Day 22 - Denali Highway
Day 21 was spent doing nothing in Fairbanks other than to wash the mud off my truck. I like Fairbanks more than Anchorage for some reason... probably because it's a way smaller town and the Asian foods are more authentic (and more expensive)
Anyways, we left Fairbanks behind and headed south.
View attachment 188641
Clouds hanging really low for some reason. I noticed the clouds sit lower up north than in lower 48.
View attachment 188642
As I continued down Parks Highway, I passed by Denali again. I tried to position the truck to be next to the sign, but couldn't do it. There's a post at exactly where the truck would be.
View attachment 188643
Denali Highway is an unpaved highway, the OG route to get to Denali from Anchorage before Parks Highway (the current route) was constructed. I aired down at the end of pavement, but in retrospect, I don't think airing down was needed.
I looked around while airing down, and found this perfect opportunity to take the picture I've been trying to take.
View attachment 188644
Then, off I went. Boogie all the way, only slowing down to let vehicles pass or passing vehicles.
I was stuck behind two sprinter vans until they found a good spot to let me pass. I signaled them and then gunned it. They were doing 35 when speed limit was 50.
View attachment 188645
As I continued, I saw a rainbow to my left. I found a clearing in the trees and pulled over to capture it.
After that, I kept going, and stumbled upon 2 cyclists. I waited, until one of them signaled that I should pass them. As I passed them, I slowed down to slightly faster than their pace. when I checked my mirror to see if I cleared them, I noticed one of them was missing. Then, I found him: dude was drafting behind me. I let him do some more of that then slowly increase my speed to pull away.
I got places to be man!
View attachment 188646
The first half of Denali Highway follows the ridge that gives a good view of Hess Mountain, and there are plenty of good sites. I found this random pullout that offers good view of the snowcapped mountain, so camera and big lens time.
View attachment 188647
I would camped at this site, but the site that I've picked is much better and less windy.
View attachment 188648
By 5PM, I got to the site that I chose.
I got the whole place to myself, while a couple setup on the other side of the river a bit more upstream. Their site was next to the primary spot that I wanted, and when I asked if I could setup at a site 50ft from them, the male said it's a bit too close.
Like dude, you got the entire beach to yourself, I am just off to the side and behind a bush. He even said 120 miles to choose from man and look offended. I said ok and moved on to the other side of the bridge and found this spot.
I get it, he doesn't want people to be close to him. That's fine, but no need to bring that attitude.