987 July 16, 2023 Denali Highway

The rain stopped after we settled for bed last night.  This morning, it was raining again.  I put on Tim’s big yellow raincoat, determined to take a good walk.  There were paths through the campground and down to the lake.  As I was walking toward the entrance, Tim was coming the other way.  We walked together to the bridge over the Tangle River.

It was wet and cloudy and chilly but we were undeterred as we packed for an overnight trip in the Jeep.  The remainder of the Denali Highway is rough and not great for the RV.  So, we left it behind and began our journey. 

Our first stop was at the Tangle Lakes Lodge where we were able to purchase two bundles of firewood. 

Landmark Gap came into view.  The Native American peoples who inhabited this land for 10,000 years, hunted caribou in this pass.  Caribou from the Nelchina herd will migrate here in the next couple of weeks.  Sometimes, hundreds of caribou can be seen here as early as July, but we saw none today.

We turned into the Landmark Gap Trailhead.  It started as a mud puddle. 

We drove about 3 miles north toward the gap.  The road was rough and it took about an hour to make our way.  The view was spectacular even on this rainy day.  If the weather had been better and it had been later in the day, we might have stayed here to camp. 

We made our way back to the road and continued west.  We passed McClaren Summit at over 4,000 feet.  It was 46 degrees and misty and yucky. 

The McClaren River.

A palsa.  This was a frozen mound of ground.  When the highway was cut, the palsa was damaged and collapsed.  There are still layers of peat and frozen ground in the remaining portion.

Then, it began to rain steadily.  We pulled over to rest but the weather didn’t improve.  We decided to keep heading west in an effort to find blue skies.  At MM59, we quit.  We turned around and headed back. 

I was driving.  After a couple of minutes, the warning light for the right front tire came on and read low tire pressure…9…inflate tire to 37…

So, I pulled over and Tim got out the tire gauge.  Fortunately, the tire was properly inflated.  We drove on and the warning light went off and the tire pressure read correctly.  False Alarm!  SHEW!!!

As we traveled east, the road was dry at Landmark Gap and it was not raining.  We decided to try a campsite not far from the highway that had a nice view of the pass.  Tim made a fire and I rested.  It was dripping rain and chilly on the knoll.  I tried to have a good attitude but I was damp.  We made a deal that if it was not raining at 4:30, we would set up the tent and stay.  We packed up and returned to the RV.  It was disheartening but it is supposed to be fun!

We made our salads and soup and enjoyed bring warm and dry.

As we were eating, we saw the eagle return.  He dipped into the lake near the boat ramp and lifted off.

I took an after-dinner walk.  When I got down to the lake, I saw the beaver swimming.

Later in the evening a moose cow and calf were eating at the lakeside.

We have such a nice site with a beautiful view.