Matchbox

Greetings everyone!  It's been a while since I've posted so I need to get caught up.  Last week was my birthday and in honor of being 25 I rented a car.  Well actually I went on a Jeep Safari, but I got to drive since I was 25.  It's a local company that has Wranglers and they take groups of them out to the Stampede trail and go off-roading.  I was really excited because I've never been off-roading.  I've also always had a love for Jeep Wranglers so getting to drive one was even better.  Steph, Alex, Crystal and I all got into one Jeep while 4 other co-workers got in another one.  Each Jeep has a CB radio in to so we stay in touch with the guide. During the Safari the guide shares information about the area, the history of the Stampede trail and so on.  Our first task in the Jeep was to come up with a handle for each Jeep.  We all went, "oh cool!" then immediate silence took over as we tried to come up with something fun.  Alex's suggestion was luscious lollipop, that was veto because it was too long for the guide to say quickly. We ran through a bunch of other names, like Supertramp (from the book/movie "Into the Wild") and Ruby, we were in a red jeep, until we came up with Matchbox.  Everyone liked it so that stuck.  I've posted a video of different parts of the trip so when you here Matchbox that's me on the radio.

We drove north from Denali into Healy and then took a left on the Stampede Trail.  The Stampede Trail is a long established road that was used for mining about 100 years ago. The mine was so important to the economy that when the National Park was established in 1917 the Stampede Trail was annexed in order to allow the mine to continue.  Now the land is public access, but because it is surrounded on 3 sides by the national park is just like being inside the park.  The wildlife in the area can be hunted and vehicles can be driven around in it.  When I went ATVing it was in the same area of Stampede Trail because that is the only place you can take vehicles like ATV's, Jeeps or snowmobiles.  The first 8 miles of the road is paved but residential so the speed limit is only 35mph.  We drove along and then stopped when we encountered a mother moose and her 2 calves.  The calves weren't more than a week, week and a half old.  They had stopped for a water break in a little pond.  They weren't more than 50 feet from our Jeep.  The two calves were playing in the water while the mom snacked on some leaves.  The Mom moose was HUGE!  You see them in pictures but believe me you can  not imagine how large they are until you see it in person.

After the first 6 miles the road is no longer paved and a little bumpy but beautiful land to look around at.  We got to 8 mile lake, which believe it or not is 8 miles down Stampede Trail!  There is a public use cabin there on the other side of the lake.  If you go out there and the row boat is there you can go across and use the cabin.  However if the row boat is on the other side of the lake it means the cabin is being used.  We all agreed that we wanted to come back and check that out later this summer.  

Before continuing past 8 mile lake we had to put our Jeeps into 4 wheel drive.  It wasn't long after we had done that then we put it to good use.  It'd rained a few days before we went so the rutts in the roads had filled with water, a lot of water.  Watch the video and you'll get an idea of what we went through.  Driving was awesome!  It was so bumpy and muddy but sooooo much fun!  It was really nice to be dry the whole time while knowing the ATV's behind us were going to be soaked.  We drove out just another 2 miles but it took a solid hour to cover that ground.  We we got to the farthest point we pulled into their camp where we ate beef stew and fry bread.  The mosquitos were enjoying their snack as well which made it less than relaxing. The camp cook was an interesting character.  He is originally from Wisconsin but has been in Alaska for 20 years.  During the summer he lives in this camp, 10 miles down Stampede in a tent by himself cooking for the 3 trips that come through.  Then during the winter he has a tent he lives in in Anchorage.  Yeah that's right a tent.  He's someone who enjoys being off the grid and refuses to use electricity unless it's battery operated.  We called him the mountain man, slightly crazy but isn't that what this summer is about?

On the way back our guide had a cat pop in front of his Jeep which none of us saw which was really too bad because the only cats here are Lynx!  Anyways the 2 paying customers got to see it while the 8 freeloaders didn't so I think that's sweet justice.  We played a trivia game on the way back and needless to say Matchbox reigned supreme!  It's amazing how much information you pick up around here in a short amount of time.  Make sure to check out the video so you can get a better idea of what the Jeep Safari was like!