Denali Days (7-9)

I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as “enough time” in Denali. Neither of my (admittedly short) visits to the park the size of Massachusetts were sufficient, even for a decidedly indoorsy girl like me. I woke up in Anchorage, worked half the day, and did some exploring in Talkeetna en route to Denali. I was running out steam and happy to take it slow for this last leg of my journey.

A quick stop at the Denali Brewing Taproom allowed me to knock out some work and meet new friends. I met a charming couple from DC and we had a marvelous time giving each other highlights and suggestions for our trips. We enjoyed flights of the Denali Brewing beer and spirits. The blueberry mojito, coffee whiskey, and seasonal fruity beers were all delightful. I was excited to learn that my new friends were booked for the bus tour an hour before mine, and we decided to try to get on the same tour the next day and meet up for a hike after.

I walked the shops and galleries of Talkeetna and scrapped my plan to check out the extremely crowded Denali BrewPub. Talkeetna is a fairly popular tourist destination, but there wasn’t a whole lot happening on a Monday night in a pandemic. I was pretty pumped to find a patch with a yellow float plane that matched the one from my birthday ride and the very cute Dancing Leaf Gallery, but otherwise, Talkeetna was pretty skip-able in my opinion. On a clear day, there are excellent views of Denali and it is a very popular place to flightsee. I decided to head into the park for the night pretty early since my day was going to begin at dark:30.

The weather was pretty terrible, and the clouds and rain made my Northern Lights and Denali sightings were going to be very VERY unlikely. Imagine my surprise, rolling through the park and the magical mountain top popped up through a break in the clouds. I honestly wasn’t sure if it was The Great One, but I flipped the fastest u-turn of my life on the Denali Highway to snag a photo out my window as semi-trucks blew by. Two miles later I arrived at the Northern View Point and waited out some cloud cover hoping to catch another glimpse. People came and went as I waited and I chatted with the Mother Daughter Duo I mentioned here. The fellowship of Alaska travel is pretty remarkable. Everyone is excited to share their experiences and help make sure that you catch the must see sights while you are there. We didn’t have much luck seeing the mountain again, so that passing glimpse felt like a super special moment for me.

I tried to make it as close to the bus depot as possible since it was going to be a very early morning. It was dark, windy, raining sideways and getting a little scary out on the road alone, so I pulled over to my least successful or scenic campsite for the night. Semis passed so close and shook Van GOgh like crazy. I got in a fragmented 4 hour nap and headed to the depot to attempt to adjust my Tundra Wilderness Tour time. I didn’t have any luck getting onto my friends’ earlier tour, and unfortunately all that rain washed out a road and we missed the Polychrome Pass portion of our day, but we had a marvelous time. Our driver was fascinating and a lot of fun. We saw four of the big five: Dall sheep, caribou, moose, brown bear, but no wolves. Now the drivers have cameras and they project what they find on drop down screens so everyone can view the wildlife. We had a fantastic spotter in the back with us, and it is really fun playing a giant game of iSpy on a bus together. Every single tour is different since they can’t guarantee what you’ll get to see. All I really wanted to see on the tour was a brown bear, and I was thrilled that we saw one in the distance as we entered the park. Our driver did his best to maximize our shortened tour, so he asked every passing driver if they had spotted anything good so we could see as much as possible. We were told that there was another bear closer to the road as we were leaving and we had the unique experience of having a grizzly bear charge at our bus. It ran right at the back of our bus and disappeared into the canyon. It was terrifying and thrilling all at the same time. A tour is really the best way to see the 90 miles of park road since individual cars can’t pass mile 15 without winning the annual highway lottery. Fall was just arriving and the colors were changing at the park, it was cloaked in a gorgeous mist and glittering with rain. It was a beautiful day despite the crazy weather.

Our tour got back after a couple of hours and I met up with my new friends at Karsten’s Public House. We happened to be there for Christmas in August, a sweet tradition they borrowed from Yellowstone. It was a little weird to sit beside Christmas trees and listen to Christmas music as we worked on projects in August, but honestly- its par for the crazy course in Alaska. It’s a really cute spot. The tile and wood work are amazing, the wifi is strong, and the waitstaff is really helpful. We got great tips about what we needed to see and do before we left. They told us about a nice little hike we could take with a low probability of getting lost or eaten by bears, so it sounded like a winner to us. We got stuck in a moose jam (traffic caused by moose in the street) and headed out for a nice stroll in the light rain. I felt extra lucky about my driver, my tour, and the fact that I didn’t make it onto their tour when I learned that their ride was very short and they didn’t see much wildlife at all. Luckily we didn’t encounter any bears on the Mountain Vista Loop, and we made it down to the river to do a little more exploring before we left the park and explored the views from Healy.

The Alaska Railroad ride came through Healy and I absolutely fell in love with the views. I was thrilled to rediscover the gorgeous bridges and admire the beauty of the landscape as I exited the north side of Denali Park. I am pretty sure I was recommended 49th State Brewing Healy campus by at least two dozen people. They were all absolutely right. My flight of beer was fantastic. The grapefruit lager, mango permafrost pucker, spruce tips, nitro McCarthy stout, and Red White and Blueberry beers were so good. You can’t miss the King Crabby grilled cheese with seafood chowder, and the smok lager spicy glazed popcorn bar snacks are STILL haunting my dreams. It was absolutely the most fun evening of my VanVenture, the food and company were stellar and it was the perfect way to wind down my trip. The new taproom is gorgeous, the beer garden and grounds are great. If you can swing a trip there, you absolutely should. The Anchorage location is also good, but Healy is practically perfect.

I was sad to end the night and my adventure, but I needed to clear the other side of the park to find signal strong enough to make a video call for work the next morning. So I drove a bit into the park and found an amazing spot beside the river. It was overcast and rain was coming, but there was a hint of glowing green over the mountains. I don’t know if it counts as a true aurora sighting, but I went to bed with a huge smile on my face knowing that I accomplished everything I wanted to on my trip and that I would never forget and never be the same after this incredible journey.

The night was short, and I watched the sun come up over an even more autumnal park. There were more reds and yellows than the day before, and my drive out was so beautiful it took my breath away. I tried both Denali viewing lots on my way out with no more luck. I worked from Van GOgh, napped at a lake near Palmer, returned to Anchorage, and got a little emotional cleaning out the van and saying goodbye.

It was a given that this was going to be a challenge for me. I admire nature from afar, and I would never consider it a vacation without flush toilets, electricity, and HVAC. I don’t plan trips where I have to wonder where I’m going to pee, shower, or plug in my phone. My idea of a good time usually involves food/ iconic tv & movie locations/ and some sort of bucket list art or shenanigan I consumed through some type of media. When I couldn’t get a travel agent to come up with a plan, I searched “most instagrammable places in Alaska” for a baseline. I camped with kate spade bags and cole haan boots. I was not packed or prepared for this kind of trip, but I rose the challenge and figured it out.

I am anxious, nervous, and scared of so many things, I wouldn’t have dreamed that I’d be up for something like this. I manage my anxiety and fears with careful planning and research. Building detailed itineraries, routing for efficiency, pre-booking as much as I can, relying on technology and having a buddy if I do something outside of my comfort zone are my favorite coping mechanisms… and none of those failsafes were going to bail me out here. This trip had me out alone where anything could happen. Bears, beasts, bubbas, getting lost or abducted in the woods, eaten by wildlife, harassed for wearing my mask everywhere, stranded on the side of the road in a strange vehicle with no cell service... all very real possibilities that spiked my blood pressure. Hearing my step mom tell me repeatedly how brave I was to do it was kind of a mind f*ck. A VanVenture wasn’t on my 2021 wishlist, I actively told myself it wasn’t something I could do.

I didn’t embark on this adventure with any inclination that Alaska would make my itinerary. I am not a religious person, my relationship with a god or house of worship is nonexistent. But I do believe in things bigger than myself, the power of preparation and positive thoughts. I like to think everything happens for a reason, that we should trust our instincts, do things that challenge us, strive to learn and grow as people. The house sit in North Pole stirred something in my gut and told me it was meant for me. I felt an immediate connection with my hosts there and in Anchorage. I never would have believed myself capable of doing this without their guidance and support. I am so grateful for every part of this Spoiled Spinster #soulSabbatical, but this word loving lady will never find the ones to tell you how meaningful this Van GOgh experience was for me. So much could have gone wrong, and so much had to have gone exactly right for me to get this experience. Thank you for letting me share it with you. I hope a challenge this rewarding, world altering, beautiful, and resounding comes your way some day. Most of all, I hope kind strangers enter your orbit and knock you into a new course like they keep doing mine. I can’t thank Trusted Housesitters enough for helping make these crazy dreams of mine a reality. My support system and sense of home and family far have expanded far beyond my wildest imagination and I am so much better for it.