Day 27--Wednesday, August 14, 2002, 52.96 miles
Here we are, the only campers in this campground of 63 campsites. We're on a small bank right on the Salcha River in a very lovely campsite—Jess thinks one of the prettiest we've camped in. Both of us are feeling sad that this is our last camping night.
We left our Delta Jct. motel around 10:30 this morning and pedaled four miles down the road to Rika's Roadhouse where we had a great breakfast and I found a phone with which to mail the past two days' reports. The Roadhouse is very old and besides it, there's also a museum, flower/vegetable garden, poultry pens, and a restaurant at the site. The museum is in one of the original old log cabins, with grass and flowers growing on the roof. We've seen many like this. We both bought a final roll of film here, so I took some pics of the roadhouse and museum.
When we got to the Tanana River north of Delta Jct., I took a photo of the pipeline crossing the river (below). The pipeline has been snaking through the wilderness beside the road (sometimes visible and sometimes not) for the past several days. Really wanted to get a photo of it coming down a hill near Fielding Lake but had no film left.
We left our Delta Jct. motel around 10:30 this morning and pedaled four miles down the road to Rika's Roadhouse where we had a great breakfast and I found a phone with which to mail the past two days' reports. The Roadhouse is very old and besides it, there's also a museum, flower/vegetable garden, poultry pens, and a restaurant at the site. The museum is in one of the original old log cabins, with grass and flowers growing on the roof. We've seen many like this. We both bought a final roll of film here, so I took some pics of the roadhouse and museum.When we got to the Tanana River north of Delta Jct., I took a photo of the pipeline crossing the river (below). The pipeline has been snaking through the wilderness beside the road (sometimes visible and sometimes not) for the past several days. Really wanted to get a photo of it coming down a hill near Fielding Lake but had no film left.
It was cold and overcast for most of the day. For the most part, the route was undemanding as far as climbs, but a lot of it was on a very rough road surface that made us feel like we were pedaling through molasses. It is very tiring to ride on this kind of surface, not only because of the added resistance but also because of the beating our hands and rears take. I found that the faster I went, the smoother it felt.
This was not our most scenic day. We pedaled mostly through short spruce or small birch trees that lined the road. We did stop at one scenic overlook of the Tanana to take a couple of pics, but at that point we were under a large black cloud and it began to rain. So, we took off and eventually outran it.
It was cold enough today for me to ride in my jersey, sweatshirt, yellow windbreaker vest and yellow long-sleeved windbreaker. Though I'd get sweaty climbing, I was still slightly chilly on the downhills and flats. It is still August, but it is definitely "fall" this far north. The red fireweed stalks stand bare of their florets, some going to cottony seed; people are covering their vegetables against the frost; and the snowline is moving down the mountains.
It was cold enough today for me to ride in my jersey, sweatshirt, yellow windbreaker vest and yellow long-sleeved windbreaker. Though I'd get sweaty climbing, I was still slightly chilly on the downhills and flats. It is still August, but it is definitely "fall" this far north. The red fireweed stalks stand bare of their florets, some going to cottony seed; people are covering their vegetables against the frost; and the snowline is moving down the mountains.We saw several roadkilled porcupines today and glimpsed a live one as it entered the roadside bushes. Also, for some reason, we saw a couple of magpie roadkills. Until now, we had seen no roadkill. Coming around a curve with steep rocks to the right, we heard the loud repeated scree of a hawk. Two more peregrines nesting high up.
One mile from our campsite, we stopped at the Salcha River Lodge (same kind of "lodge" we found in Tiekel) for a cold drink. Jess asked the proprietor if she knew of a place nearby where we could shower and do laundry. The response: "Right out back in number 7."
So we wheeled the bikes around back, stripped off, put everything in the washers, and took showers. While we were waiting for the clothes to finish, we sat at the regulars' table (I in my filthy rain gear which I didn't wash, and Jess in my Polartec vest and a pair of clean shorts she scrounged up) and had a cup of coffee. Then it was one mile down the road to the CG.
We talked to the ranger on duty (Ryan, a student at Conn State Univ.), and he advised us that there was no bear danger. Nonetheless, we put all foodstuffs and cosmetics far from the tent before turning in.
Supper was Jess's favorite: tuna/macaroni & cheese and a couple of Bud's. We had fresh-picked raspberries for dessert because we were camped right in the middle of the berry patch. We ate watching the peaceful river and a ground squirrel who tagged us as interlopers.
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