To Nenana: confluence of Nenana and Tanana Rivers

July 9, 2007

The next town along the Park Highway is Nenana, a small settlement on the confluence of the Nenana and Tanana Rivers. It's a long day, but except for some ups and downs between Glitter Gulch and Healy the road is "relatively" flat.

After we break camp, we say goodbye to Doug and Jen who showed up last night after their trip to Wonder Lake and shared our campsite. We ride about 20 miles and have a breakfast in Healy. Then we crawl North through a landscape with small stunted trees, lots of lakes and swampy areas. We see a group of cyclists heading South, they are on an organized sag wagon tour from Fairbanks to Kenai. They tell us they camped at the visitor center in Nenana because the campground did not accept cyclists.

We find the campground actually closed and talk the visitor center volunteer into letting us camp on the nice lawn, right next to the big steel tripod and a wooden river tug that found it's final resting place here.

Nenana's big claim to fame is gambling on exactly what time the ice on the Tanana river will break up. They place a huge steel tripod on the ice in the middle of the river and connects a cable to a special clock in a small building on shore. When the ice starts to move in Spring the cable trips the clock and whoever put his money on that particular day, hour and minute wins.

Big time!! The jackpot has over half a million dollars in it. A logbook shows last years winners, about a dozen people picked the right moment.

Just as we have dried and pitched our tent, Doug and Jenn pull in. We eat pork chops that Patrick bought in the Nenana store, beans and mashed potatoes. Tastes good! After we cleanup we walk to the local bar where we meet Doug and Jenn and drink a beer with them. A strong windstorm and a black sky rolls in and knocks out the power.

There is a brief rain and the storm seems to stall just outside town. Plenty of lightening though and suddenly camping right next to that big steel tripod doesn't seem like such a good idea.

The clock that determines the winners of who guessed the time the river would start to thaw

Fixing pork chops, camped by the metal tripod

Today's ride: 110 km (68 miles)
Total: 10,423 km (6,473 miles)

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