Plan E: Nabesna Road Bike and Hike

Being flexible can lead to unexpected little adventures and surprise encounters. 

After my aborted bikepacking trip, Eric and I thought about what we wanted to do with the rest of my time off.  We knew we didn’t want to just stay home.  

We had already made a reservation at a (free) public use cabin in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.  Viking Lodge Cabin, halfway down the Nabesna Road, is only a 10-minute walk from the road. 

The forecast looked grim—60-90% chance of rain for the next 5 days—but having a cabin to dry out in made it easier. We decided to go for it. We packed up everything so we could bike, hike or even backpack if the weather cooperated.  

We left Fairbanks Saturday morning in light rain, wondering if we would see anyone we knew out the Nabesna Road. Several people we know had already been there this summer. The weather improved as we went further east and south.  

Shortly after starting the Nabesna Road, we saw two bikers.  Lo and behold, they were our friends Sara and Brandon out camping for the weekend.  We chatted with them briefly, laughing about seeing others we knew out in the middle of nowhere.

FIRST MINI-ADVENTURE: NABESNA BIKE RIDE

The weather was downright nice by the time we got to our cabin 6 hours after leaving Fairbanks. We schlepped our stuff to the cabin, which was extremely nice, then headed out for a bike ride before dinner.  We planned to bike to the first stream crossing—there are several you have to cross on the road—and check it out.  With all the rain, we weren’t sure we could cross the streams on bike or by car. 

Secretly, I wanted to bike all the way to the end of the road and back, a distance of 40 miles but I wasn’t sure that Eric would want to go that far.  He normally doesn’t like to bike long distances and it was already 5pm when we started.  

After a few miles, we took a quick side trip into the Kendesnii Campground and ran into another family from Fairbanks that we knew!  Small world!

About 30 minutes into our ride, we came to the first stream crossing, and it didn’t look bad.

“It doesn’t look too deep. Want to keep going?” I asked. 

Still fresh and intrigued by the challenge of stream crossings, Eric agreed.  

Eric, a better technical rider, made it across no problem.  I’m kind of a wimp at stream crossings, but I followed and stayed on my bike. Whew!  

It was the first of six or seven creek crossings, all of which were bike-able, although our feet did get wet spinning through the deeper parts.  I had problems with only one crossing, which was wider with a slightly deeper current.  I should have made it, but I panicked, stopped, and put my feet down.  Oh well. At least I didn’t fall in.  I wrung out my socks on the other side and we kept going.

It was such a lovely evening and we kept pedaling and enjoying the views. Eric never suggested we turn back. Before we knew it, we were at the end of the road.  

We biked just a little past the end of the road sign.

On the way back, I hardly even slowed for the creek crossings, except for my nemesis crossing, where I again panicked and stepped off. Darn! 

On our way out we had seen two bikepackers camped on a gravel bar, so we decided to stop on our return and say hi.  It ends up, we knew them, too!  Janice and her friend, Darcy, from Anchorage.  It really is a small world.  We stopped to chat but just briefly. The bugs were annoying and it was getting late. 

Janice (left) and Darcy on a gravel bar near a rest stop along the Nabesna Road. 

After finishing our ride, we hiked to the cabin and finally had dinner about 10:30pm. We discussed the next day and decided to hike up Skookum Volcano Trail if the weather was halfway decent.

SECOND ADVENTURE: SKOOKUM VOLCANO TRAIL 

 

The next morning was cloudy but not rainy so out the door we went.  We were about 2 miles up the trail, when the rain started and the temperature dropped even lower (it was 45F when we started the hike). We had adequate gear, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.  

Part of the trail crosses a creek several times. We boulder hopped, trying to keep our feet dry.  Really?  We were drenched and even wearing waterproof socks, but old habits are hard to break.  

Views at the pass were minimal, so it was easy to turn around instead of continuing on some epic trek like we might normally do. The place has incredible scenery! We need to return on a nice day. 

It rained on us, but just a little higher up it was snow! 

FINAL ADVENTURE: PUZZLE SMACKDOWN

Back at the cabin, there was no time for relaxation.  The previous cabin party had started on a 750-piece jigsaw puzzle but had finished only the border and a little more.  Being endurance athletes, we took on the challenge and managed to put the whole thing together by breakfast the next morning, taking breaks only to eat and sleep. (Well, Eric took breaks to read, but he lacks Corrine’s puzzle stamina.)

Finished after a 15 hour blitz (with time out to sleep)!

Rain and drizzle persisted after breakfast on day 3 so we decided to head home.  In Tok we reassessed the weather forecast – rainy for two more days but then turning warmer and sunnier. We decided to hightail it home, dry out our gear and then head back down the Richardson to the Alaska Range Wednesday for Plan F of our vacation.  Stay tuned to see how that turns out.

PAPERWORK P.S. The afternoon of our Skookum Volcano hike we had unexpected visitors. Three guys showed up with reservations for the same cabin. We compared paperwork and apparently the park service had messed up (their start, end, and duration dates didn’t add up.) We apologized, but we kind of wanted the cabin to ourselves and it wouldn’t have been wise to share during COVID anyway. It’s always good to bring your paperwork!