Anchorage to Denali

Spent the night in Anchorage after a 5-hour drive from Homer.  Nothing really grabbed us in this big city, so we hit the road after picking up some coffee at a street festival.

Drove through Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla, which was not unlike the suburban sprawl that we see in the Northeast.  Nobody got my Facebook joke.

Drove a few hours to Talkeetna, which is a cool little town, and did some brewery sampling.  There were lots of people there because the train had just come through, but it was fun to walk around.  This apparently is a big base town for mountain climbing in the area.  Just a few narrow roads and a small airstrip.

We met up with Lynn and Bub in Cantwell (just south of Denali, population 200-ish).  They have a really cool property there, but apparently the winters are very rough!  Their house requires an outhouse, and the nearest grocery store is 100+ miles away!

We had a great dinner and hike with them, and they helped us plan our Denali visit.

Inside Lynn & Bub's cabin in Cantwell

Hiking to the river.  Train tracks in the background are how many people travel between Anchorage and Denali

We drove on in the late night sun to "glitter gulch", which is what the locals call the strip of lodging, gift shops, and liquor stores near the main entrance to Denali National Park.  We passed through 10 miles north to Healy, where we spent the night in a very nice little hotel.

Park Highway 11:20 PM