A pleasure to read. Thanks for taking us along

I can remember the first time I saw Denali in the distance. It was looking at some earth Shakra or something like that. It's a very powerful looking and prominent mountain.

Great TR thanks for that. Very interesting and authentic.

Thank you for taking the time to read and leave a comment. I�m glad you ejoyed the ride!

Thanks for taking the time amid your own numerous travels, JapesUK. The layover at the airport was not so long. I reckoned that between the time it would take me to get to a hotel and the time needed to get back to the airport to check-in for the next flight would have left me with just around 4 hours in the hotel - not worth it. Now there are sleeping pods airside with hourly rates, so that seems like a good idea if such a schedule should arise again.

I�m glad you liked it, hoffmich45

And the fact that it is not always visible makes it extra special.

Thanks for your kind words stevie

An exceptional report. As someone who has traveled around many parts of Alaska once upon a time, but very skittish about getting stuck somewhere (after I spent several hours @ OME on the way to OTZ and never made it, instead flying back to ANC - for some folks, it was their third diversion to OME that day) and learning afterward that no one made it in or out of OTZ for 3 days, I was pleased that I never made it. I've spent a crystal clear winter day in Kodiak (spectacular, albeit limited roads on which to travel and the inflight chop was special), the better part of 24 hours @ BRW - during peak midnight sun time only to have it overcast the whole night - I found it a quite unappealing place. But had I never been, I'd still want to go,and can say I've been from Point Barrow to Punta Arenas.

Che, thank you for the kind words!

In hindsight I probably was cutting it close with the times I allowed between flight segments. During my final day in Kodiak the airport was closed all day, and my trip to Barrow could also have gone sour had the weather been worse. As I mentioned in a previous reply, BRW is certainly not on the top of anyone's shortlist of vacation hotspots, but - just like you - I too can say I've been from Barrow to Punta Arenas - and further south to Ushuaia, and across the Beagle Channel to Puerto Williams. The things one does to get to Cape Horn...

By the way, I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering when whe might see a new report by Eightblack. Definitely missing those gor may feasts aloft with le pop du cork and filay minyone!

Saludos Trekkfugl!,

What a fantastic trip - and an equally wonderful trip report! It was great to meet you during your short visit to Fairbanks, and I hope you'll find an airfare worthy of returning to Alaska after we finally get the park road open all the way to Wonder Lake again. If I may say so, you take some excellent photos - especially those taken from the air. Not everybody has the eye that you do, so thanks again for those great photos.

By the way, just as an update - that trip report that I've been working on for the past few months is up to 56000 words and a couple hundred photos so far - entirely too wordy for most of the Photo Report devotees here at the TR Forum, but hopefully they'll like the photos. I'm on the final portions of it, after which I've got to proof read and finally post it. Hopefully that will happen within the next two weeks.

In the meantime, estoy seguro de que hablo por muchos when I say that we eagerly anticipate your next excellent trip report. Here's wishing you many future great travels, and should my travels take me to or near your corner of the world again, I'll be sure to give you a heads up.

Saludos [Seat 2A]!



Sorry for the belated reply. I was on the road, on the tracks, in the air myself during the last several weeks and did not check in much on this site. Don�t get too excited though, as this last one wasn�t a �reportable� trip, so there will be no write-up about it.

Thanks for your kind words regarding this trip report, though � at least to me � my photos are on average not nearly as good as those of other contributors on here. It was indeed a pleasure meeting you up in Fairbanks. A return there is dependent on the reopening of the park road all the way to where it used to go. Let�s hope that happens in the not-so-distant future.

I see that you finished and posted your most recent report a few days ago. Congrats on that! Many of us were anticipating this eagerly.

I am reminded that on a trip once from Fairbanks to Anchorage I drove by a place with the charming name of Skinny Dick�s Halfway Inn. It wasn�t much past Ester, I think. Have you stayed there and can recommend it?

I know Skinny's, and I knew Skinny himself. I even bartended there one night when Skinny was out of town. Skinny passed in 2008, but the Halfway Inn lives on with new owners - though we almost lost it to fire this past summer.

I haven't been in there in a few years, but it's always good for a cold beer and a laugh. It's closed during the winter months (November - April I believe)

Over the past couple of years, they have been building some basic cabins on site, but I don't know if they rent rooms out.