Just got back from a great road trip. Started from Nikiski. Sterling and Seward Hwy's to Anchorage. Glenn Hwy to the Wasilla Palmer interchange. Parks Hwy to Cantwell. Denali Hwy to Paxon. Richardson Hwy to Delta Junction. Elliott Hwy to Tok. Taylor Top of the World Hwy to Dawson City. Then back via the Glenn and the rest to Nikiski.
I stopped at the Veterans Memorial on the Parks as per usual. Did a couple overlooks at Denali but the top was in clouds. Drove to Cantwell and gassed up. Looked around for a place to eat but nothing lured me in so I headed off on the Denali Hwy. All the lodges at the Cantwell end were boarded up and looked abandoned. Saw lots of wild critters and birds. The views were awesome. The road was in good condition. If you haven't ever been on it, it consists of mostly gravel. Narrow and barely any guardrails. One lane bridges. Can't beat the views. Took lots of pics. 1st place I saw that was open was the Alpine Creek Lodge. Sign said 24/7, food and beer. It was 9pm and I saw an 'open' sign lit up, so I drove up. Yes they were open. I got a great meal from Chrissy for cheap. BS'd with a couple successful bear hunters. Then hit the road again. I mean, it was still broad daylight. Saw a couple more lodges that were open after that. Tangle Lakes and McClaren River, but my belly was full, so I kept cruising. The Paxon end had even better scenery and the road was in better shape. So many river and stream crossings. Saw Trumpeter Swans all over the place. Lots of them. Took pics of Harlequin Ducks and Porcupines. Was surprised to see that Paxon was a ghost town. Probably been that way since the pipeline was finished. Headed north towards Delta following along the Alyeska Pipeline. Richardson Hwy is in good condition. Lots of long straight road. Cruised past Ft Greely. Pulled into Delta and parked for the night just after midnight. Up at 6am and could still see Denali but this time was a clear blue sky all the way. Headed south on the Alaska Hwy towards Tok. AK Hwy was in good shape and lots more long straight road. Pulled into Tok for fuel and then got breakfast at Fast Eddies. Then off to the south again and onto the Taylor Hwy. Paved for 25 miles of so winding uphill into the mountains. Got into some whoop de do's. Gravel road from there mostly although some skimpily paved areas. Stopped at Chicken for a bit then on towards the Border Crossing. Got my truck ransacked by Canadian Customs but they didn't find any prohibited items. They never even glanced at my dog's paperwork. Cruised through the alpine. More great views. Bear turds everywhere but didn't spot any bears. No guardrails. Long way to the bottom. The Canadian side had a poorer base on the road that had a tendency to get rutted and soft. Down the hill to the Yukon River. Met the ferry and was across the river in just a few minutes. Dropped right off in Dawson. Cruised around looking at things and getting the lay of the town. Dawson was much smaller than I expected. Rented a cabin for the dog and I, one street back from Diamond Tooth Gerdie's. Got a hot shower and some food and rested for a while. In the evening, I made my way to DTG and joined the festivities there. Gambling was in full swing. Tour busses were in town so plenty of tourists from all over with accents and foreign languages. I sat at the bar and ordered up a Canadian microbrew. Watched Diamond Tooth Gerdy and the crew but on a show. Well actually 3 shows. Lots of costume changes. Great dancing and music. Those ladies were very fit and put their all into the show. Very colorful costumes and entertaining including some participation by audience members who they drug up on stage during the first show. Had a good time there. Left out on Sunday with a light rain coming down. Back on the ferry and then headed uphill away from the Yukon on the Top of the World Hwy. Breezed through American customs. Pro tip.....don't bring firewood. (I didn't) They'll confiscate it. I thought probably to prevent bringing bugs across the border, BUT........haha they are above tree line there at the border and the agents (both sides) stay there in cabins when not on duty. The crossing is only open 10 hours a day. Anyway, those guys probably just want that firewood for the wood stoves so they don't have to travel down to treeline and cut their own. I made my way back to the Alaska Hwy and then to the Tok Cutoff to Glenallen. Had another meal there in Glenallen where a guy brand new to Alaska paid for my meal because it was my birthday. He knew because the waitress had asked me what I was up to and he heard me tell her I had gone to Dawson as part of my birthday celebration. Then on home back to Nikiski. 1600 miles. Hundreds of photos and a great time. I highly recommend taking a drive over the Denali and Taylor Hwy's. Both were a first for me and were the completion to me driving all the state hwys in this part of Alaska. I haven't driven much of southeast. No, I'm not going to post pics. Go see for yourself. I really enjoyed this trip.
I stopped at the Veterans Memorial on the Parks as per usual. Did a couple overlooks at Denali but the top was in clouds. Drove to Cantwell and gassed up. Looked around for a place to eat but nothing lured me in so I headed off on the Denali Hwy. All the lodges at the Cantwell end were boarded up and looked abandoned. Saw lots of wild critters and birds. The views were awesome. The road was in good condition. If you haven't ever been on it, it consists of mostly gravel. Narrow and barely any guardrails. One lane bridges. Can't beat the views. Took lots of pics. 1st place I saw that was open was the Alpine Creek Lodge. Sign said 24/7, food and beer. It was 9pm and I saw an 'open' sign lit up, so I drove up. Yes they were open. I got a great meal from Chrissy for cheap. BS'd with a couple successful bear hunters. Then hit the road again. I mean, it was still broad daylight. Saw a couple more lodges that were open after that. Tangle Lakes and McClaren River, but my belly was full, so I kept cruising. The Paxon end had even better scenery and the road was in better shape. So many river and stream crossings. Saw Trumpeter Swans all over the place. Lots of them. Took pics of Harlequin Ducks and Porcupines. Was surprised to see that Paxon was a ghost town. Probably been that way since the pipeline was finished. Headed north towards Delta following along the Alyeska Pipeline. Richardson Hwy is in good condition. Lots of long straight road. Cruised past Ft Greely. Pulled into Delta and parked for the night just after midnight. Up at 6am and could still see Denali but this time was a clear blue sky all the way. Headed south on the Alaska Hwy towards Tok. AK Hwy was in good shape and lots more long straight road. Pulled into Tok for fuel and then got breakfast at Fast Eddies. Then off to the south again and onto the Taylor Hwy. Paved for 25 miles of so winding uphill into the mountains. Got into some whoop de do's. Gravel road from there mostly although some skimpily paved areas. Stopped at Chicken for a bit then on towards the Border Crossing. Got my truck ransacked by Canadian Customs but they didn't find any prohibited items. They never even glanced at my dog's paperwork. Cruised through the alpine. More great views. Bear turds everywhere but didn't spot any bears. No guardrails. Long way to the bottom. The Canadian side had a poorer base on the road that had a tendency to get rutted and soft. Down the hill to the Yukon River. Met the ferry and was across the river in just a few minutes. Dropped right off in Dawson. Cruised around looking at things and getting the lay of the town. Dawson was much smaller than I expected. Rented a cabin for the dog and I, one street back from Diamond Tooth Gerdie's. Got a hot shower and some food and rested for a while. In the evening, I made my way to DTG and joined the festivities there. Gambling was in full swing. Tour busses were in town so plenty of tourists from all over with accents and foreign languages. I sat at the bar and ordered up a Canadian microbrew. Watched Diamond Tooth Gerdy and the crew but on a show. Well actually 3 shows. Lots of costume changes. Great dancing and music. Those ladies were very fit and put their all into the show. Very colorful costumes and entertaining including some participation by audience members who they drug up on stage during the first show. Had a good time there. Left out on Sunday with a light rain coming down. Back on the ferry and then headed uphill away from the Yukon on the Top of the World Hwy. Breezed through American customs. Pro tip.....don't bring firewood. (I didn't) They'll confiscate it. I thought probably to prevent bringing bugs across the border, BUT........haha they are above tree line there at the border and the agents (both sides) stay there in cabins when not on duty. The crossing is only open 10 hours a day. Anyway, those guys probably just want that firewood for the wood stoves so they don't have to travel down to treeline and cut their own. I made my way back to the Alaska Hwy and then to the Tok Cutoff to Glenallen. Had another meal there in Glenallen where a guy brand new to Alaska paid for my meal because it was my birthday. He knew because the waitress had asked me what I was up to and he heard me tell her I had gone to Dawson as part of my birthday celebration. Then on home back to Nikiski. 1600 miles. Hundreds of photos and a great time. I highly recommend taking a drive over the Denali and Taylor Hwy's. Both were a first for me and were the completion to me driving all the state hwys in this part of Alaska. I haven't driven much of southeast. No, I'm not going to post pics. Go see for yourself. I really enjoyed this trip.
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