TALKEETNA ~ River of Plenty

Next stop TRAPPER CREEK

The drive from Denali to Trapper Creek is roughly 122 miles on the Parks Highway. The road is in reasonably good shape, some construction, the typical Alaskan bottomless potholes and occasional frost heaves. Driving a motorhome in Alaska requires the driver and navigator to be always on the lookout for those highway hazards. Hitting a frost heave at typical driving speeds is like experiencing a 6.0 earthquake. Luckily, many of them are marked with orange flags. We planned to visit Trapper Creek and Talkeetna before meeting up with our friends Jeff and Kathie at their home in Wasilla. We had a boondocking spot in mind on the Petersville road near Trapper Creek. It was at Mile marker nine where the pavement ended, and the gravel began. Joe and Dona had camped there when they visited Alaska, and they gave us directions. AT&T worked well here for phone and Internet but Verizon did not. Verizon actually has been the weakest signal since we entered Alaska.

Then we found out our friend’s cabin was in that exact location and they were heading that way also.  It Rained hard the two days we were there. We still enjoyed the area by exploring in the jeep.

We saw a couple of Moose, one swimming across a lake and one standing boldly in a swampy area.

 We drove the Jeep around looking at the beautiful backwoods country. Many people, including our friends, have cabins in this area but are only accessible by ATV or Argos riding across the swamp. In the winter they use snow machines.  Unfortunately, the rain continued into the 3rd day, and it was going to be impossible to ride into their cabin, so we headed for Talkeetna just 30 miles from here.

We stopped at the intersection of the spur road and unhitched the Jeep and drove it 14 miles into Talkeetna to inspect our options for boondocking in or near the town.  We found a gravel pull off area at mile marker 12.4. It’s just two miles from town. It’s a double ended parking area that is set back in the trees off the highway.  Parking in village averaged $25.00 a day for dry camping in a parking lot, so this was much better than that option.  The RV parks looked quite crowded although we weren’t interested in those anyway. In addition to being crowded, they typically weren’t equipped to handle a rig over 40 feet.

We had heard the Visitor Center had overnight parking out off the Parks Highway, but we never did find it. There was major road construction in the vicinity of the GPS coordinates we had, so our options were limited.   The downside of this location was the mosquitos. We had some “swatting” practice back in Trapper Creek, but this location provided a whole new challenge. Verizon and AT&T were both strong at this location.

The first day we visited Talkeetna it was still raining off and on, and it was cold. The streets were muddy, and all the potholes were full of water. It wasn’t a pleasant day to visit the shops, but we did have a great lunch at the Roadhouse.

THE HISTORY: The Athabascan Indians originally inhabited this area. They were a strong group that refused to let the Russian traders up the Susitna River. In 1905 gold was discovered in the Cache Creek region to the west of Talkeetna bringing miners and prospectors into the area. The Talkeetna townsite was established in 1916 there was a sawmill, several cafes, bunkhouses, a couple of roadhouses.   This is where three rivers meet.   The Talkeetna, Chulitna, and Susitna, converge here to become the Big Susitna drainage. The word “Susitna” in the Indian language means “Sand Island River.” That’s appropriately named  especially after all the rain this area has had lately.

 

The third and final day we were here the sun came out.  We headed up to the Talkeenta Lodge up on the hill where we heard they had the best viewpoint of Denali.  We hoped to be among the 30% of tourists who get lucky and see the Mountain.

The clouds parted a little, and although the mountains were far away, we could see them for a change.  A rather wimpy picture because it was hazy.  We ended up staying at the lodge most of the afternoon just enjoying the sun on the deck. It had been days since we saw the something other than a gray sky.   Then we went inside and had a yummy lunch. Seafood Chowder and a Salmon Burger.  For the first time in a couple of days, the Air Taxis and Flightseeing planes were beginning to take people out again.

After checking out the weather forecast for the next few days, we saw nothing but rain ahead of us.  We had hoped to secure a seat in one of the planes that take you out to the Denali Range so we could see the peaks and glaciers up close.  It didn’t look promising at this point.  “Have patience” Chuck and Jan told us, and that it was something we should try to do.   We planned to be in the Wasilla area for several days, so a 60-mile drive back to Talkeetna in the Jeep would be doable.  We put our name on the list with Sheldon Air Service and said call us if a decent day appears for a flight around Denali.   We packed up and left for the Palmer/Wasilla area.  We needed to do some shopping, get our mail, and then we would meet up with our friends who live in Wasilla.

The first three nights we boondocked at the Moose Lodge in Palmer. The bartender in Fairbanks said it was an active lodge with a quiet place to park and she was right.   Surrounded by mountains, the lounge has a million dollar view. The bar was always busy, and the members were fun.

The Moose Lodge has 20 Amp service, no sanitary dump or water.  A donation of $10.00 a night is requested.  We ended up staying three nights.

Just a few miles from us was the Elks Lodge, It was even a more beautiful location right on a lake.  We went in for cocktails but didn’t feel like moving over there since we were already settled in at the Moose Lodge.

Just FYI for those traveling through, it is $15.00 per night 30 Amp at the Elks Lodge right on the edge of “Finger Lake,”  and they have many RV Spaces –  No dump facilities there either.  Another large and beautiful lodge.

We were still at the Moose Lodge in Palmer on Thursday, the night of the SUMMER SOLSTICE.  That was the Longest day, and In Alaska, it virtually means Light all night. This state celebrates the longest day with parades, baseball games, parties and much more. It’s not only on the day of the Solstice, but the partying continued through the weekend.  Some of the bars stay open until 3 AM.  I guess when you are in the dark most of the time through the winter, celebrating the daylight becomes a special occasion.

First Light and Last light were only an hour and Five minutes apart.  And Believe me, it never got dark!   I couldn’t sleep most of the night, probably because I was curious to see just how light it remained.

We haven’t eaten out for lunch or dinner since the Turtle Club in Fox, AK.  We decided we would hit the visitor center in Palmer, The Farmers Market and have lunch at the Palmer Bar.

More locally known as the “PB”  It was voted as the BEST place for lunch in Palmer on some sites. I took a look at the outside of the PB and I thought for sure this could not be the place people were raving about.  It just looked like an old dive bar.

Before entering I asked the man sitting on a bench outside the door, “is this the best place in town for a burger?’  “Affirmative,” he said with a smile.  So we walked in, the only ones there at the time, and we were greeted with a smile by the bartender.  A cute gal and as soon as she started talking I knew she wasn’t from Alaska.   Louisiana! she said.  Louisiana happens to be one of our favorite states that we have visited.  Her name is Beverly, and we just had a great time talking with her about her home state and how she ended up in Palmer, Alaska.  She’s lived in Alaska for eight years.  She was also the cook.  We ordered the jalapeno burger. Since she told us it was a 1/2 pound burger, we shared it and some onion rings.  Mark and I looked at each other and both exclaimed that this was indeed The Best tasting burger that we have ever had.

It’s the friends we meet along the way that make our journey memorable

 

The next morning we decided to move over to our friend’s house in Wasilla for a few days. I was looking out the window at another rainy, dreary day.  It was about 8:30 am when I noticed  I had a missed call.   The message was from  Sheldon Air Service … “It’s a beautiful day in Talkeetna; we are calling to see if you would like to take a flight today”  We both looked at each other and thought how can it be? Its terrible weather here and Talkeetna is only about 60 miles away.  But I was wasting no time, I called Sky (yep, that’s her name, she’s the coordinator of the flights) She said we have a flight at 2:00 today and yes the weather is good…..   WHOOhooooooo ~ Just the call we’d been waiting for.