Nothing too special today. Done all I need to do in Denali for now, and the hoards of holiday makers were starting to roll in. So I have run back to Fairbanks and will spend a few days here doing the the Dalton Highway and seeing what Fairbanks has to offer before I go down to Anchorage. Not even many photos to post, because basically if you want to know what the drive was like, you just need to look at the photos I posted 3 days ago wen I drove to Denali - but start with the last one first and work your way backwards !!! Rofl. But there were a couple of interesting / funny things happen ! As usual !!!
Woke up early with the temp about 2 deg C below, and gradually packed up camp while I had my breakfast and tried to keep warm ! Not easy - I am finding that a leisurely pack up and breakfast is about 2 hours, and that is just comfortable. Sounds like a long time, but getting everything into Elsie has to be done in a specific order otherwise it won't all fit, and the tent, which is almost the last thing to be taken down, actually has to go into the car first !! Might have to change that next trip !! Anyway, after packing up went down to the Administration Centre and had a nice hot shower to warm up and clean up (in order of importance !!), and when I came out there was someone eying my car - Gary Vinant-Tang. Turns out he is (I think) an independent film director from LA, so we had a chat for a while. His recent movie is "Van Dexter, Vampire Slayer", an official selection for the Anchorage International Film Festival, I believe ? Nice guy.
Then went in to get a cup of coffee for the road, and when I came out two girls were looking at the car. Got chatting and it turns out they have both just returned from a tour of duty with the US Army in Afghanistan, and are now based in Fairbanks and had just driven down to Denali for the day. Angie and Amanda - Nice chatting with you, and hope you had a great day.
Eventually got on the road, and I stopped for gas in Healy, NOT a very big town, just 10 miles up the road. You have to pay before you pump in the US, so as I went into the store, the girl in there says "Are you Giles, the guy driving from Australia to Alaska ?" Of course I did a double take, and said Yes, but how do you know ? And she says "Oh, there was an article in the paper about you !!" So Julie, the reporter who I met at Creamers Field in Fairbanks last week, had obviously got the article in - Now I just have to find it to see what they said !!! But so funny to pull up in Healy and get accosted by name like that !!!
After I left Healy, just a pleasant drive in the sunshine back to Fairbanks. It may have been my imagination, but the warm sun of the last few days seems to be turning Alaska very green, very quickly ! The new growth on the trees is just such a bright, vibrant green compared to last years growth that has already had to cope with a winter ! Watching spring occur all around you is really rather special. The black spruce, that you would swear must be dead, are pushing out new shoots everywhere !
Went back to the campsite I was at before on Badger Road in North Pole, and after I set up the tent, it was pretty hot, so I was in flip flops and a T shirt for the first time since leaving Anacortes ! I had a problem as I have no where cool to store a beer or my ham and cheese I have for lunch, or my milk, nor my pills I carry which are supposed to be kept refrigerated. So far on the trip this has not been a problem because most of the time the temps have been below freezing anyway !! But today, and hopefully for the next few days, it will be a problem. But, necessity is the mother of invention !! So my boot box, which is already my storage box, my picnic table, and my bearproof food storage box (because it is watertight / air tight), has now become my Ice Chest !! Bought a bag of ice, wrapped it in a big garbage bag so when it melts it doesn't leak into the box, and bingo - Everthing inside is lovely and cool !!! I wonder what else I can use this box for ? !!
Then later some big black clouds came over and I thought it was going to rain, so I used the ground sheet to construct a little shelter between the car and the tent, so that if it DOES rain I can get in and out of the tent without getting rain inside the tent ! That is the first time I have tried this, but if it works it will solved part of my problem of camping in the rain !!
Anyway, Sunday today so none of the tour places I called are open, so have to get onto that first thing in the morning. So did my laundry, and generally took it easy. Just a couple of pics here. https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/DenaliBackToFairbanks?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSanqS7oKSv8AE#
