Maclaren Road & Denali Highway
Here is the continuation of our ramble along the Denali HWY.
1. Early light on the Maclaren River.
2. Meandering again…
I previously told you that the Maclaren Road is virtually unused and that for good reason: there are some deep enough river crossing to stop many vehicles! But not VivaLaVida. Small sequence of a water crossing where the water reaches the top of the wheels of VLV.
3. Engagings the four-wheel drive because there are large hidden rocks under the turbulent water.
4. The nose in the water!
5. Then the rear. The bumper is quite wet!
6. Arrival on an island in midstream…
7. … and output. One done!
8. A little further, another beaver appropriated the road and turned it into a lake! After removing part of his dam to lower the level of two feet, VLV could cross it.
9. Still further, the road has been totally washed out by a stream.
Reached the end of the road, we had to turn back a little frustrated, shrubs having resumed their rights and destroyed the path leading to the Maclaren Glacier. So we continued to West Denali HWY.
10. The Sultina River, gorgeous in front of Clearwater Mountains.
11. Bonndocking away from the Denali HWY.
12. The sunset over the Alaska Range will be superb.
13. Late-rays on peaks.
14. Last light of sunset on Clearwater Mountains…
15. … and on the Alaska Range.
16. Dressed in red…
17. Overview of the vastness that surrounds our camp. The Alaska Range is more than 45 miles away…
18. Back on the road the next day, discovering beautiful rivers…
19. … and still beautiful small lakes.
20. Cloud diagonal…
21. A hole in the clouds let us see Mount McKinley, over 100 miles away.
22. Short break during a hike on the Wickersham Dome.
23. The evening is thai dinner: red curry chicken and quinoa, yum!
The weather continuing to be unpredictable, we will remain north a few more days, fingers crossed to have beautiful conditions when we’ll go visit Denali National Park, August 20th to 24th, reservation forces…
Stay tuned for more to come in our stroll in handsome Alaska!
D5 Creation
Wow, your photographs are absolutely amazing! And your adventures to such awesome terrain is very exciting to watch!. I want to send you some pics I have of the orchid you brought to the Barracks. How can I send you a picture? Sharonb
Hi Sharon. What a great surprise to discover your message here! It makes me really happy.
Hope you’re doing good. I’m actually still enjoying Alaska despite quite changing weather with pretty much rain. Tundra is starting to change colours and wearing fall colours…
Sorry, you can’t post picture in the comments but you can send it to my email: caferriere ‘at’ gmail ‘dot’ com. Please say hello to Garry. All the best to you, take care of yourself.
Claude-Alain
fortunate you.. a woman aboard with culinary skills to boot… funny that after all these entree’s of your’s finally.. you do a photo of a meal… and nice shot by Dominique of your river crossings… poor beaver ! good times to you two !
The beaver wasn’t to poor, he still have several other ponds to play with. And I only made the level a foot lower, didn’t empty it! 🙂
I already posted some meal pictures in earlier updates but you probably didn’t follow the blog yet…