We had a nice nights sleep in our free bush camp, very quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today we drove to a quirky little town called Talkeetna. It was from the olden days, and also where the TV series Northern Exposure was inspired. From the riverbank we had a great view of Mt Denali, North Americas highest mountain at 20000 feet. It is rare to see it as it\u2019s normally covered in cloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We tried the spinach bread from a local food truck. It was spinach cheese and garlic on fresh toasted bread. It was yummy but could have had more garlic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 11am the tour buses arrived and we couldn\u2019t get out of town fast enough!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our next stop was the birch syrup factory. We didn\u2019t do a tour but we did some tastings and bought a small jar of birch syrup which is delicious! now we just need to master making pancakes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We drove to Denali national park, getting great views of the mountain. It\u2019s weird as you see a huge mountain range, and then there\u2019s this massive mountain looming over them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we were driving to Denali we could see heavy rain ahead. So we pulled over for an afternoon nap. Then when we continued on it had settled to a drizzle. When we arrived at the national park it tipped it down again. Apparently 4 seasons in one day is the norm here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We drove 30 minutes into the park as far as we were allowed to drive. At the end, the rain had stopped and the weather cleared, so we did a hike. at the start of the hike was a sign saying we were likely to encounter bears, so we kept our bear spray and air horn handy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a gorgeous walk beside a river with mountains towering beside us. We had a strong head wind, which wouldn\u2019t have been any good if we needed to deploy our bear spray. Thankfully we didn\u2019t see any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was 7pm by the time we finished our walk and we had no idea it was so late. With 24 hours of sunlight, you have no sense of time. I love it. We even did another hike after this one!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was about 9.30pm by the time we stopped for the night. It was in a massive pull off area surrounded by hills and overlooking a lake. There were quite a few other campers here too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was so excited about the summer solstice and midnight sun that I couldn\u2019t sleep. At 1.30am I was wandering around immersed in it. It is so surreal. As we head further north it will probably be even lighter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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We had a nice nights sleep in our free bush camp, very quiet. Today we drove to a quirky little town called Talkeetna. It was from the olden days, and also where the TV series Northern Exposure was inspired. From … Continue reading