We left the precarious Denali Crow's Nest Cabins with plenty of time to do some caching along the road to the lodge where we were supposed to meet the paddle tour, so we stopped to find a couple of caches at overlooks that were supposed to give us views of the mountain.
We were particularly excited about a cache at the lodge where we were supposed to meet the tour, because it was brand new and no one had logged it yet. I got my very first first-to-find! I had been there for a first-to-find in Hawai'i, but Eric actually found the exceedingly well-hidden cache. But I found this one! Apparently I have to go to Alaska or Hawai'i to be first to find anything.
Back at the lodge, a man noticed that Eric was wearing a Lawrence Berkeley Lab T-shirt. He told us that he was in Alaska to celebrate his retirement from an ophthalmology practice near Alta Bates.
When we met our driver, Craig, at the lodge, he told us we were the only ones on the tour. Score! Craig drove us a few miles out to Byers Lake. We asked Craig what wildlife we might see, and he said, "Oh, me. Your guide, Simon." With no wildlife and no view of the mountain, would a paddle trip on Byers Lake be worth it?
It was indeed. Even without being able to see Denali, the lake was beautiful. It was wonderful to be out there on the water, much more fun than being on a bus.
Simon was a really interesting guy from Eugene, Oregon, who had worked as a tour guide in the winter and then spent his summers SCUBA diving in Laos, Thailand and Honduras. What a life these people have! Simon was a real liberal, but not the urban sort of liberal that we see in Berkeley, but a "live simple" kind of guy. We enjoyed his company.
Simon, Craig, and some other Alaskans we had talked to all recommended taking the 22-km (14-mi) spur road out to the small town of Talkeetna. Simon described it as "the Austin, Texas of Alaska." Everyone said that Talkeetna had fantastic food, so we decided to go there for dinner.
We had a nice dinner at a place called The Wildflower Cafe. We had been warned that it was a bit on the pricey side, but it was very good. We had good salmon soup and crab salads.
After our fun visit to Talkeetna, it was time to head back down the road to the lackluster Ramada Anchorage Downtown for the night.
On to the Kenai Peninsula and Kenai Fjords National Park.