July 4, 2007
To Brushkana Creek BLM Campground: Happy July 4th breakfast
We made the effort to get up early today so we could have breakfast at Gracious House, 26 miles from here. Harold came over to say goodbye, he also had started his generator something he didn't do last night, we think because Patrick had made a comment about camping with RV's running generators.
We expect the Cafe to stop serving breakfast at about 11am so we push pretty hard. After an initial climb from our campspot we have a section of ups and downs, then a downhill to the Susitna River that we cross via an uphill sloping bridge with a wooden deck. Slippery when wet!! warns our bicycle Alaska book. Rain has been threatening all morning. We've had some sprinkles, but nothing serious until right when we reach the "Gracious House." From the river it is a couple more miles uphill to the cafe, we get there with about 20 minutes to spare from our own deadline, only to find that they serve breakfast all day!
Gracious house is a cluster of buildings, a bunch of abandoned cars, that now serves as a flower box, a small airfield and a tire repair shop. There are some cabins, a motel and liquor store/bar, garage and of course the Cafe (the whole lot is for sale for 1.5 million)
The Cafe is made up of one long and narrow room with two counters facing a central serving area. While we eat our bacon eggs and toast we talk with two Alaskans four wheeling up here. After the rush to get our breakfast we need to go another 23 miles to our intended campsite at Brushkana Creek. It's more up and down, the road surface is not as good as yesterday, muddier, corrugated and rough.
Ahead of us are two large thunderstorms that hide part of the mountains but also provide for a dramatic sky. We see two moose today. Brushkana Creek campground is very nicely situated along the creek amidst alpine firs and scrubs. The sky to our West is very dark and rain threatens. We quickly dry our tent then pitch it, all along harassed by the mosquitoes. We've just settled in when a serious downpour starts.
There is a short break at about seven that we use to fix a beef stroganoff freeze dried meal. The camp host invites us to sit under his tarp cover near their campfire, but it is cold and the bugs are biting, so as soon as we finish dinner, we retreat to the tent to read and stay warm.
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Today's ride: 79 km (49 miles)
Total: 10,213 km (6,342 miles)
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