After another good night’s sleep, except perhaps for Helen, who is not very well at the moment, most of us had a leisurely start to the day. Liz and Mark were off to do ziplining and the rest of us were just content to enjoy our surroundings and have a bit of a rest day before we start travelling again tomorrow.
Liz and Mark returned in time for lunch at the local cafe - Latitude 62 (because this is the latitude Talkeetna is situated at), and which is just 2 minutes up the road. Liz and Mark had a wonderful time ziplining and I was very envious. I would have loved to try it, but there is a weight limit (obviously or the line would be in the lake). I have no-one to blame but myself for the fact that I could not do it.
However, I enjoyed my lazy morning and when the zipliners returned, we all had a delicious lunch at Latitude 62.
Dinner that night was again salmon, which we had intended to cook over the open fire, but as the wind came up and it became quite cool, the thought of sitting out in the open did not seem so appealing, and the wonderful Manager of the cabins, Alicia, came to the rescue and cooked the salmon in her oven upstairs over the office. Bernie also prepared carrots and broccoli. Another extremely delicious meal.
We had been disappointed that we had not seen Mt McKinley (or Mt Denali as it is known locally). Denali means “the high one” or “the great one” in the local Athabascan language, which is a very fitting name as it is the highest peak in North America at 20,237 feet (6,168m) above sea level. However, it is a very shy mountain and does not like to show its glory to just anyone and is usually hidden behind clouds and/or mist or rain. As we all walked out of one cabin to the other at about 10.15pm on our last night, Liz looked up and said “what’s that?” as I said at exactly the same time “There’s a mountain” … and there it was - not all of it, but a good deal of it. We were all excited and raced for cameras and phones to take a photo. As it was way off in the distance and it was 10.15pm at night, the photos were not very clear, but still, we saw it.
A lovely ending to our last night in Talkeetna. I will be sorry to leave tomorrow - I really liked Talkeetna, for all its “redneck” look. The locals were all very friendly and the efforts of Alicia, the manager of Denali Fireside Cabins, went a long way to making sure we really enjoyed our stay.