Day 15
1964, the Plan: Mile Post 400, AK to Haines Junction, YT. I believe they were to spend the night on a ferry from Haines, AK to Juneau, AK.
1964, the Actuality: On Friday, July 31, the Explorer Scouts traveled from Fairbanks, to Cantwell, AK. This is where the bus broke down, requiring a new engine block. Fortunately for the group, two mechanical engineers were in town to maintain the generator used to produce electricity for the locality. The men were also going to do some recreational fishing. They provided the information to order a new engine block from Anchorage and to have it shipped by the Alaska Railroad to Cantwell.
Cantwell is located on the south side of the Alaska Range, and thus on the cloudy and rainy side of the mountains.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
We departed from Fairbanks, AK, this time taking the Parks Highway/AK-3.
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| We just had to take a photo! |
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| The area was full of bogs, creeks, and lakes |
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Alaska Native Veterans' Honor Bridge (1966-1967)
commemorating those who served in US Armed Forces |
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Nenana Train Station (1921-1923), where President
Warren G Harding arrived to drive in the final golden spike
of the Alaska Railroad on 7/15/1923 |
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| St Mark's Episcopal Church (1950), a log church |
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St Mark's has handcrafted features, including
Athabascan beadwork on the altarcloth |
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| Nenana Ice Classic clock watchtower (KSS) |
The Nenana Ice Classic is not some winter sporting event as we had guessed, but a fundraiser, i.e. betting pool contest! Each year, when the Tanana River is frozen, a large tripod contraption is secured in place 300-feet from shore, halfway between the highway bridge and railroad bridge. A wire attaches the top of the tripod to a clock onshore. When the ice begins to break up in the spring, the tripod moves, tripping the clock to stop. People purchase tickets for $2 to guess the date and minute of the ice breakup, in order to win cash prizes. Anyone can enter the contest as long as they purchase the tickets in Alaska.
The tradition began in 1917 when the engineers building the railroad bridge had to stop work because the river froze. As they waited, idle speculation led to wagering, and to creating the contraption to determine the exact time of the ice breakup.
This year, the ice breakup was May 1st at 12:00 noon (Alaska Standard Time).
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Nenana is also the first Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race checkpoint
if the race begins in Fairbanks, which happens when conditions
from Anchorage are unfavorable, as happened this year |
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| Kent checks out the sled dogs |
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Iconic to Alaska, it seems, are these flat-bottomed Jon boats with
a squared bow and some sort of cabin plunked aboard |
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| Look! it's Denali, as seen over 161 km/100 miles away |
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| Yes, it's definitely Denali! |
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| A "world-class" polar bear mount at the Tatlanika Trading Company |
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| Alaska is full of these souvenir shops that are also natural history museums |
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The 49th State Brewing Company was closed, but we could still see
the bus used in filming Into the Wild (2007) |
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View from Moody Bridge at the Nenana River 53 m/174' below
(the canyon is fairly wide, so not as impressive) |
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| Entering the Nenana River Gorge |
In 1984, Kent's parents visited Denali National Park, staying at the Chalet Hotel (probably the McKinley Chalet Resort) where they had dinner and watched rafters on the Nenana River. They took the Wildlife Tour of Denali, and also took a motorcoach to watch the Dog Sled Demonstration at the Denali Hotel.
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| Mt McKinley Chalet Resort |
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| Entrance to Denali National Park |
Having followed the Parks Highway/AK-3 from Fairbanks, we reached Denali National Park before we came to Cantwell, AK. However, the Parks Highway was completed in 1971, and before that, the only access to Mt McKinley National Park was via the Denali Highway, now AK-8, which is still a gravel road. That means the 1964 Explorer Scouts would have had to travel from Fairbanks back along the Richardson Highway and beyond Delta Junction to Paxson, then take the Denali Highway, a total of 305 miles to Cantwell. No wonder the engine blew!
Only now did we figure this out, so that we did not really follow the 1964 route, having skipped the Denali Highway section. (In fact, Tangle River might actually have been a stop along the Denali Highway.)
We would stay at the Riley Creek Campground in Denali National Park for two nights.
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We drove along Park Road in Denali National Park as far as we were
allowed, 14.5 miles to the Savage River Bridge, seeing this unusual
landscape of only a few tall trees among shrub birches and willows,
backed by the Outer Range of mountains to the north |
Trees are sparse in this area because of permafrost. Tree roots can only grow to the point of frozen ground, and if that is too shallow, the tree will be short or not survive.
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To the south are the foothills of the Alaska Range, and look!
there's Denali with wisps of clouds below its peak |
Denali does not appear very high in the above photo, because it is still so far away, about 122 km/76 miles. At 6,190 m/20,310', it is over 4,300 m/14,000' taller than the mountains in the foreground.
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| Savage River Bridge |
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| Heading back on Park Road, the Alaska Railroad trestle is seen on the right |
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And here is the Alaska Railroad train that runs from Fairbanks to Anchorage,
(and beyond to Seward) with a stop right in Denali National Park |
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| Out on Parks Highway is the Denali Park Commercial area |
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We had lunch at Prospectors Pizzeria and Ale House;
note that the grizzly bear skin's right paw claws are "protected" |
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The viewpoint for the Nenana River Gorge on Canyon Drive
was partially blocked by foliage; we found this to be
the case at many recommended viewpoints |
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Across Parks Highway at the McKinley Chalet Resort, there was a much better view
of the Nenana River Gorge, but no whitewater rafters today |
Having time, we continued south on Parks Highway/AK-3 to Cantwell, AK.
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BluesBerry Inn, where the cast of the movie, Into the Wild,
stayed in 2006, when the inn was called Lazy J Lodge |
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| 1964: Cantwell, AK (Dr M) |
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| 2017: Cantwell, AK |
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| 1964: Cantwell, AK (KSS) |
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2017: Cantwell, AK, with only a defunct Cantwell Lodge
and a couple railway buildings |
The Cantwell Lodge area may have been used in filming Into the Wild (2007).
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| The Chevron gas station is now out on Parks Highway |
Well now I know what moose poop looks like!
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