Talkeetna, AK

Greetings from Talkeetna!  This is our new home for the summer and we are VERY excited about it!  Our cabin rests eight miles outside of the village and is nestled in the woods on a high hill that overlooks the a slow, winding river and the Alaska Railroad.  Mining trains run daily and commuter trains run on the weekends on their way from Anchorage to Denali National Park.  Beyond that, we have views of the Alaska Range and Mount Foraker (17,400 ft).  We travel by bicycle and a shuttle van that runs up and down the fifteen mile Talkeetna Spur Road.  We have no electricity or running water.  There is a water tap a couple hundred yards down the path from our house to the Talkeetna Guest Cabin (also owned by our landlords) and we fill a five gallon water tank every other day, or so.  We have a propane stove and three propane lights, though we rarely use the lights, as it is bright out from about 5 am to 11 pm.  We also have a wood stove which keeps us quite toasty at night.   Our wood pile is also down by the Guest Cabin, and we have been slowly hauling it up by sled and splitting it by the house. The outhouse is a little..."rustic" and I'm hoping to convince Joe and Nancy to spring for materials to re-build it.  We did a little trail maintenance between the cabin and the outhouse.  Devil's Club is abundant and very nasty.  You barely have to brush against it to get pretty pricked up.  The Fiddlehead Ferns are starting to come up and I can't wait to pick some to roast up for dinner.

The other two peaks that are prominent on the Alaska Range skyline from Talkeetna are Mount Denali, (20,320 ft) and the Moose's Tooth (10,335 ft).  We have seen quite a bit of wildlife since arriving.  Alayne met a moose looking in the front window.  On the river we have seen, beaver, otter, fox, and ducks.  The swans trumpet quite loudly in the morning and evening and the red squirrels are always chattering away.  The rumors are true!  The mosquitoes are the size of honey bees!  They are not abundant yet, but they will be soon.  The bug net over the bed will be a life savor, for sure.