Ready for a Small World tale? Day 16

This morning Mindy is at the car getting food for breakfast and I hear her chatting with our neighbor. Amanda was fascinated with our Tesla with MN plates. She is an Aussie now living and doing research with Alaska Energy and Power through her position at U of Alaska in 

Fairbanks.  I ask her if she knows Philip Wight (the professor whose EV route we have been following) and of course “he is a colleague of mine in the history dept.”

Because Philip was visiting family in the “lower 48” we were not going to see him. Now Amanda and her partner Tom will deliver our appreciation gifts of Ralph’s Book “Gilly and the Snowcats” and a Cool Planet DDC disc.  Not only that, Amanda connected us with  a few of her colleagues that are energy geeks or long distance athletes.

They also know David Norris an Alaskan who won the Birkie last year in record time.

And they choose site 6 at K’seugi Ken campsite with their hunting dogs to meet with us.  Coincidence??

Amanda and Tom – such a fortunate meeting!

Only gentle mouths allowed to touch a Cool Planet frisbee. Nice work, Scotch!

Tom’s kennel business

Heading north toward Denali National Park waiting for the clouds to lift and reveal the highest peak in North American and #3 on my list of 7 continental giants.  Everest (Chomolongma) and Kilamanjaro already secured.  Stopped at 2 charging stations near Cantwell, 1st did not work and the second behaved and got us to DNP around 4 pm.

Look really close and you can see Denali within the clouds. This is Paul’s first glimpse.

stupid charger! This is the only one we’ve had that wouldn’t work for us.

Flo proving to be our reliable friend at JamJam Spot in Cantwell.

Mailing postcards from Cantwell.

Being in person makes all the difference as we worked with Greg and he helped us get 3 nights at Sanctuary Campground about 15 miles into the park with no vehicles. Thanks Greg!  Mindy is thrilled and we’ll get 3 wilderness days in a small campsite with only 7 tent sites.

We made it to the park!

Thanks, Greg for getting us set up with 3 days at Sanctuary!

Still no clear view of the mountain but a message from Amanda let us know that they had a super view from the other side of the park.   So after a quick shower (ahhhhh) we hopped in Redd-Y and drove out to Mile 9 mountain viewpoint.  Yes it was a distant view but magnificent in its grandeur.

Our best view of the big one – highest peak in North America

Paul joyous at seeing #3 on his bucket list.

Proof that Mindy was there too – not just Paul – you can see Denali in the distance if you look carefully.

There are more beautiful sights than just Denali in this park.

The mountain wildflowers are stunning.

Check it off Paul and now into the wild, see you in 3 days.

– Paul