Talkeetna and Surrounds

On our way south from Denali National Park we stopped off for a hike in the lesser-known Denali State Park alongside the Parks Highway. It had rained earlier in the day and the Curry Ridge Trail we hiked had us feeling like we were in Hawaii with all the moisture in the air. Some very picturesque views of the Alaska Range, Ruth Glacier and – at some points along the way as it poked through the clouds – the tip of Denali.

After a month on the road it was an exceptionally nice (and generous!) surprise for Annie Taylor’s stepdad Tim to put us up for our stay in Talkeetna at his lodge the Denali Overlook Inn. A real treat to have hot showers, beds with fresh linens, hot breakfasts every morning and phenomenal views of Denali and the mountains of the Alaska Range from every window in the inn. Tim has owned the inn for almost 20 years and was a wealth of information on the area, so many stories to tell of his years in Alaska, California and, more recently, Mazatlan. Such a gracious host, the kids gravitated towards him almost immediately, and especially loved getting to drive around on the his ATV and tractor while we were in residence. His fiancee Peque cooks a mean breakfast burrito!

Downtown Talkeetna was a real hoot: a haphazard array of classic Alaskan lodging, eateries, campgrounds, souvenir stores and outfitters. It was a hive of activity when we rolled in as the weekly Fridays at Five concert was underway in the central square. Some of the classic old bars were fantastic: the Denali Fairview Inn exuded frontier character – reminded me a lot of the William Tell – while the hole in the wall at the back of Nagley’s Store had me thinking of the bar burrowed away in Petaluma’s Volpi’s (right down to the worn-through floorboards). I think Lisa and I could have definitely spent some time at the bars of either Nagley’s or the Fairview Inn fraternizing with the colorful local clientele!

Due to its proximity to the city of Anchorage – which has a major airport – and Denali National Park, Talkeetna is recognized by many as the adventure capital of Alaska. Everywhere we looked were fly-in fishing guides, float planes, helicopter tours, outfitters offering glacier landings, ATV tour operators… The list was endless. The town also serves as a base for the thousands of climbers who attempt to summit Denali each year. The Denali Overlook Inn was actually originally part of the adventure scene itself: it was built as a base for photography expeditions to Denali, Brooks Range, Katmai and Valdez. There’s also some good fishing in the rivers and streams around Talkeetna itself, as well as some great singletrack around XY Lake. Max and I fished Montana Creek for an hour or two one morning, mesmerized by the behemoth king salmon in one of the deeper pools, their color changed from their typical ocean silver to a ruby red as they were progressing through spawning. Some of the aircraft at the Talkeetna airport were very impressive. I think my favorite was the Otter pictured below, which had hydraulic skis that would lower underneath the landing gear in midair to allow glacier landings. Bad ass.

Wanted to add some pics of the famous grizzly that’s housed in one of the hotels in Talkeetna for all the hunters out there. A 2000 pound/910 kilogram monster that was shot by the 10 year old daughter of a famous Alaskan hunting guide. She had custom body armor made to protect her shoulder from the recoil of the Remington 700 she used to take down the bear. I’d hate to meet something this size in the wild.

Denali Brewing Company is based a few miles south of Talkeetna on the Talkeetna Spur Road, and also has a brewpub in central Talkeetna. We dined at the brewpub on our first night in town and also stopped by the tasting room at the brewery for more samples and to make some souvenir purchases. Some seriously good beer, and the brewpub had delicious pub fare. The beer was so good, in fact, that after two of their brews I was yelling, “Moose!” and flipping a u-turn to check it out on the way home from the brewpub one evening. Turned out my moose was actually two hikers wearing black clothing, much to everyone else’s enjoyment… If they didn’t have such a disorganized tasting room and didn’t serve their beer in warm glasses, I think the Denali tasting room would be worthy of a gold mug on our map of the Breweries of Alaska.

One could easily kill a week in Talkeetna and the surrounding area, there was so much to do, especially for outdoors-centric adventures. And downtown was such a blast, an extremely eclectic mix of stores and people. We can’t thank Tim enough for his hospitality, we hope we can host him in Australia sometime!