Blink...it's autumn

Garage is about done...for this year. Last of our company is safe & sound back home. Greg's mom, Taz, sold her home and the shed is cleaned out. Time for a little Greg & Mary r & r!

I've always wanted to see the caribou migration, so packed up the camper and headed northeast after putting Taz & Dick on the plane to SC. About mile 75 on Glenallen we stopped to warm up dinner. Note to self: use back burners or step back from stove. New favorite brown cord shirt that I was looking forward to breaking in and wearing for years is (literally) toast.

At Sheep Mountain Lodge we missed hitting a moose by seconds. Unfortunately for the folks driving the Lexus in the on coming lane, they were not so fortunate. Clipped the cow's legs at 65 miles per hour. Shattered their windshield and peeled back their roof as it flew over the top. Debris showered us. We turned around and kept our lights on the moose on the road to warn approaching drivers and hung out for the next couple of hours waiting for EMT and State Patrol.

Boy Scout Greg tended the injured couple. Became an honorary EMT when they arrived and needed an extra pair of hands. State Patrol let him tie up and pull the moose off the road but wouldn't let him keep it.
We were still driving at 11:00 when the sky started lighting up. We watched a moderate display of northern lights before pulling off a little after midnight around mile 20 on the Richardson Highway. The next morning discovered an abandoned road off the parking pad and enjoyed watching a group of five ptarmigan flutter away from Grace.

Next day we topped off in Tok before heading toward Chicken. Greg took our camper up Taylor Mountain...which was little more than a four wheeler trail. Set up camp with a 360 degree site line, built a fire (there was snow on the ground), and were rewarded with a fabulous display of aurora that filled the sky for about an hour before the clouds rolled in.

Saturday found us past Chicken headed toward Eagle. The rep at Fish & Game in Tok told us the FortyMile herd was not yet on the move and by the time we hit heavy fog around mile 102 we were believers. Nary a single solitary caribou had been spotted. Turned around and headed south, then west. Camped beside Moon Lake. Cloudy skies meant no auroras.

Sunday we traveled through Delta Junction, North Pole, Fairbanks to Livengood. We camped at Whitefish Creek State Campground and watched folks wade into the creek after dark, attract whitefish with a light, and then spear them. Pretty cool. Nice fire waiting for the lights to show up. By 11:30 clouds rolled in and we called it a night. Overnight we had a snow dusting.

1700+ miles. Our quest for caribou migration siting - fail. Time away together, northern lights, seeing some remote points in this awesome place - score. 50 miles through a messy snowstorm, little autumn color left north of Talkeetna, fireweed bloomed out and seeds scattered, Talkeetna Mountains with first winter blanket says it is time for these two snow birds to fly south for the winter.