The Great One

Yesterday we drove 247 miles south of Fairbanks, past Denali Park to Talkeetna. This little town is where people going to climb Denali (aka Mt. McKinley) depart from. They are flown from here to a camp on the mountain to begin their ascent.

Along the way, we spotted a double dam - beaver style. .....

A shot taken along the way....

And here's Tom, getting friendly with a local moose...!

This is a cache - used by Alaskans in the old days to store food - keeps it cold and away from the bears. You still see them around, but not used much any more.

Downtown Main Street Talkeetna.

One of the shops here...

On the drive down there were several Denali viewpoints, but unfortunately it wasn't a clear day so we didn't get to see The Mountain. This morning we walked thru town to the confluence of the Talkeetna River, the Susitna River, and the Chulitna river and were blessed with a partial view of the top of Denali. Maybe tomorrow we'll get to see the whole thing! Talkeetna means

"where three rivers meet". A cool town, and glad we got to visit. Our campground is next to the train tracks and the airport is just on the other side of the tracks. There is almost constant airplane traffic - people flightseeing to Denali.

The annual Moose Dropping Festival is next month and they are going to have a painted moose parade. Here is one of the prospective entrants in the parade. No, they don't drop a moose from a plane - they drop painted and numbered pieces of moose poop onto a target. The one closest to the middle wins. These Alaskans will do anything for entertainment....