An Almost Hidden Gem

We departed Denali after three days of overcast skies and rain and immediately started to see some signs of blue skies on the southern horizon. Turk didn’t want to settle down, so we committed to not traveling far.

We fueled in Cantwell ($4.46) and said good-bye to my desire to drive the Denali Highway (Alaska 8) to Paxton. Continuing south on the Parks Highway we did get some partial views of Denali from the viewpoints at MP203.5 and MP201.

Based on a note in Milepost about picnic tables and a popular stop for RVers, we pulled into the East Fork Chulitna River Wayside which was somewhat hidden and marginally marked behind a large paved pullout.

Without a host in sight and nothing suggesting it was reserved, we nabbed the host site which was tucked back out of the way on a separate drive. Blue skies and sunshine even brought out the window awnings. Two days of sunshine and quiet!

There were apparently 11 sites although several were walk-in tent sites. There was a clean, modern outhouse but no water and no Verizon connectivity even with the amplifier. It was a really nice quiet place, complete with lots of wild flowers blooming and no fee.

By the way, if a tree falls in a river and no one is there, does it make a sound?

This was posted via our Millenicom hotspot at the Wasilla Walmart.