End of the Alaskan highway... and a jaunt down the Denali

Canadian coins rattle in my ashtray as my van rumbles down the Denali hwy. Bluegrass seeps soothingly from my speakers and I sing the lyrics I know out my open window to the unique beauty unfurling all around me. Rolling green hills cut with swaths of creeks and rivers, spotted with lakes and patched with vibrant fireweed. Craggy, snow capped peaks rise up dramatically on most of the horizons. Beaming like a fool at my current environment and luck to be right here, right now, I'm unaware the road dust is completely coating my bedding in the back. The rig is old enough to have an ashtray, as well as roll windows, but shes mechanically sound. I converted her as best I could into my little campervan, and she has been a faithful companion.

I thunder on down the gravel taking in consistently stunning views, and notice I've rolled over 4500 miles at this point. Ahead of me is an old friend, roughly 100 miles on gravel and another 100 or so on pavement. She's in town visiting her daughter and heard of my Alaskan adventure through mutual friends. She left me a message when she passed through Tok, two days before I did, which is where I finally got enough signal to even realize she'd called. I'm pushing on as far as I can tonight to see her.

My brain keeps turning to thoughts of whitewater boating as I steadily crawl down the rough road. I've passed so many wild and exciting looking rivers on my journey, and their draw is getting stronger every sighting of the water. Just the day before I had planned a run that I had to scrap as it relied on hitchhiking. After six or seven hours with my thumb out and no luck, I went back to the drawing board. That's when I got her message. I also finally got word from another friend who moved to Alaska a few years ago, regarding some other boating plans. He's never one to turn down an adventure, at least not when I knew him back in college when we guided trips for our outdoor program together. Well, his outdoor program. He was the man in charge, at least as far as I'm concerned.

It turns out he's busy just long enough for me to speed over to Talkeetna to see Lisa. We worked together in the hospital I just quit to come on this journey from Colorado to the Alaskan interior and eventually the Arctic ocean. Although we never worked terribly closely together, she was always a warm and welcome sight, and she is often remembered among the staff still there. Which used to include me... Strange. Well, it used to include her too, but she has since retired.  

With a rumble, the roughness of this road brings me out of my thoughts just in time to reveal a captivating glimpse of Denali and the surrounding mountain ranges. Whoa. I pull over to take in the sights and snap a couple pictures. Its hard to balance soaking up the experiences with documenting them. As I turn this over in my mind I hear crunching in the underbrush nearby. It sure is making some noise. I assume it must be big, and seek to locate it by sound. Narrowing down my search turning my head and waiting for another crash and then another, I finally get a visual of the brush tops moving. Found him. Waiting expectantly for a moose to emerge, I'm surprised when its just a young porcupine that pops out onto a grassy area nearby. He sure made his presence known, crashing through the vegetation. Proving to be a good sport, he poses for a few pictures and we both move along.

When the highway turns just right, the sun floods in my driver side window and heats my chest. My thoughts turn to seeing my two very different friends. Lisa has always been a fun to be around, caring, second mother type for me. Carson is a bit harder to describe. He's arguably the most capable man I've ever known. Coming up with an outdoor or mechanically related situation that he couldn't handle seems impossible to me.

He's an example of what men used to be. Capable. The moment he mentioned he was down for a river trip, I didn't question where or how difficult. We (he) could sort out the logistics no matter how complex and if need be, aid in my rescue it it proved too big of water. Never have I doubted this man's ability. We had a bit of rivalry back in college, but the only place I could really compete was in personality. Not that he isn't charismatic too, he often related better to the natural world than to the people in it, which I've always had a knack for finding common ground with. I'm looking forward to seeing him despite having essentially no contact for years. I'd venture to guess he has no idea how fondly he is remembered.

I refocus on the road ahead. The going is slow and although I thoroughly enjoyed the Denali highway, I didn't hit pavement on the other side until after 8 pm. I was already a bit tired when I hit the gravel beginning of the Denali highway. The plan is to meet Lisa for breakfast, and I felt I had to get closer to town before calling it a night. Another 120 miles or so to go. Exhausted, I got within 10 miles of town and, despite a plethora of private property, no trespassing and no camping signs, i found a discreet place to tuck the van for the short night.

Much earlier in the day I somewhat unceremoniously ended my trip along the Alaskan Highway from Dawson creek to Delta junction...