Alaska 41 & 42. Road Warriors August 19 & 20

Well people, it’s time to start wrapping this journey up as we head toward home. We will be putting long drive days in with — *fingers crossed* — nothing too much to report. Of course if there is anything to report, I will definitely report in, but from here out, I’ll probably be combining days.

Thank you Mike for pointing out my FAUX PAS on the Tuff boots. They are, in fact, XTRATUF boots! Ahhhh the dangers of freewheeling without the benefit of internet to fact check. Just imagine how much other misinformation I’ve spread over this series…

Ah well. Too late!

August 19

We left the camper and drove upriver where we hoped Montana Creek might settle down a bit and become more fishable. We tried one spot and gave up, deciding to go back to the scene of the crime where we had been skunked a couple weeks earlier. It was still pretty wild, but we were able to fish. We saw some slow Chums near the end of the road but ultimately, we were skunked again. 

I could just feel it in the air from the moment we set out, so I will admit I didn’t have a lot of patience for the exercise. Still, I dutifully changed my rig many (MANY) times. Mostly to entertain myself since the fish weren’t doing that for me.

All I had on my mind was the Denali Brewery pizza in my near future, which I had very intentionally placed us near. I didn’t need to talk Dave into it — he just didn’t realize it wasn’t a happy accident.

It was quite nice so we were able to sit outside and enjoy the same pizzas we had ordered last time — this time with a cider instead of a beer. Everything was just as good as I remembered!

Then, we got in the car and headed to the Denali Highway where we were SURE to fool some grayling and end on a high note.

(Do you want a spoiler alert? Yes? No?)

(No.)

We drove about 30 miles in to the same creek (why mess with success?) but chose a MUCH nicer place to camp just beyond it. It was COLD!!

Dave went off to pick blueberries while I made dinner.

We weren’t super hungry so I made a single bowl of the Costco Pho (I recommend these quite a bit!) all doctored up with cucumbers, tomato, cilantro, diced salami, cabbage, chopped peanuts… amazing. I mean it was REALLY GOOD! And we ate it straight out of my little dutch oven so it stayed warm and we only had one pot to wash.

Yes, yes… I’m brilliant.

There are lots of hunters on this road and we were parked off on an ATV trail and were a bit surprised by a couple ATVs coming right past us long after we went to bed. Which is a bit disconcerting, but all in all it was one of our favorite spots to camp thus far.

August 20

The mountains got snow overnight. It was beautiful and peaceful. And MOFO COLD! Dave made us probably the last blueberry pancakes we will have on this trip as we waited for the sun to come over the mountains and warm us up. 

Putting on waders and fishing at near 32 degrees doesn’t sound great and, frankly, I doubt the fish would oblige us at that temp either.

Eventually we packed up and made our way to Seattle Creek TAKE TWO- *snap* ! 

It was a gorgeous day. The scenery was beautiful!!

And we didn’t see or catch a single fish.

CAN YOU FRICKEN BELIEVE IT??

The creek was up probably 12” since we fished it last. It’s a small creek but it was roaring. We walked a long, long way upstream and fished some absolutely PERFECT runs of water. All to no avail. 

Oh well. We concluded we were just very unlucky, timing wise, what with all the rain. Plus, it really was cold. My guess was that these guys are late risers. Like me.

We needed to get on the road anyway.

We packed up and headed back out to the Parks Highway and were stunned speechless to see Denali, in all its glory shining at us for much of the drive out. What a consolation prize!!

We drove up through Fairbanks and on to Chena Hot Springs road where we planned to camp. To be honest, there really isn’t all that much to see north of Denali. We’ve been almost all around Alaska now — on virtually every highway except for one small span down by Mantanuska Glacier — and I could tell someone with confidence “You can skip everything north of Denali”. At least as far as scenery goes. But it was kind of fun to complete the circuit.

We actually threw around the idea of driving north on the Dalton Highway to get to the Arctic Circle. Because, I mean, why not?

Hopefully you know by know that that is my and Dave’s fatal flaw. We tend to balance each other’s OTHER behavioral flaws pretty well. But as far as saying things like “We are so close to the arctic circle. We might as well go…”

Not so much. 

Thankfully, sanity won and Dave and I lost. The only thing that pulled us back from the brink and saved us from 240 miles of rutted gravel was cell service and the weather forecast: MORE RAIN. –And rain on the Dalton is like rain on Hardscrabble Road back in Eagle: death defying, not to mention, a REAL MESS to clean off. 

So we skipped it and headed up Chena Hot Springs Road to find a spot to camp. We landed at Rosehips campground and, once again had it all to ourselves with the exception of one other camper. It was a muddy, puddley mess but it would suffice.

We were really looking hard for a hike, as we are both feeling really gross and lazy and stiff. We talked to the campground host (a real character) who recommended a nice one up the road. We planned to do the hike and then continue driving to the end of the road and experience the hot springs and a SHOWER!

The only problem was, once we left the campground, we would lose cell service until we were at the hot springs. All day we had been nervously watching the scheduled salmon delivery in Eagle which was supposed to have showed up hours earlier — and still hadn’t. Our neighbors were poised to swoop in and unpack it into our freezer as soon it arrived. We decided we couldn’t risk doing the hike and being out of service for so long.

Also proving… we really ARE lazy, because honestly: what could we even have done about the stupid fish other than wring our hands and watch our phones?

Instead, we drove the 40 minutes to the hot springs slow and carefully, having been told by the host that FOUR MOOSE had been killed in the last week on that stretch. (We didn’t see one).

It was now 8:30 pm in Eagle. The tracking said, “your package is running late but will still be delivered today.”

Hard to believe. Especially since it is Eagle we are talking about. I’ve had plenty of times where packages have said that and then didn’t show up. We were just sick about the idea of our fish thawing out over the course of another night and full day but there was just nothing we could do. Our neighbors were going to bed anyway. We had to just let it go.

Heartbreaking.

We changed into our suits (locker rooms = gross) and met in the pool. Dave was already in there when I got out. I hung my towel up and hid my phone under it, when… *PING*

Ring doorbell alert!

UPS MAN WITH HEADLAMP ON! 9:15pm in Eagle! I quickly texted our AMAZING neighbors who rushed over and saved the day for us. 

It felt like a fairy tale happy ending. 

I just had to live through the hot springs first. 

I did.

We even ate at their restaurant. Dave ordered his usual “perfect Manhattan on the rocks” which has both sweet and dry vermouth. It came in a glass, room temperature with no ice. Dave reminded the waiter it was supposed to be on the rocks. He disappeared and came back with another glass and a single cube saying “I got you the fancy ice.” Dave can’t even describe the taste to me other than to say “it was just really strange. Not good.” My beer was delish.

Dave ordered the chowder, which was actually VERY good. And I had the seafood Pho. Despite just having just had it the night before. 

Which Pho was better?

The Costco pho was better. The restaurant’s wasn’t BAD, but it wasn’t great. And they used fake crab, which I usually actually like, but theirs was YUCK.

We drove very carefully back to camp and went to bed. It rained all night.