June 30: Delightful Denali
What a great end to my Prudhoe Bay adventure. Today I rode the Trusty Steed home to Anchorage from Fairbanks to reunite him with James. Along the way I was treated to one beautiful vista after another of the Denali National Park and Preserve.
Leaving Fairbanks this morning I had one more gravel road to contend with – the road leading to and from my host family’s home for the night. Many of the “roads” outside the city of Fairbanks itself are a compilation of dirt and gravel. This one contained numerous large, golf ball and tennis ball sized loosely compacted rocks. Having made it all the way to Prudhoe Bay and back the last thing I wanted to do was to dump James’ bike on my final stretch home. Fortunately, I made it out onto the main highway without incident and began the 500-mile trip back to Anchorage.
My route south on highway 3 skirted the edge of Denali National Park for much of the trip. I was fortunate to be able to see mile after mile of the beautiful towering granite spires and snow-capped summits as I headed south. These mountains cover 160 miles of the Alaska Range and are visited by over half a million people a year.
Unfortunately, there are currently a record number of wildfires in Alaska due to the unusually dry and warm weather. Over 300 fires have been recorded in the last few weeks and over 100 of them are still burning, charring over 165,000 acres, and also creating a thick layer of smoke throughout much of the state.
Although the smoke did make it harder to look at the beautiful peaks of Denali, I was grateful to see as much of them as I did. I was also able to clearly make out the stunning purple and white wildflowers at the edge of the road, the lush green evergreen trees at the foothills of the mountains, and a variety of gently flowing rivers such as the Susitna and Nenana.
I was relieved to get the Trusty Steed back to James without having dropped him or scratched him in any way. James and I took care of the check in process, and he offered to hose the bike off while I arranged for an Uber to take me back to My Baby. I was so happy to see him after so many days apart and can’t wait to take him to Newfoundland and back.
