June 28 – 29: Denali Highway
We left Tok early on the 28th (well, early for us), planning to go through to Paxson Lake Campground. The route took us on what’s known as the “Tok Cutoff”, a southerly highway that goes way south, then we make a sharp turn north and head up to the start of the Denali Highway, which runs between Paxson and Cantwell. Here’s a map from Trip Wizard, our planning tool, with some annotations to help put our travels in perspective.
The Denali Highway is another route that is always top of mind for Alaska travelers. We were apprehensive about its condition, but as it turned out, it was in better shape that we expected. Lots of potholes, but most were marked, or at least visible. And the drive was beautiful. We were fortunate to catch a glimpse of the elusive Mount Denali during the last few miles of the drive. Only 30% of aspiring viewers actually get to see the mountain, so we were very pleased. The mountain vistas during the lead up to that were terrific also. The only problem was the mosquitos and horseflies – they swarmed us whenever we left the van.
We had anticipated boondocking one night along the Denali, but in the end, we found we wanted to be in a campground for the night. We found Brushkana, a small state campground with no services, but at least there were a few other people around. The mosies were just a bad, unfortunately. We knew this would be the case in Alaska at this time of year, but this was the first time we had encountered them.
The couple on the next RV stopped by because they were from BC and saw we had BC plates as well. We got to talking and it turns out he was from Nelson, the town where Garry was born and raised. Garry didn’t know him because he was born three years before Garry left Nelson. But, it turned out, they did know some of the same people. Small world!
The next day, after a very short morning’s drive, we arrived at Cantwell, the terminus of the Denali Highway, where we had reservations, on Saturday, June 29. But we were very early in the day, and it was only about 25 miles to the entrance to the park, so we made a preliminary trip to the Park’s Visitor Center, which was excellent. Lots of info, well-organized, lots of day use parking for RVs. We then did the 15 miles into the park that we are allowed to drive. In the pic you can see the road going past the “end point”, where tour buses and those actually reserved in campgrounds are permitted.
Later we went back to our Cantwell park, which was quite modest, but the people running it were friendly and helpful, and we settled in, with plans to do more exploring the next day.
