Woke up to rain and smoke so I rolled over and went back to sleep. After a bit it became clear that I wasn’t in the mood to deal with riding but I did need to eat so I hopped on the bike and rode the 30 seconds over to the lodge. The people there are so nice. This is the kind of place where there’s a good group of regulars that come in so everybody jokes with everybody. It’s just nice to be around that. After a delicious breakfast I headed back over to the tent so I could plan my next move.
After consulting fire maps, reading news reports, getting tips from family that have friends up here and talking to the locals I now have a plan. Tomorrow I’m going to go to Fairbanks and stay there one night. There’s a museum there that I’d like to visit (Museum of the North) and it’s been a goal for this trip so I’m kind of committed to it. When I get done there I’m turning around and riding the same stretch of road I’m on now back to Delta Junction.
Instead of going east on the Alaska Highway I’m going to go south until I get to the town of Paxson. That’s where the fun begins. The Denali Highway, 134 miles long– 110 of which is gravel, heads east out of Paxson until it links up the the Parks Highway. From here it would be a 27 mile ride north to Denali National Park. After Denali it’s down to Anchorage and from there I don’t know. The Denali Highway will be a bit of a challenge since it’s not paved but everyone up here raves about how incredible the scenery is–some even say better than Denali.
I’m a little disappointed that I’m not going up to the Arctic Circle but the fires are blowing most of the heavy smoke that way and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I’m just happy to have a goal even if it’s not what I originally had in mind.
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