Valdez to Whittier to Seward

We took the ferry from Valdez to Whittier on a cloudless day, a rare treat! We saw numerous icebergs calved from the Columbia Glacier. We steamed through a pod a humpback whales, looking directly down on them from the boat railing as they breached, a baby even jumped out off the water as we went by! From Whittier, we hitched through the tunnel and camped in Portage below numerous glaciers. We rode to The tiny town of Hope and watched fishermen catch so many pink salmon that they grew tired of taking fish off their lines in a matter of minutes.  We figured there would be bears around since fish carcasses covered the banks, but were surprised when a dark shadow standing on the side of the road by a fishing pole turned out to be a black bear! We feared for our lives as we pedaled the shoulder less highway along Alaska's busiest highway of salmon crazed fishermen. We got to camp with the Chisholms and then finished our riding by coasting into Seward. 1500 miles, 2 months out, so many great experiences!!!

Paxson to Valdez (185 miles on the Richardson)

We made it to Valdez!! We have had good weather along this route, seeing the Chugach, Alaska and Wrangell mountains. We followed the Aleyska pipeline down to Valdez. We are continuously sadden at hearing that some of our favorite roadhouses have or will be closing their doors! It is hard to find good workers and to get people in who just don't want to use the toilets they said. In the Copper River valley we battled against the swarms of Mosquitos with only one sighting of a moose. We made the climb up to Thompson Pass, one of our favorite sections. We had wonderful weather staring at Worthington glacier and the surrounding lush, green mountains. We even got to spend the night at the top of the pass at Blueberry Lake campground. It is one of the most beautiful campgrounds on earth! As we made our way to Valdez we meet the most amazing family who took us in and made us feel like we were apart of their family. We got to go kayaking in the Valdez Glacier Lake and sailing in the Valdez Bay. We are thankful for all the wonderful people that we meet along the way!

Denali Highway

We have just finished riding the Denali Highway, a 135 mile dirt road that biects the Alaska Highway system by paralleling the Alaska range. The label "highway" is a misnomer, since the road has a recommended speed limit of 30 mph, which is followed by the few brave souls that drive it because it is covered in potholes, is only open from June through September and there are only 4 lodges. This section has shown us Alaska's bipolar weather, from numb toes to sunburnt cheeks, rainbows and hail, thunderstorms and sunsets, fog and endless rain.We have been getting a little cabin fever from having to wait out numerous storms in the tent,one of which we were in the the tent for 18 hours while it poured and the bottom of our tent was like a waterbed but we stayed totally dry and are finishing books daily. On that particular morning there was a mother moose feeding her calf outside our tent! We watch storms roll across the open tundra (some we out run and some we get pounded by, today we got drenched by rain with hail) dry out when the sun shines through holes in the clouds, crank up steep hills, slap mosquitoes, read books, chat while riding side-by-side, stop at every roadhouse for pie, clean the caked up mud off everything and coffee and stay up late to watch sunsets...we feel so lucky to be able to live this  life!

Denali National Park

Just back to town after a week in Denali National Park.  We did a combination of bus riding, bike touring and day rides to see experience the park.  A weather anomaly left all 20000 ft of Denali  free of clouds for 3 full days, and record setting 85 degree heat! Our animal sightings were worthy of a nature documentary: 3 grizzlies feeding on the hillside above our campspot before all 3 standing up to look at us, a lynx that just sat down on the road in front of the bus, a grizzly walking down the side of the bus, hundreds of migrating caribou, bull moose so close we could hear it chewing and splashing in the water, a grizzly laying down in a stream and shaking off like a wet dog, a caribou running in front of our bikes for a mile down the road, golden eagles soaring with a chick, another being dive bombed by a raven, ptarmigan pairs with chicks, Dall sheep, crying loons, as well as  many interesting travelers and park rangers. What a amazing place; no better biking in the world!

Denali National Park

We rode 2days to the lovely town of Talkeetna and while dining on smoked salmon dip and crab bowl (roughing it) we checked the weather and were devistated to learn that rain is forecasted for the days we scheduled to ride in Denali National Park! So we jumped on the train and went straight up to tThe Park. We are heading in for 5 days and planning to do a combination of touring, day rides, hikes and scenic bus rides.

Glennallen-Wasilla-Talkeetna

We left Glennallen with only glimpses of the Wrangells behind us, knowing there would be spectacular views as we paralleled the rugged Chagach Mts on the Glenn Hwy.  These 3 days of riding left us being quite sore as we rode uphill for 50 miles up 3000ft viewing glaciers, like the Matenuska, descending through multile layers of mountains.  This section also tested our mortality, in that it contained a section of curvy 2-lane roads with heavy traffic and zero shoulders! The upside of climbing passes is the downside, 70 miles of flying down into the lush temperate crop lands of Palmer & hamlett of Wasilla,  (in)famous home of Sarah Palin, but more importantly our friends B&B who treated us to the luxury of civilization; warm showers, great food, comfortable sleep and stimulating conversation.  We then turned North toward Talkeetna and Denali.