Saturday June 14, 2014
After packing up the car we cruised over to the Talkeetna Village Strip Airport to grab a geocache. The walk over to locate the ammo can was short, but provided great views of the mountain range, river, and a great "poetry perch" to sit at along the way. The cache was placed in honor of the first annual Great Talkeetna Festival of Books (October 8th, 2011).
Today's primary adventure was for Terry and I to recreate my August 18, 2012 hike out to Dave Blazejewski's super secret Hurricane Gulch Bridge viewing spot. For this we would need an expert guide. And what better guide then the big kahuna himself! Blaze, his partner Cass, her son Jacob and their dog Dot had arrived in Talkeetna late the night before and were tent camping at the Talkeetna City Tent Camping Park. This 20 tent site campground was located at the end of East Main Street near the river and had some awesome views of Denali (formerly Mount McKinley).
We needed some sustenance before heading out so we stopped at the Roadhouse. Mick Jagger was there singing, "You Can't Always Get What You Want." He was correct as there were no empty chairs nor standing room. Bummer! Blaze suggested Latitude 62 as a fall back plan. Although their cinnamon rolls were no comparison to the gargantuan delights served at the Roadhouse I'll admit I really enjoyed my breakfast burrito, reindeer sausage and crispy hash browns.
God had blessed us with a beautiful weather day and the drive to Hurricane was typical stunning Alaska. I reminded Terry (as I had on dozens of other vacation occasions) it didn't look anything like Dayton, Ohio. That is one of the joys of living in Dayton, Ohio as anywhere else you go can be pretty exciting. In the photo at left, you'll get a real sense of what I am saying. Just another day in paradise. By the way, I did indeed have both hands on the steering wheel when I snapped that photo.
As Blaze pulled off the road I immediately recognized the faint entrance into the brush. All of us began loading our daypacks with drinks, snacks, tools,bug spray, photography gear and Channel #7 bear spray. Although there was a slight buzz of excitement among the others I must confess I was a little bit concerned about the hike. I still had not gotten my strength back from cancer surgery plus had the burden of several other medical issues. As it turned out my worrying was all for not as my friends took excellent care of me along the way. We began our hike at 12:45pm under mostly sunny skies and a mild 65 degrees.
Blaze was quite the brush clearing machine with his two fisted machete technique and Cass followed closely behind marking the trail. Being a lover of nature, Terry studied the plant life and engaged with every type of fern and flower. To add to the adventure Cass announced she was certain she heard a bear nearby.
 |
 |
 |
| He would make a great action figure! | Terry slipping through heavy brush | Willow, alder and devil's club |
Sometimes railfanning is a game of patience. Not this time. We arrived at the overlook at 1:25pm only to discover the northbound Denali Star on the bridge. Drop everything NOW! Get out the cameras NOW! Snap photos as fast as you can! And then the train was gone. Whew! At least we hadn't missed it. Today we had hoped to catch not one, not two, not three, but five different trains crossing the Hurricane Gulch bridge. I had never achieved a pentafecta here and I was pretty darn excited about the possibility.
 |
 |
| Blaze, Jacob and Cass | The mighty Dot keeping bear watch |
Now things became a waiting game. This can become quite a bit tiresome for some children. Fortunately, Jacob had come prepared with a small collections of dragons and they engaged in battle among the ferns and grasses. Blaze also took Jacob aside and gave him a series of machete lessons. It would be fair to say that watching Jacob improve his machete skills while being eight hours away from the nearest medical facility was not a relaxing activity. However, Blaze kept things well in hand and no blood spatter had occurred. We also passed the time eating our lunches (in my case PB&J) and enjoying the slight breeze which also kept the bugs at bay.
Each train produced a surge of hoopla and excitement. The northbound HEX arrived at 2:25pm, the southbound Denali Star at 2:59pm and the northbound DEX at 3:23pm. To complete our pentafecta we still needed to catch the Hurricane Turn. So we waited and waited and waited. We debated about heading back to the cars. I thought about playing hide and seek, but figured one wrong steep and I could become hamburger. Or might even run into a hungry bear. After an hour and ten minutes the Hurricane Turn finally appeared at 4:43 pm. Success! We finally departed at 4:57 pm. I was bursting with gratitude when we reached the cars knowing Blaze, Cass and Jacob had given their day for us. Terry and I expressed our sincere thanks and were a little sad when we finally parted company.
 |
 |
 |
| Northbound Denali Star | Northbound Healy Express (HEX) | Southbound Denali Star |
 |
 |
 |
| Northbound Denali Express (DEX) | Hurricane Turn | Super secret Hurricane Gulch Bridge viewing spot |
 |
 |
 |
| Wardrobe change for Terry | Heading back to our cars | Beautiful view on the return hike |
The drive to Fairbanks was fraught with fun. Our first stop along the George Parks Highway was Igloo City. About 40+ years ago Leon Smith envisioned a hotel in the shape of an igloo. The project was never finished and the owner finally sold it to Brad Fischer. Although the exterior is done, the interior construction was halted when the building didn't meet fire code and the owners ran out of money. Unfortunately theft and vandalism has taken a toll over the years.
One of my favorite locations along the Parks Highway is Broad Pass. At an elevation of 2,400 feet it is the lowest traveled pass in the Rocky Mountain chain from Mexico to Alaska and the highest point on the Parks Highway. The wide basin is relatively treeless and provides a powerful view of the Alaska Range and Talkeetnas. Knowing we needed to get to Fairbanks in decent time we could only pause for a few phenomenal photos before moving on. I've had many good memories here (such as my November 6, 2006 rip rap train chasing run with employee Dwight West) and today was yet another gem stone in the crown.
 |
 |
| Igloo City | Broad Pass |
 |
 |
| Rainbow time! | Two pots of gold? |
The weather darken and rain drops fell as we reached Denali Park. We knew we'd stop here on the way back and had planned on zooming past. Or so we thought. A gigantic double rainbow popped up right beside the road. Heck yes we were gonna stop! Magically, the rainbow began to flow to the east and stretched out so as to touch the ground at both ends. An unexpected bonus was finding a geocache at nearby Caribou Point.
Rain and road construction slowed our pace so we decided to retaliate by breaking out the crackers, combos and chocolate. By the time we reached Nenana the sun began breaking through the clouds. We grabbed a geocache, checked out the tripod (used for the Nenana Ice Classic lottery in determining the minute of river breakup on the Tanana River) and snapped a picture or two of the Mears Memorial Bridge. We also surveyed the two old Alaska Railroad passenger cars nearby. These cars were previously used as supplemental hotel rooms at Denali Park Hotel. They were later deemed fire safety hazards and were sold off for $1.00 each. Someone bought these two and placed them here on an empty lot. I could not find out if there was any future plans for these cars, but vandals and Alaskan weather were already working on one. I commented to Terry that in all likelihood we stayed in one of these railcars at Denali Park during our 1986 trip.
It would've been a breathtaking moment to witness a thundering freight train crossing the massive Mears bridge. A phone call confirmed it would be hours before one appeared so we reluctantly headed north. I knew I would need plenty of rest for the day tomorrow.
 |
 |
| Nenana Ice Classic Tripod | Mears Memorial Bridge |
 |
 |
| Passenger cars along the shore of the Nenana River | |
By the time we reached our hotel in Fairbanks I was totally fried. We had lucked into a handicap room with ginormous bed, intricate TV tray with built-in remote and a shower large enough for ten plus me. Now it was time to get ready for bed.
My cancer surgery/hospital stay had caused chronic insomnia. To beat this my family physician had prescribed Ambien. Soon after swallowing these pills I unintentionally laid down on the bed fully clothed and zonked out. An hour later Terry called my name in an attempt to wake me up so I could get ready for bed. I was so drugged I fell off the bed, hit my head on the night stand and said a bad word. Terry told me all about this the next morning at breakfast, but I remembered none of it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.