You never know what you will see if you are driving one of Alaska’s highways. This is our second trip on the Parks highway. The first time we were on our own in a rental car. This time we are in a motor coach. If I am being honest, I prefer to be on my own time schedule, but riding along on a bus with friends has its own charm.
Always on the lookout for wildlife, we see a moose and a bear just off the highway near the tree line. You have to be alert to see animals when moving at high rates of speed, and my eyes can often play tricks on me. Often the “sighting” turns out to be a rock or a tree stump. But occasionally I get lucky and spot a critter.
Roadside stops can be few and far between, but often they are charming and unique. You are sure to see a variety of taxidermy specimens in various shapes and sizes. There is likely to be antiques and native herbal remedies. And there is always ice cream.
The Tanana River flows beside the highway, sometimes hidden and sometimes hard to miss. Its grey water a sign of glacial melt, the Tenana freezes solid for a good part of the year. Locals in the town of Nenana place a pyramid on the ice and each year residents bet on the exact time of the ice melt. I guess in the extreme cold you have to make your own fun.
The signs along the highway always make me smile. Moose crossing. Icy roads. There are signs for every potential hazard. But my favorite is the sign showing a mosquito carrying away a human. (For the record, I never noticed any insects worse than what we have in the midwestern swamps.) Although not official, there are also plenty of local signs making fun of the “small” state of Texas.
Our Parks Highway trip ends at Denali Lodge. It looks like we weren’t the first tourists here, judging by the ancient touring cars parked near our cabin. For decades, people have been driving the lonely roads of this wilderness hoping to catch sight of something wild. I guess humans from every time period have had a bit of adventure in their dna. Alaskan highways are just wild enough to satisfy.
