Talkeetna, AK

This morning, Bob, Sharon, and I went to the Roadhouse for breakfast. Like usual, the half order was almost too much. They have long tables so you just grab seats as they become available so you get to meet new people. The others at our table were on a Princess Cruise and were bused into town from the Princess Hotel near Denali. Their tour started in Fairbanks before taking the train to Denali.

At 10 am, the streets were still pretty empty. The Princess group will be catching their train to Whittier in the early afternoon so most were still either having breakfast or packing. Many seemed to be worried that they would miss the train and not make it on board the cruise ship. They were heading to the depot hours before the train was scheduled to arrive.

It was nice and clear in the morning. This is an iPhone picture of Denali from the shore of the Susitna River. It didn’t stay like this for long. By noon, clouds were moving in and by 2 pm, the clouds were starting to look menacing. Rain was forecast to start this evening and continue into tomorrow afternoon. Rather than pack up a wet tent tomorrow, I went ahead and packed and headed north. Once I passed Broad Pass, the temperature warmed up a lot. Going through Nenana at 6pm, it was 75°F. I arrived back home around 8pm. Quite a bit warmer than it was in Talkeetna.

I had a tailwind for most of the return trip and only needed to stop for gas once. I stopped three times on the way down. On the return trip, the Ural got 35 mpg. Versus the 27-29 mpg for the trip down.