  While some of the snow had melted from yesterday, it was still a winter wilderness.  We were able to sight herds of caribou and Dall sheep, several moose, ptarmigan (the state bird of Alaska), a black wolf, grizzlies, golden eagle, marmot, hare and arctic squirrels.  This is a fraction of the wildlife that inhabits the six million acres of Denali.  On the way back, we stopped by the Murie Science and Learning Center to check out their exhibits.  It was nice to only drive a few miles.  And to top it all off, we finally sighted the mama moose and her twin two-week-old calves at our campground! We had to ended our day packing up our stuff that had been sprawled out all around our RV home for the last three weeks…

May 27-Our final day of RV travel logged almost 300 miles.  We woke up early (which wasn’t hard to do with over 19 hours of daylight) to drive the park road one more time hoping to get a better glimpse of Denali. Denali, also known as The High One, peaks at 20,310 feet, which is the highest mountain in North America. Because the range creates its own weather, only about 30% of all visitors see even part of Denali.  Since we only saw the top of the mountain at mile 9, we stopped at several spots on the way back to Anchorage to see if we could get a clearer view.  After driving through snow flurries, it didn’t look promising.  But at the Denali South viewpoint, while we were watching Denali the clouds broke and we got a good view! We returned the RV to Great Alaskan Holidays with an odometer reading of 6227 miles driven on the three-week journey.  Our final blessing was getting to see the Northern Lights from the plane on the red eye flight home!  We gave thanks to our Creator for all that we were able to see on this journey.

“In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.”

Psalm 95:4