The Great California & Yukon Gold Rush of '17

Only 100 miles to go to Anchorage and a day and a half of bike rental left. So we thought we'd explore the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage. We couldn't quite get to Anchor Point (the most westerly point on the contiguous road network of North America) so we decided to end our ride in Hope. Hope is a small settlement on the Kenai and was the scene of one of the smaller Alaskan gold rushes.    It has a host of historic buildings (or what we English would call "old sheds like my grandfather had") and a cafe for lunch. But it's main attraction was the name. It's always good to travel in hope. And now we've been there. Then back to Anchorage, a fantastic crab dinner and drop the bikes off. All done. 5970 miles in all 2500 with Sue and 3500 with Graham. As the folk round here would say "Awesome". PS Yes, I did think of Hope and Anchor(age) as a title but it got complicated.

What can I say. 130 miles of dirt ranging from packed mud to loose gravel. Not a lot of time to look at the views as we had to concentrate. Great to have done it though. Ending up in Talkeetna, an unfathomable tourist destination (there doesn't appear to be any reason to come here) with limited accommodation. So we rented this log cabin in the woods. Hansel and Gretel   would have felt at home.

We thought the day from Tok was going to be a transit day. Just do the miles and get there safely. Then "Harley Guy" in the hotel said. "Ya don't wanna go south from here man. The road's s**. Go north instead". So we did. Good decision. Not only did the road north go through Delta Junction, the end of the 1942 Alaska Highway (see above) but it also went through some fantastic scenery with views of Mount Hayes (see below). As a bonus we saw two moose by the road.  By the end of the day we were on the Denali Highway. 133 miles of unpaved roads connecting the Richardson and Parks Highways. Our stop for the night was Tangle River Lodge. A rustic hunting lodge by picturesque lakes and with a magnificent view. The sort of place where customers wear handguns to order apple pie, the walls are covered with hunting trophies and there is no internet. But there is beer, beavers swimming in the lake, Violet the landlady to look after us and our new friend...