Perkinson Family Alaska Holiday

Monday 5th August

We went back out to the cabin to meet up with Josh and to do some work out there.  Larry came out to put a new belt on the mower so Tayla could finish the lawns. We helped him clear some trees, cut and stack some wood which will help prevent fires next summer.  Josh also finished mowing the airstrip. We said goodbye to the cabin which was really sad as it is such a special place, and we don’t know that we will get back there again.

Good-Bye, Little Cabin by Robert W. Service

O dear little cabin, I’ve loved you so long,

And now I must bid you good-bye!

I’ve filled you with laughter, I’ve thrilled you with song,

And sometimes I’ve wished I could cry.

Your walls they have witnessed a weariful fight,

And rung to a won Waterloo:

But oh, in my triumph I’m dreary to-night —

Good-bye, little cabin, to you!

Your roof is bewhiskered, your floor is a-slant,

Your walls seem to sag and to swing;

I’m trying to find just your faults, but I can’t —

You poor, tired, heart-broken old thing!

I’ve seen when you’ve been the best friend that I had,

Your light like a gem on the snow;

You’re sort of a part of me — Gee! but I’m sad;

I hate, little cabin, to go.

Below your cracked window red raspberries climb;

A hornet’s nest hangs from a beam;

Your rafters are scribbled with adage and rhyme,

And dimmed with tobacco and dream.

“Each day has its laugh”, and “Don’t worry, just work”.

Such mottoes reproachfully shine.

Old calendars dangle — what memories lurk

About you, dear cabin of mine!

I hear the world-call and the clang of the fight;

I hear the hoarse cry of my kind;

Yet well do I know, as I quit you to-night,

It’s Youth that I’m leaving behind.

And often I’ll think of you, empty and black,

Moose antlers nailed over your door:

Oh, if I should perish my ghost will come back

To dwell in you, cabin, once more!

How cold, still and lonely, how weary you seem!

A last wistful look and I’ll go.

Oh, will you remember the lad with his dream!

The lad that you comforted so.

The shadows enfold you, it’s drawing to-night;

The evening star needles the sky:

And huh! but it’s stinging and stabbing my sight —

God bless you, old cabin, good-bye!

 

Larry cooked us up some shrimps, and we enjoyed dinner with him as Robin and Robbie were on their way back from Anchorage.  Tayla and Danika made a Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding and the Hicks came over to say Goodbye. We finished packing our bags.

Sunday 4th August

We went out to the cabin to hang out and do some work.  Tayla mowed the lawn until the belt snapped while Josh started mowing the airstrip which Larry likes to mow once every summer.  

Josh camped at Kelly Lake overnight so we went out to the cabin so we could have some chill-out time just enjoy being there. Had our staple, marmite and chippie sandwiches.  We played some more rounds of Double Solitaire, which will forever be remembered as Larry’s Log Cabin game. 

We came back into town to go to evening Church at “Church at the Rock”.  Larry was at an interview with someone doing a documentary about Flying. We really enjoyed the Church Service.  After Church, we had leftovers for dinner and then Josh went back out to his campsite to spend another night in the wilderness. 

Saturday 3rd August

Josh really wanted to go camping while in Alaska, so he and Larry made a plan for him to head out to the cabin, canoe across the lake and camp for the night … who knows where! Larry took Josh down to the hangar where all his outdoor gear was stored, and Josh was then to choose all of the gear he needed. In Larry’s words, “If he needs it and doesn’t take it, he will have to learn to do without it.” So much against Chris’s better judgment, Larry and Josh headed out to the cabin, where Josh then set off on his adventure to canoe across Kelly Lake, and find a spot to camp for the night.

The rest of us will head out to the cabin tomorrow where we will spend a final day hanging at a very special place, doing a bit of ‘TLC’ around the place in oiling furniture, and hopefully catching up with some camping stories from Josh.

Ross, Chris, Tayla and Danika wanderded around town to do some last minute souvenir shopping in Talkeetna.  We did work, photo editing, updating our blog and then watched Hunt for the Wilderpeople with Robin and Larry!  Robin, got most of the humour…. Larry well, he is still struggling to understand our accent

The rest of us will head out to the cabin tomorrow where we will spend a final day hanging at a very special place, doing a bit of ‘TLC’ around the place in oiling furniture, and hopefully catching up with some camping stories from Josh.

Friday 2nd August

Today was a day of organising. We packed our bags so we could weigh them and make Robbie’s access to her room easier.   We also cleaned the truck and camper as that is the end of our Alaskan Road Tripping which is pretty sad, but we have been incredibly blessed by the generosity of Larry and Robin, and Robbie for allowing Tayla and Danika to stay in her room and for Fern to allow Josh to stay in her room.   We prepared dinner and had chicken tacos. Ross and Chris worked on the business, while Danika edited photos and then we worked on some more planning for LA, Mexico and New York.  

Larry wanted the airstrip mowed out at the cabin, so he and Josh headed out on a couple of bikes with a trailer and motorised mower in tow. Larry left Josh out there mowing and came back. Josh arrived back a couple of hours later, apparently due to the fact he had run out of fuel for the mower, but we suspect he may have been hungry!

We then watched a DVD with Larry and Robin that was on Talkeetna, made in 2014. 

We had to make a decision as to what to do with the last few days in Alaska. 

Thursday 1 August

Today was the first day we have woken up to rain since we started on 18th June.   We went to the visitors centre and caught a park bus to the Denali Sled Dog Kennels where we wandered around and saw the dogs and one 7 week old puppy.  One of the rangers did a presentation about how the dogs are still the main mode of transportation as it is the only National Park where motorised vehicles off the main road are prohibited.  The reality is the dogs are more reliable than vehicles in the harsh winter conditions and they just love it!

We then walked around the gift shops in Denali and got some Blueberry and Caribou Crunch (Caramel and Chocolate) Popcorn.    We continued to drive home towards Denali. Chris saw what looked like a junk shop so we turned around and Chris and Ross went in, Danika was worried about the diseases she may get from it.  It was called Wall-Mikes (not quite Walmart) It was another level of clutter. The guy was a real character and it was probably really fitting that he stocked a Willie Nelson poster.  

We stopped at Cubby’s at the ‘Y’ to restock and met Larry there who had ridden to get some ice cream   arrived ‘home’ to Talkeetna and prepared dinner – chicken and salad and Larry invited Don, a local over for dinner.   

Wednesday 31 July

We left the visitors centre at 7.15 and had the best driver, who wasn’t really meant to be a tour guide but was!  The park bus system is a hop on and hop off but our bus driver was so good we decided to stay with her the whole day.

Drove past the entry and exit of the Savage Alpine hike we did the day before. Looking back at the end of our hike, we were glad we did it the way we did, as looking up at our decent, it appeared much steeper than we felt it was coming down.

The bus seats were a great deal more comfortable than we remember, but the road was much the same, fairly rough and narrow in places. Toilet breaks every hour and a half or so, time seemed to go fairly quickly with plenty to see, and always scanning for wildlife. Managed to see the ‘top 4’, Moose, Bear, Caribou, and Dall Sheep before mile 35 which was by all accounts, very good. God continued to bless us with great weather, with clouds clearing from Mt McKinley/Denali during the trip, and although a bit hazy, we got a number of unobstructed views of the mountain on our way out. We would discover later, after meeting a couple that was due to make the trip the following day, that their forecast was for rain, a forecast that indeed turned out to be accurate.

We stopped at Eielson Visitors Centre for a longer stop and had our lunch and shared it with a talkative Ground Squirrel.  

In parts (through Polychrome Pass) single lane, buses going both ways, with huge drop-offs into the valley below with no barriers. In one spot the road had slumped significantly requiring considerable repairs and reconstruction. The driver told us that there were some early level discussions/investigations around a probable alternative route, bypassing the current road altogether. Some options may require the park road to be temporarily closed while alternatives were built, which would significantly reduce access to an incredibly beautiful area. 

We then got to Wonder Lake which was beautiful and looked like a lake in the South Island of NZ. This is where Chris and Ross camped overnight in 1996 and the mosquitoes were so bad it sounded like it was raining on the tent but it was just the mosquitoes.  Due to the high temperatures and fires, there have been minimal mosquitoes this year. Often mosquitoes are referred to Alaska’s State Bird.

Total Wildlife seen in Denali: 7 moose, 14 caribou, 7 dall sheep (including lambs), 11 bears, 1 fox, Squirrels (Bear Burrito!)

Got back to the Grizzly Bear Campground, had Thai and Mexican from food trucks at the campground and had some much needed and enjoyable showers. Chris and Tayla did some washing while sitting in the Laundry charging devices and working on the blog and business.

   

Tuesday 30 July

We slept late and woke to a car coming into the Church car park so we got up and headed to Denali.   On our way to Denali, we stopped to see the bus that was used in the movie “Into the Wild”. It is a movie based Chris McCandles who hiked the Stampede Trail just out of Healy, but got stranded due to the fluctuating levels of the Teklanika River and being unable to cross, the book and movie tells of his quest for survival living in the abandoned Fairbanks bus he termed “The Magic Bus” for 4 months, giving insight into his journals and photography.  People are intrigued by his story and many tramp (or do tours) out to the abandoned Fair a still tramp out to the bus today, many repeating his mistakes. A couple spent two nights at the bus last week, and the rising river level made the river crossing challenging and a 24 year old woman died on Thursday returning from the bus. The bus we saw was in Healy and what was used in the movie.  

We then drove to Denali and saw a moose and caribou on the way.  We went to the Denali Visitors Centre and decided on the Savage Alpine Trail which was described as ‘strenuous’.  We drove to the trailhead and then walked the trail which had lots of variety and was beautiful. It was 6.4kms with an elevation of 1500 ft and we did in 3 hours stopping to eat our marmite and chippie buns and nectarine (pretty regular lunch for us).  

We went and stayed at Grizzly Denali Campground (Mum and Dad stayed there in 1996) where we enjoyed a hot shower!   We had left over steak, potatoes and salad for dinner.

 

Monday 29 July

We said our goodbyes to Deb and Darrell and then visited the University of Fairbanks Museum which was in an awesome uniquely designed building.  There were some interesting exhibits on wildlife and the Gold Rush Klondike days. There was a contemplative outhouse that Tayla and Chris sat in, obviously contemplatively until Chris got a fright as Ross was peering through the door!  

Chris was set on finding the campground that they stayed at for 3 days in 1996 and caught Salmon.   We did find it on the Chena River and found the site they camped and took a photo. On the way to the campground we visited “The Alaska Raw Fur Company” where they sold animal hides.  Tayla tried on a coat that cost US$3500.  

We visited the University of Fairbanks Museum which was in an awesome uniquely designed building.  There were some interesting exhibits on wildlife and the Gold Rush Klondike days. There was a contemplative outhouse that Tayla and Chris sat in, obviously contemplatively until Chris got a fright as Ross was peering through the door!  

We had lunch at Pioneer Park in amongst the trees which was lovely and then went on a guided tour around Pioneer Park on the Crooked Creek and Whiskey Island Railroad.

We began our drive from Fairbanks to Denali, and saw a cow (moose) and two calves on the way!   We arrived late into Denali and didn’t want to pay the standard $50-$60 to park the camper and use the bathrooms so we got some hot chips from Denali and then parked in a pull out with others to cook some steak and prepare our salad.  While cooking we realised how loud the trucks were as we were so close to the road. As soon as we ate dinner we drove to find a quieter place to camp. We went back to Healy where we found toilets at the ‘weed shop’ and then went and parked in a church car park for the night.

Sunday 28 July

We went to The Landing church with Darrell and Deb Bourne and really loved it.   Love their heart for working with people who struggle with substance abuse. We went shopping at Walmart which has a Subway on site where we could sit and use the Free WIFI to do business and our blog so had lunch and sat for a couple of hours and went shopping.   The Bourne’s invited us back for the evening for dinner and loved the Moose Chilli and Corn Bread we had for dinner and we stayed there the night. We had strudel pastries and Bennett’s chocolates for dessert.

Saturday 27 July

Chris, Ross, and Tayla had a morning swim while Danika and Josh slept and then we packed up our room.   We set off for a hike up Charlie Dome which was pretty much straight up. On the way to the summit, we passed some Yurts where people come to watch the Northern Lights in Summer.  It would be amazing in the snow seeing the Northern Lights – may need to come back to do this one day! It took us about 3 hours and after our walk, we did some washing while our tired bodies enjoyed the hot pools.  

We left Chena in time to make it back to Fairbanks in time for the Salmon Bake that we had been looking forward to for quite some time!  All you can eat Salmon, Cod and Prime Beef (as well as Dessert – just as well we had a light lunch in preparation). After dinner, it was off to Walmart to stock up and camped there the night.  We tried to park where the Free WIFI was best, which was right by the entrance to the carpark – which was a mistake, especially on a Saturday night – worst place to sleep ever, so noisy!

We messaged Darrell and Deb Bourne and said we would come to their Church in the morning.