RV ALASKA - Holiday Weekend Plans Toasted by the Riley Wildfire

The only reservations I had made for our entire multi-week stay in Alaska were three nights at the K’seugi Ken Campground in Denali State Park followed by four nights at the Riley Creek Campground in Denali National Park.  Those reservations guaranteed us a place to call home over the Fourth of July holiday and the weekend that followed.  The plan was to arrive at Denali State Park on July 3^rd, then travel north a few days later to Denali National Park.  Beyond that, we planned a run south to the Kenai Peninsula.  All good, right?  No, not good.  Not good at all.

While we were in Tok over the previous weekend, the Riley wildfire ignited approximately one mile from the entrance to Denali National Park.  We monitored the fire closely; when we read that the National Park Service (NPS) was evacuating staff and closing the Riley Creek Campground, visions of our holiday weekend camping plans circled the drain.

From the Matanuska River Park in Palmer, we continued on to K’seugi Ken, as planned.  Denali State Park is roughly two hours south of Denali National Park, and the Riley Fire wasn’t impacting the area around the State Park at all.  However, when the NPS actually closed Denali National Park entirely, I really started to stress.  If we couldn’t get into Riley Creek on July 6^th, where were we going to find an available campsite on the holiday weekend?

Date(s) – July 3^rd – July 5^th

Total Miles Traveled to Date – 9,035

Wildlife Sightings to Date – One real live cow moose (thankfully removing the dead one on the side of the road – may she rest in peace); 1 grizzly sow with 2 cubs; 1 back end of a grizzly bear, 6 black bears; 1 snowshoe hare; 3 rabbits (including one very fast bunny that just managed to cross the road safely); several small herds of bison with at least 2 dozen young calves; 9 deer (2 of them bucks with their racks covered in velvet); 9 mountain goats (including 3 tiny and adorable kids); 23 bighorn sheep; 62 elk (including 7 calves that hadn’t yet lost their spots and a number of bull elk with full racks covered in velvet); several small herds of pronghorn antelope (including 2 mamas with 3 newborn fawns between them); 7 eagles (including 2 fledglings); 3 great blue herons; dozens of American white pelicans; at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings; and several dozen ducks (with lots of little ducklings).

Highlight(s) – I SAW A MOOSE!  I’ve been on a “moose quest” for years.  It’s not that I’ve never seen one – it’s just that I never spotted that quintessential image of a moose standing in what we call a “moose bog” in the wild.  We’ve seen moose twice in the Grand Tetons – two from a distance and one that had headed back into the trees while we turned around for a better look.  We had seen one browsing in a creek bed when we were in Alaska on an earlier trip.  But that was on a tour bus full of people, half of whom ran to our side of the bus at the chance to photograph a moose.  That was not the kind of moose experience I was hoping for.  When we were on the Parks Highway, northbound toward Denali State Park, I glanced out my window as we passed yet another moose bog.  And there she was – standing fairly close to the road at the edge of the bog and looking right at me.  “MOOSE!”  At my excited exclamation, Alan immediately looked for a place to turn the truck and trailer around.  When we circled back for a second look, she was still there, but our slowing down must have spooked her because she headed for cover.  My only photos are of my moose retreating to the woods.  Nonetheless, Alan and I both had the opportunity to see her standing there in her bog in all her glory.  Remember how Alan deemed the trip a success after he saw his grizzly bears?  I had the same feeling when I looked that moose in the eye.  I’m pretty sure she winked at me, too.

The other highlight of the two full days we spent at Denali State Park was our trip into the small town of Talkeetna.  Talkeetna is cute; definitely bigger than Chicken, but almost as quirky.  Located at the convergence of three rivers (Susitna, Talkeetna and Chulitna), it’s a jumping off point for rafting trips and the home of record-setting, six-time Iditarod Champion Dallas Seavey and his sled dog kennels.  There are plenty of restaurants and gift shops, and the Alaska Railroad makes a stop here at the Talkeetna Depot.  Alan and I spent a very enjoyable afternoon wandering around this sweet little town.

Lowlight(s) – Do you remember how I said that the weather was a bit depressing, and it didn’t look like it was going to change anytime soon?  Well, it was at the K’seugi Ken Campground in Denali State Park that Alan had to talk me off the ledge, figuratively speaking.  (And a fine job he did!)  Between spending two full days at the State Park under heavy cloud cover and occasional rain and suffering through the uncertainty of whether or not the National Park would open in time for us to actually take advantage of our reservations, I was a mess.  The K’seugi Ken Campground and the nearby Denali Viewpoint South are two of the best places to see Denali, but we never did.  And we had no way of knowing if we’d make it to the National Park for another chance.  The worst part of those two days was the uncertainty, and I don’t do well with uncertainty.  Are we just going to sit here in the rain and wait for days to see if the Riley Creek Campground will reopen?  Should we just scrap our plans for the National Park and leave early?  And who the heck is going to take us in on a holiday weekend?  Thankfully, a cooler head than mine prevailed, and Alan (somehow) managed to assure me that we’d be fine, no matter what.  And, of course, we were.

The Riley Creek Campground in Denali National Park is run by Aramark, a concessionaire that operates facilities in other National Parks, too.  As far as I’m concerned, Aramark did a (forgive the French) crappy job with this entire situation.  We heard NOTHING from them about our upcoming reservations prior to our arrival date.  Still haven’t, either, although their website indicates that refunds will be issued for reservations that were canceled due to the Riley Fire.  The NPS is not without blame here.  The updates on the NPS website indicated that the Riley Creek Campground and the park itself were closed, but no instructions were provided for obtaining a refund and no contact information was provided for Aramark.  Alan had suggested checking the Aramark website, and it was there that the notice of the campground’s closure was updated on a day-to-day basis.  But no info on how or when refunds would be issued.  Since we had received an email confirmation of our reservation, Aramark had our email address and the email addresses of everyone else with reservations at the Riley Creek Campground.  It should have been a no-brainer to issue email updates to those of us who were directly affected.  You know we’re big fans of the National Park Service but, in my humble opinion, this situation was poorly handled by both the NPS and Aramark, and a bitter taste still lingers in my mouth because of it.

Campground(s) – K’seugi Ken Campground in Denali State Park is a relatively new campground and one of the few in the Alaska State Parks system that offers reservations.  The campsites are gravel, most are pretty private and ours was fairly level.  There are some hiking opportunities here, and the park has a small (and I do mean small) interpretive center.  But it’s in the middle of nowhere.  I guess its best claim to fame, aside from the hiking trails, is that it has an exceptional view of Denali – assuming the mountain decides to show itself.  Unless I needed a campsite in this particular area, I wouldn’t return.  However, while passing through, I would definitely stop at the nearby Denali Viewpoint South for a splendid view of Denali on a day when the sun actually shines around here.

Laugh(s) of the Day – As soon as I saw “my moose,” I texted our kids and daughter-in-law and our friends Bernie and Carol.  Carol had been a staunch supporter of my moose quest; Bernie likes to send me photos of moose whenever they see one.  I don’t know if he’s being supportive or just trying to rub it in.  I’ll have to give that some thought.  As for the kids, they’ve teased me about my moose quest for years.  The response to my “I saw a moose!” text from our daughter, Kyra, was almost instantaneous: “Was it a LIVE one?”  The response from our son, Ryan, followed a bit later: “Only took 6 trips.”  Ryan did redeem himself by adding, “Very nice, glad you finally saw one.”  His sister, however, had no such compulsion.  Damn kids.

Special Message(s) – At our house, July is a big month for birthdays of family members and friends.  Sending long-distance Happy Birthday wishes to Maya, Irene, Joan and Kim – may you all have a wonderful time celebrating your special day!

Pic(s) of the Day

K'seugi Ken Campground - Denali State Park, Trapper Creek, Alaska

Our dismal view of Denali from the Denali South Viewpoint

Gotta love this little town's attitude!

A small portion of "Downtown" Talkeetna

The Alaska Railroad Train Depot

Quirky, quaint and . . .

. . . only in Alaska!

Up Next – On the day Aramark updated their website to indicate that reservations were canceled through (our scheduled arrival date of) July 6^th, we knew our plans to visit Denali were toast.  We didn’t want to hang around in the area, killing time on a day-to-day basis waiting to see if any part of our visit to Denali National Park would be salvageable.  I got to work on updating our itinerary, and Alan and I agreed to replace our stay at the National Park with a side trip to Valdez.  Luckily, the KOA in Valdez had a couple of sites open.  On the morning we would have turned north toward the Riley Creek Campground in Denali National Park, we headed south instead to one of Alaska’s major port cities – and that turned out to be an excellent decision!