7/8 – 7/9 Drove along Chena Hot Springs Rd to the springs. It was somewhat disappointing in that the water was lukewarm and the springs and the surronding area were not very pretty, unlike Liard springs. Oh well, one never knows unless one tries. Stayed overnight at the campground by the springs and drove back down the Springs Rd along which we saw a moose and calf by Slough Lake. Then through Fairbanks, again, and onto Denali in blah weather – overcast with occasional showers.
Stopped in Nenana bought tickets for the 2016 Ice Classic. Had a very nice long conversation with Margie Riley, who runs the Visitor Center, and her husband, Gerald, who is, as he says, a native (mostly Athabaskan with a smattering of Russian, English and Irish). He has won many mushing contests through Canada and placed third in the Iditarod. Gerald is self taught, very articulate and easy to talk to. Like most people who lack formal education he denigrates his own intelligence, he says he can’t learn things the way they are taught but must translate it into his own way and then he owns it (that sounds smart to me) . He said that he naturally knew how to fly since from a baby he was always in small planes – the only way to get around; he ended up as a navy captain in WWII.
Continued down the Parks Hwy which had major construction and extremely muddy, yuck! Will have to wash the rig again. Most Alaskan roads have considerable construction during the summer to repair the continual damage from frost heaves and minor earthquakes, so traveling in Alaska during the summer is always likely to be a dusty, muddy experience. Camped just outside of Denali at Denali RV Park, Cantwell, AK.