July 5, 2007
To Cantwell RV Park: the end of Denali Highway
It's hard to get out of the warm sleeping bag this morning. The rain tapered off last evening and the tent actually dried some overnight, but it is still damp and wet and not very inviting to get going. Eventually about 8am we rise, pack and eat the last of our cornflakes. We are at milepost 104 another 31 miles to go to the end of the Denali Highway at Cantwell.
The last miles yesterday were very hard with many steep ups and downs, we'd rather climb a pass than the rolling roads. Today continues with more of the same. There are sprinkles and then a good steady rainstorm that turns the road to mud. We ride on in our raingear, and suspect the rain jackets we bought in Lhasa are not really gore-tex as Patrick's jacket leaks a bit. We thought maybe the deal was too good to be true, eh? The low clouds and rain obscure most of the scenery today. We also miss the opportunity for a Mt McKinley view. But that's okay because after 28 miles of bumpy mud, we have three miles of asphalt and then we reach the Park Highway junction where there is a cafe!!
Food and a chance to warm up is always a motivator.
We decide to check out the Cantwell RV park just off the road and find a place with hot showers, laundry and a couple of tent sites in the trees. The rest of the campground is a gravel parking lot with expensive RV's. Next to us is a German cyclist camped, but he was offered to use an empty pickup bed camper instead because of the rain. We are lucky, while we ate our lunch the rain has stopped, there even is some brief spells of sun. Patrick strings up a line to dry the tent and air the sleeping bags before setting up camp. Rachel showers first, and then goes to do the laundry while Patrick showers, organizes camp and write in journal. Another rainstorm passes but all is good, the camp is set.
Tomorrow we'll head for Denali. According to the German the tent section at Riley Creek did not fill up while he was there so we'll give that a look first.
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Today's ride: 49 km (30 miles)
Total: 10,262 km (6,373 miles)
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