I noticed, while driving north last Sunday, that there
were an awful lot of speed limit changes, so on the return trip, I counted
them.
Sure enough, there were twenty changes in the posted
speed limit in 240 miles from Denali National Park to Anchorage. A few were in construction zones, where
fines are doubled for miscreants, and I was paying close attention. I was driving a borrowed truck and pulling
my 19-foot travel trailer.
Best to pay attention under those circumstances.
Back up north, I exited Denali NP and crossed the
bridge over the Nenana river. A sign
above the roadside read, “Experience the View.”
So I did. I’d
always wondered about that mega-hotel perched like an aerie above Glitter
Gulch, as the commercial district outside the park is known, and this was the
perfect opportunity.
The drive up the hill is a series of blind corners and
hairpin switchbacks and, luckily, though I wasn’t pulling the trailer on this
excursion, it also soon proved fortuitous to read the signs.
Oh, by the way, there's a big hotel at the end of this driveway. I can't help but think the humorous signs are meant to take the attention away from how dicey the driveway is. Imagine being a passenger in on of those 44 passenger tour coaches going up or down this road.
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| The lodge is closed for the season. Employees were busy packing things up. |
And, as promised, the view is pretty nice, too.
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| One of those aircraft you're supposed to watch for is in this photo and the one below. |
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| See it? |