Talkeetna

 

We spent two nights in the Latitude 62 Motel and Roadhouse.  They bring in music a few times a year and to our surprise, Karen Savoca and Pete Heitzman of Munnville have been here a couple of times. At least half their acts have performed in Syracuse through the Folkus Project.  But Talkeetna is like that.  The majority of the population is registered Green.  I suspect the rest don't vote!   What a mix of people. . .hard core climbers, pilots, river rafters, artisans, and dogs of every type. 

This shot is from inside the NP headquarters which is the official start point for all the McKinley climbers. Here they get orientation, arrange all their details, and get final authorization from the Park Service.

There were climbers getting ready to go and there were guys coming from the mountain. It sure was not hard to tell which was which.

The Roadhouse had great breakfasts; the half orders were big enough for two. . .the full orders were designed for climbers who needed serious calorie loads.

The town was full of small craft and arts shops, tourist centers, and general goods.  Surprising to us, prices here were below what we had been paying prior to this point.

They have their own brewery!  Not bad for a town of less than a thousand.  The big tour companies do send in buses, however, and there are a couple of local up scale lodges.  Climbers use Talkeetna's airport for flights to base camp and the plane charters are a hit with hundreds of visitors  who want a glimpse of McKinley from  above the clouds.

In Anchorage, we stopped at MotoQuest and learned that a group had just left for a ride up past the Arctic Circle to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay.  And here they were on their way back to Anchorage.  At this point they were talking about one rider with a broken chain but otherwise, it was a good and eventful trip.

Nagley's has a little of everything and is open year around. 

For my birthday, Robin sent me flying.  I went up for about an hour and a half, went over the big glaciers and into the Great Gorge which is bigger than the Grand Canyon.  Most of the flight was at 5-6K feet but as we approached cloudy McKinley, we went up to 10-11K and punched through to see the summit of the three biggest mountains in the range. 

                                                                                  

Three rivers come together in Talkeetna and , fed by glacial runoff and melting mountain snow, form a large flow area.  This is about eighteen miles south of the area where Chris McCanles (sp?) of Into The Wild fame,passed away, unable to forge a spring runoff.

I had a good seat!

The big one!

The summit!

I never touched the controls.

Outside the NP Headquarters.

Robin as official greeter, boots and all.

The Roadhouse had rooms to let and this was
just one choice. After two days in Talkeetna,
it was off to Denali.