6/2/10

denali highway

i did not fall off the edge of the earth, just into endless daylight in the greatland.
summer is upon us here in alaska. the bugs are biting and we are all waiting for the salmon to run.

last weekend we took off in the westfalia to drive the 600 mile trek from anchortown to cantwell, across the denali highway to paxon and home again.
our 27 year old girl ran like a champ with no major mishaps except for the requisite flat tire after 135 miles of gravel.

for anyone reading nearby who has not "done" the denali highway; i have one thing to tell you: DO IT!

this beautiful road runs through some of the finest alaskan scenery along the south side of the alaska range. the land on either side of the drive is administered by BLM which allows for endless camping and exploring possibilities.
the road was built in 1957, long before the parks highway, to provide road access into denali national park from the richardson highway.
since the completion of the parks highway in 1972, this road has been left largely for recreation.

the scenery is as breathtaking as the park itself with no crowds to speak of.
so, what are you waiting for?

guard dog--

caribou (aka: vixen)

happy dog
ground cover
trumpeter swans
the fam, with maclaren glacier in the background
 on the edge of the storm
 westy love

5 comments:

Karen Whittal said...

My number one dream, is to see the northern lights, but will obviously need to spend some time there to see the amazing scenery in your photo's.... great pictures.........

Views from Malmesbury said...

Thank you. About 5 years ago I spent about 6 weeks travelling from Whitehorse to Fairbanks, Fairbanks to Seward, Seward to Whitehorse before going into the Klondike then down to Skagway and island hopping to Vancouver Island. I was on my own and it was a big deal for a small town Brit. I met only wonderfully kind and interesting people and fell completely in love with the land. Every turn in the road brought outstanding sights that took my breath away. My photos are merely adequate, they are enough to trigger the marvellous memories I have of my trip...but your photographs have brought back that feeling of awe and wonder, taken my breath away all over again. So again...thank you!

Karen Travels said...

Sooooooo jealous!!

Laura said...

I'm so happy you wrote about this road and took the amazing pics! I have only driven it once and decided if I ever get married, I would like to do it at mile 96 because it's SO beautiful! And it's so quiet and still, like you said, no cars! Thanks for sharing this remarkable drive!

Lisabeth and Jeff said...

What lovely comments ladies. Thank you so very much for checking in on my little slice of the web.