Moving on from Fairbanks was a bittersweet moment. It was the actual point in the journey where we pointed the truck to the east, and officially began the long trek home. That afternoon, we would arrive back in Tok, and spend our final night in Alaska. But first, we had two stops to make.
I can’t say that I was sorry to see the K’seugi Ken Campground in Denali State Park in our rearview mirror. Maybe with a different set of circumstances and different weather patterns our visit would have been more enjoyable. It was with no small amount of anticipation for a better experience in Valdez that we packed up and headed south on the Parks Highway.
Valdez was always a possibility in the back of my mind, but it wasn’t a line item on our itinerary. Other destinations in Alaska held a higher priority, but we were hoping to squeeze in some time in this port city at some point during our weeks in Alaska. In retrospect, swapping several days in Valdez for our now useless reservations in Denali National Park turned out to be an excellent idea; Valdez was the salve that healed our wounds.
