Today we headed into Denali. Thanks to Erik at the visitor’s center in Fairbanks, he suggested that we head to Savage River, which is the farthest you can drive up the road without a bus or a backcountry pass. Carl decided to do a hike and I wanted to ride my bike into the “restricted” road. It is allowed. I rode about 18 miles back into the park before turning around. I met a NPS road worker at the other side of the bridge at the 18 mile mark and I asked him where the animals were. He said they are on the other side of the pass. The pass being 5 miles farther than the spot I was currently. Carl and I had discussed 4 hours and I was already at 2.5 so I had to head back. Overall the ride was easy for technical and mediocre for difficulty.
The scenery in Denali is amazing, even with the rain and clouds. The land is so lush and green. I made it back to the truck in a total of 4.5 hours. A quick cleanup and we headed to the visitor’s center and bookstore. I found a cool “biking in Denali” postcard.
We stopped for some burgers in The Creekside Cafe in McKinley and then to a hostel across the street so we could get a warm shower and laundry completed.
