MANY BIKE RIDES FROM TEK RIVER CAMPGROUND & WALKS DOWN TO TEK RIVER FROM CAMPGROUND (LAST TWO DAYS AT TEK CAMPGROUND) - Monday, July 3 - Tuesday, July 4, 2023

Monday, July 3, 2023

Today was another beautiful sunny day, but the clouds were rolling in and it was very windy. We had a breakfast of toasted cinnamon raisin bagels spread with peanut butter and topped with a fried egg and crispy bacon.

Even though the temperature was already at 63 degrees, we waited awhile to see if the winds would die down before we went for a bike ride. Mel went for a walk around the campground.

At 12:45 p.m., we took off and went rode toward the Sanctuary River Campground. Battling winds from all directions and being tossed around on the road, I only made it about four miles before I turned around and headed back (8 miles roundtrip in an hour). A little disappointed, Mel turned around and went back with me. I stopped at the Teklanika River Campground sign to take a selfie.

Mel then decided to go for another bike ride, so he headed out toward Sable Pass and then came back (which was another 20 miles of riding). Mel said he again saw the mama grizzly with her 3 cubs, as well as a Caribou and 3 Dahl sheep at mile 34 around Igloo Mountain (see below).

Above is one of the Dahl sheep that Mel saw on Igloo Mountain. These white-coated grazers of Alaska's high mountains, can be viewed at a distance by scanning certain open slopes -- usually where whole mountain faces are visible at a glance -- most often when vegetation can provide a backdrop to their fur.

We had spaghetti for dinner. And then we decided to take a walk down to the Teklanika River from our campground.  

As we were walking, we stopped to talk with a family from Switzerland that had a jeep with a tent on top of it. (See picture above.) They said they were here in the states for about three weeks, and would be staying here for three nights. We thought their setup looked pretty neat.

We continued on our walk and then had to walk behind a trailer to the path that would lead down to the river.

The path was very scenic with fireweeds and mountains.

We passed by the sign (below) warning of bears frequenting the area. As we had our bear spray with us, we continued on.

The sky was beginning to look more and more ominous all the time.

Yet we continued on . . .

But soon we could tell it was going to rain -- and then it did start to sprinkle, so we turned around and headed back.

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

This morning it was still windy, but nice and sunny. Even though it was only 48 degrees out, we decided to finish our walk down to the Teklanika River that we had started last night. We left right after breakfast at 8:30 a.m.

The Teklanika River walk only took us 30 minutes round trip from our campsite.

Above is the beginning of the Teklanika River that is just a short walk west of the Teklanika River Campground where we are staying. The Tek River flows northward from the Alaska Range.

As we walked out onto the gravel bars, I was admiring all the different colored rocks, several of which that had white lines across them (see above).

And soon the Teklanika River begins to get wider.

And then the Teklanika River gets really wide!

It is such a beautiful day with simply spectacular mountainous views everywhere we look. And when we turned around to walk back, we had to look carefully to find the opening that we had originally come through.

When we got back to the campsite, Mel decided to go on a bike ride back to Sable Pass one last time. His twenty-mile bike ride took him two hours and 15 minutes from 9:00 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. 

After lunch, Mel went on another bike ride -- this time back to Sanctuary Campground, while I decided to ride my bike to the Teklanika River Viewpoint rest stop. The interpretive sign below talks about the wildlife corridor and traditional hunting ground at the Teklanika River.

The Ice Age Hunters (as described in the interpretive sign above) became experts in watching for mammoth bison and caribou from the ridgetops. While they waited, they often made knifes and repaired weapons.

Above and below, are views of the braided Teklanika River. As glaciers melt in the Alaska Range, silt, gravel and cobbles are carried downstream in the meltwater. When the river reaches the relatively flat plain, the flow rate slows. The sediment drops to the bottom of the stream, building up over time, creating this wide river bar, full of shifting channels or braids.

After I had spent a few minutes there, I headed back to the campsite first stopping to take a picture of the little pond alongside the road.

Then I decided to ride by the Murie Science and Learning Center Field Camp (shown in the picture above and below).

On my five-mile bike ride, I also checked out the open campsites in our two loops -- there were 21 open spots in both loops.

Pictures from Mel's 13-mile bike ride to the Sanctuary Campground follow.

The Sanctuary River, with an elevation of 2,468 feet. It is a large glacial river that is bordered by a narrow gravel bar with brush on either side. The river usually consists of one or two main channels originating from the high glaciers of the Alaska Range. There are a variety of valleys and tributaries feeding into the Sanctuary.

Mel takes a selfie in front of the Sanctuary River.

Below is the sign for the Sanctuary Campground, which is located at mile 23.

For dinner tonight, we had chicken fajita salads. After dinner, we went again for a walk down to the Teklanika River from our campsite. On our walk, we saw a couple of neat tent setups (see next two pictures below).

The half-hour river walk was very peaceful and beautiful! Hard to believe we are out wandering around between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. and it's still light out, but that is all part of the midnight sun in Alaska.

As this is our last night at the Teklanika River Campground, we whisper goodbye briefly to all that we have seen here at Tek.  But, we will always remember the shimmering beauty of the Tek River and the majestic Alaska Range mountains behind it! 

Shirley & Mel