When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

P-Rock - Smokin' Hot

Day 14 - Denali National Park to Wasila, AK


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Blackie is reporting out on Denali, so suffice it to say that from my perspective it was a smoky, dusty day. Forest fires decimated the visibility and travelling 92 miles of dirt road in a bus made your northern explorers grittier than ever. It was certainly an experience to remember though.

One thing is for sure, if you follow cable TV shows, you know that everything is bigger in Alaska. Well this also holds true for the beer. Check out these two shining examples of Sockeye Red IPA from the Midnight Sun Brewing company in Anchorage. Blackie and I enjoyed these along with some good Fairbanks brew at the Grizzly Bear Lodge, our accomodation for the evening. We had an excellent view of the Nenana River and the local mountains - soon to be obscured with forest fire smoke.

After finishing up the Denali trip we mounted our trusty steeds and headed for Anchorage. It was after 7:30 pm though and it was sure a long day already. Anchorage is at least a 4 hour ride from Denali, so we decided to hole-up early in Wasila, which is about an hour north of Anchorage. We grabbed some fast food (McDonald's in Alaska is exactly the same as it is in the lower 48) and then found a 'basic' motel for the night. Just prior to reaching Wasila, we were given a nice preview of what was in store for tomorrow...

Take a look.


This picture was taken at 10:30 pm.

We crashed fast and hard, only to be awakened (well I was awakened... I think Blackie must have self-medicated with some roofies) by some - let's say for the sake of this family blog - noisy neighbors around 2am. Fortunately the racket was not terribly long lasting- but certainly fitting of the fine establishment we were taking refuge in.

So tomorrow we finish the trip to Anchorage for maintenance and continue on.

P-Rock... Remember only YOU can prevent forest fires.