Sunday, June 23, 2013

We have wifi... And we're getting' it done in Denali..

Moose, Caribou, Coyotes and Grizzly Bears...


We've seen 'em all..! It's been a great past few days, and other than waking to a pretty cold and overcast day 3 days ago that also had us hitting some steep ascents, lungs burning in the chilly air, it has been some fantastic riding. We have also enjoyed the payoff to many days of climbing... Many hours of some great continuous downhill, with the added bonus of a strong tailwind!


Yesterday morning, we made it to one of the worlds largest and best National Parks... Denali.



And it's been a great couple of days here in Denali NP.


We stopped yesterday morning at the fantastic Creekside Café, about 15 miles south of the park for breakfast, and had wifi there, but I was unable to upload for some reason. I just tried uploading what I'd written, and somehow the lot got wiped... Most frustrating.


So I'm now banging out another bit of text, as I sit here, swatting away annoying Mosquitos that have manage to zone in on me, despite the nice breeze that is keeping the majority of them at bay.


We have taken 2 long bus rides into the park,one yesterday afternoon, that got us back to camp at midnight (still bright daylight, so very strange on the body-clock), and the other early this morning, which took us on an 11 hour ride right into the park and back, where we were lucky enough to see even more wildlife and views of Denali than yesterday



To recap the previous few days...


We spent the last few days slowly and sometimes painfully making our way up, up, up towards the national park. Some climbs were pretty gradual and well graded, but quite a few were of the ass-kicking variety, making all of us a bit sore of thigh and lung by the time we reached the top. Fortunately, the top of each climb did come, and wasn't as 'never-ending' as the climb into the Cascades from 6 years ago.



The views on the ride have been great though, and on our way up, we also got to see a number of moose grazing in the surrounding grassland.



The night before we got in to Denali, we made our own impromptu campsite just off the highway, but not before enjoying a huge burger at a great little roadside diner.




My Suunto Ambit watch has been great for tracking and showing the elevation changes and the profile climbed. Will is beginning to understand the importance of less-is-more when it comes to what to bring and what to leave behind, plus what continual days in the saddle feels like... But he's doing great and is constantly cheerful, and we are pleased he's along for the ride.


Tom is also doing well, so all the faithful worried followers out there can rest easy... He's fine!


Other than a few miles of uphil that had him puffing hard and wondering what we'd had for breakfast, (as we were hauling ass away from him) he hasn't had any problems... And that hard puffing wasn't due to any fitness problems... It was a slightly rubbing front brake pad, a nasty little technical problem that is much better found earlier rather than later! It was fixed before our café break, and since then, we've been cranking out the miles all together at the same pace again.



So after a day and a half in Denali, we are preparing to head off for another 2, maybe 2.5 days ride north to Fairbanks, where sme much needed laundry will be done, as well as some re-supply.


For now, I'll leave you with a few more images from the sights of Denali National Park... All 6,000,000 square miles of it...!






RWK,


OUT!




- Posted using BlogPress from my amazing iPad Mini..!


Location:McKinley Park Rd,Healy,United States

2 comments:

  1. I'm reading along and am pretty jealous! Love hearing about the ride. You guys be safe, and as always HTFU!! :)

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  2. Loving the pictures Cuz, Hope you all are having a great time, keep the pictures coming...

    ReplyDelete