June 24th

THE DETAILS:

WEATHER: The day started with cloudless skies, 56 degrees and a steady wind. The clouds rolled in by noon and the temperatures rose to a comfortable 80 degrees and of course - afternoon showers.


DISTANCE: We finally left our “Father’s Day Spot” at 11:00 am. We drove ½ of the 134 mile Denali Highway and turned back. We will finish the other 57 miles on our return trip.


As we drove back through Denali National Forest for the last time I was reminded of the dizzying affect of trying to take in the height and width and breath of this mountain range. It reminds me of Psalm 4: “What is man that you are mindful of him? … Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

We continued south to Cantwell and took a left onto Denali Highway. This is some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve taken in since the Yukon. It is rugged and remote but the road wasn’t treacherous like Denali or Dalton Highway. There is a glacier mountain in the distance covered with snow opposite our road, a deep valley full of ponds & streams between and we rode the ridge on the other side of it all. It is perfect terrain for moose, bear & caribou but we only saw 3 very large moose in a distant pond. We could watch the rain showers in the afternoon roll in from miles away and at one point we were in a full down pour but the sun was shining. Very strange weather here.

Gary fished one stream along the way and within an hour had 2 grayling. They are in the trout family. One was 10 inches and the other 9. There’s dinner for tonight! As we made our way back to Parks Highway we watched for bear or caribou but instead saw our first rainbow. It was gorgeous with the mountain range as a back drop. We drove another mile or so and behind us we witnessed a double rainbow! I’ve never seen where a rainbow ends or begins. I didn’t think it was possible, but both of these rainbows dropped right down into the field that we were parked next to. It was so cool. We stayed there a while admiring its beauty and determined that we didn’t have time to continue on down Parks Highway toward Anchorage. We pulled into a place just off of Parks Highway in Cantwell called Cantwell RV Park. So creative!


PS: Dan, I know you’re excited to get to Sarah in Wasilla but you’ll have to be patient. There is SOOO much to see before we get there! Besides, we have fish to catch along the way also. I didn’t notice the W for Wonder Lake but thanks for pointing that out. Very cool.

Martie, Okay, there are your pictures and I’m glad you’re enjoying the reality vacation show. I am DIEING to know what Alex’s story is though…. A fat lip??? Raising boys…. Gotta’ love it.