Alaska-Canada Adventure Ride
Day 19 - Chitina, Alaska to Nabesna (Wrangel NP) out and back, and then to Tok, Alaska
(277
miles)
The days ride involved skirting the edge of Wrangell Saint Elias National Park via Richardson Highway (4) and the Tok Cut-off (1), enjoying the views of its scenic mountains at various spots, and reaching Tok on the Al-Can Highway by the end of the day.
Along the way off to the Tok Cut-off, we decided to take a detour on the 40 mile long dirt road out to Nabesena and back. Nabesena represents one of the few towns inside Wrangell St Elias National Park, yet it oddly not heavily traveled. This road is fairly remote with a few moderate water crossings, and some patches of light mud, but the scenery is well worth the effort. There are also some nice looking campsites near the end of this road that would be good to stay at if on a more leisurely pace or if better timed toward the end of the day.
At the end of the road and after having my lunch, I ended up chatting with the proprietor of one of the local B&B's (Devil's Mountain Lodge). Surprisingly, he keeps the place open through the winter, as the road is plowed for vehicle traffic, as other native villages also depend on it. Apparently the rain shadow of the Wrangell mountain range keeps the amount of snow accumulation down in this area.
The B&B proprietor is also a bush pilot that does charter flights in the area, and mentioned that there are some glaciers deeper in Wrangell visible from the bush plane that even rival the Salmon Glacier. We also talked about the wildfires in the tundra that seemed to burn even when it is raining. Apparently some of these fires will smolder in the thick peat moss under the protection of the forest canopy, and can burn even through the winter.
The rest of the ride into Tok was relatively uneventful, with some nice scenery along the way, and the biggest hazard being many different road construction zones and their corresponding stops. Often there would be a line of RVs at each of these waits, and we would ride up to the front to get ahead of them when the traffic would be let through again. I was amused during a chat with some RV'er vociferously complaining about the condition of these roads, thinking to myself how smooth they seem to me compared to where else of where we have been.
Images (click to select the larger view at bottom)
All content and images are property of Stephen Fischer Photography, copyright 2019 - 2020. Last updated: 1/10/2020