Two Alaska

[dtcerrato]

The fish wheels we visited earlier on...

[dtcerrato]

How about Beaver & moose. 66°F at Homer Spit AK today...

[chessie4905]

Nice! Like the temp. 94 here today. At Clifford's  place, it's  probably a billizion degrees, but 94 is damn hot here.

[niles500]

Say hi to the folks at the Salty Dawg

[dtcerrato]

Just over 5100 miles since we left home at a running total of just over $2800 for diesel. We'll post all the numbers for those who may be able to use it for trip planning... Our sub heading categories for trip planning are: coach diesel, genny gas, Jeep gas, misc., meals, groceries, camping, house LP, & building materials (for camp Malemute).
rmiddleton - I thought I robbed the cradle with an eight year difference - holy cow man you take the prize! 
Look at the run-of-the-mill boat for Whittier Alaska! Most if not all have cabins & multiple engines for staying warm & making it back!!! An awesome place, readily accessible by air, ferry, or single lane road through 3 miles of mountain tunnel...

[dtcerrato]

Saw a couple moose yesterday in Talkeetna. The fireplace is in the Talkeetna Ranger Station. Pretty impressive seeing 100s of flags & banners through the ages mounted on the post & beam structure of teams that have reached the summit of Denali. The curator of the museum is a full time bus nut, she lives in a schoolie

[Utahclaimjumper]

Been to Talkeetna many times,, have laid up at the K2 aviation lodge when weathered in there.. Nice friendly place

[dtcerrato]

Been offline in wilderness for a spell, an interior campsite on old Denali Hwy (gravel) - a BLM/Dept.of Int. facility called Brushkanna. Got a day with some service then off to Denali for a week in wilderness w/o signal. Oh the beauty of nothingness with every natural thing life has to offer... It's easy to understand why some people just disapear. Can't remember ever being in a place so vast with the absence of two legged animals and so much existence of large four legged ones. Doing lots of days hikes & trail blazing. The abundance of wild fruit is overwhelming. Base camping with the coach, galavanting with the Jeep. Denali will be more restricted. Will have to leave the Jeep behind, will base camp with the bus by interior permit (29 miles in) @ Teklanika and ride shuttles all the way in (93 miles) to Kantishna. Denali does something weird to the soul, don't know what exactly it is but it feels so damn good...:-))

[Brian Diehl]

Dan - thanks for the update and pictures!  We LOVED picking the wild blue berries as we hiked along.  We would pick enough and make some blueberry muffins with whatever survived the hike.  Even the dog would pick herself blueberries as we hiked.  Such great memories.  I really want to go back!

[windtrader]

Ditto on the update, Dan. The desire to experience the same is growing, would love to do it next year. Keep the updates coming. Thanks

[dtcerrato]

The bear in the sitting position (all the bears are grizzlies) with its paws out was a very rear moment is what we're told by those that seen it. The bear "charged" at a sapling tree & just before it got to it - it spun around and did a real satisfying back scratch in the position the photo caught it in... Sorry for the out of focus but the camera was hand held at 200X zoom while bringing the bus to a sudden stop behind a line of tour busses already stopped to view the bear - good catch Sandy! The others are caribou. The two zoom shots of Denali were on sunny clear days - the day in & the day out almost a week later. All time in between was heavy overcast & rain w/o views. The clear sky this morning had consistent overcast temps in the mid 50s drop to 33F. The photo with Denali in the back drop in front of the bus we call "GMC's version of Denali. Lol. Denali National Park & Preserve has vastness and grandeur w/o compare. We hope to return some day...

[dtcerrato]

Thanks for the comments guys.

[dtcerrato]

To be continued

[dtcerrato]

We'll we've reached the farthest north point this trip will bring us. Working our way back to Tok then eventually into Canada for the return trip. Autumn is definitely in the air, falling below freezing a couple times and leaves turning with finally darker nights! We played with the gold pan without luck so we managed to find the cheapest campsite we have ever paid for lol - $3 per night & what a wondrous area is was - only ones there for three days about 2 hours north of Fairbanks called Cripple Creek in the White Mountains National Recreation Area. When the salmon complete there run & the hoopla settles the blueberries are at their prime. So we cashed in with tastier breakfasts... :-) Did some catch & release arctic Grayland fishing - wish we knew mushrooms better - never been in an area so diverse with the fungi.
The bus hasn't missed a beat and is running great. This trip has offered so much more relaxation with he ability to squat in greatness for longer periods of time. Paying for campsites a day at a time sometimes staying a week at a time.
Of our AK camping experiences the Federal BLM / DOI lands ($3 to$6) daily & the National Parks ($6 - $9) daily next on our list are the best bang for the buck (with discounts for senior passes) & deeper into the wilderness. State Parks are more numerous but much more expensive ($15 - $20) daily with no discounts available - all are dry camping. Private campgrounds with full hookups go to $50+ daily.
Our camp Malemute in Tok with full hook ups averages out to approx. $8 daily (electric bill) 
Life is good.

[niles500]

Did you take the drive to Chena Hot springs?