Denali to Cantwell

We partook in the unique luxuries of Denali Village, like watching 2 moose cross the highway from deck of the coffee shop (the next day, wildlife rangers shot and killed a garbage feeding bear point blank in front of a crowd of tourists in the behind the shop). We waited out a rare Alaskan thunderstorm and then set out riding toward at 6:30pm. This turned out to be a terrible choice because we got absolutely pounded by howling head winds and driving sheets of rain the entire 36 miles (through Windy Pass...imaging that) before we rolled into the Cantwell Lodge. The cold and wet ride was well worth the suffering because we met up with Cantwell Locals; Hunter Lou, Hatchet Shain and Big Jim, and shut the bar down at 5am playing ping-pong and telling stories. We woke to snow on the mountains and spent the day in the amazingly beautiful Cantwell hanging out with our friend Lou and talking about the difficulty of gardening-Alaska-relationships, all together and as separate entities. Seeing the Alaskan mountains is amazing but forming human relationships is most memorable. We are now off to ride the Denali Highway, which every local we have met has said is the most beautiful road in Alaska.