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I arrived at the park bus depot to pick up my pre-bought ticket and double check info. The guy at the desk claimed to know nothing about lodging in the park and said if I got off the bus I wouldn't be able to get back on without a new ticket, which he couldn't sell me. I was mildy freaking out because I was about to be dropped 100 miles from nowhere. I asked to talk to his manager and he wouldn't call him.
So I waited for a bus that I could not confirm was the right one and having no idea how far my stop was from the placed I'd booked. When I boarded I told the driver "I'm staying at Skyline?" and he was all "Yep, I'll drop you at the door." I told him what I'd been told by the ticket office inside and he asked for a description of the idiot so he could see about getting him actual training. My bus ticket was good for park entry and transit inside the park for 7 days, as long as I didn't leave the park. I could hop on/off at will.
The Park Road:
It took 7 hours to drive to Kantishna. The park road is narrow, unpaved, has tight curves at parts and is not the most stable road ever. Geologists were working 12 hours days on one part of the road east of Eielson the whole time I was there. The bus had some park employees heading out to camp on their days off because they'd just had a meeting about the park road and were worried about losing access to the western side of the park permanently. Permaforst melt is threatening the road and, per them, the road could go this year or it could hang in for 20. Park geologists are trying to push a 3 year time frame for having a plan in place for what to do if the road is lost permanently.
We stopped at Eielson long enough for a short hike:
The day was rainy and long. The bus had extended stops at certain points to get in a 10 minute walk or, at other stops, a 45 minute hike. The bus ride is well worth doing. There is only one road and private cars are banned past the 15 mile mark. Only bus drivers with weeks of special training are allowed past that point. East bound, the drivers have to hug the outer edge of the road for visibility in curvy areas. The road is narrow and they need to sight each other and following a complex right of way system I never figured out.
What could be seen of the Alaska Range:
I was, as promised, dropped right at my lodging. I was in the heart of the wilderness, 100 miles from any store or cell signal, but I was also at an airport. I was staying with the people who run the air taxi for Kantisha. They can rent out rooms the pilot and and ground crew aren't currently using. They've added a few small cabins so they have at least a few rooms to rent all season. Ground control is run from a small room off of the lobby. They have a single, gravel air strip and fly single engine propeller planes.
Skyline's stairs:
I loved staying there. There are a few pros and cons to being there. Kantishna using to be a mining town. It got eaten by the park when the park expanded and most mining was outlawed. The few bits of privately held land became campsites and/or resorts. Every other resort has a license to run it's own shuttles into the park. At Skyline, you need to deal with the park bus system, which sometimes means walking a few miles of the park road to get to a trailhead or being stuck a few hours at a bus stop. It's also 1/3 to 1/4 the price of staying anywhere else in Kantishna.
Wonder Lake Bus Stop:
You also need to be fine with lots of stairs, separate water for washing and drinking, no private bathrooms and occasional bursts of activity as they bring in passengers directly from various areas to stay there or at the more expensive resorts.
I would not have wanted to stay anywhere else. It was a bit of a paradox, being in a place very few people every make it to and also in basically the travel hub.
The next post is Part 7: Hiking the Tundra
So I waited for a bus that I could not confirm was the right one and having no idea how far my stop was from the placed I'd booked. When I boarded I told the driver "I'm staying at Skyline?" and he was all "Yep, I'll drop you at the door." I told him what I'd been told by the ticket office inside and he asked for a description of the idiot so he could see about getting him actual training. My bus ticket was good for park entry and transit inside the park for 7 days, as long as I didn't leave the park. I could hop on/off at will.
The Park Road:
It took 7 hours to drive to Kantishna. The park road is narrow, unpaved, has tight curves at parts and is not the most stable road ever. Geologists were working 12 hours days on one part of the road east of Eielson the whole time I was there. The bus had some park employees heading out to camp on their days off because they'd just had a meeting about the park road and were worried about losing access to the western side of the park permanently. Permaforst melt is threatening the road and, per them, the road could go this year or it could hang in for 20. Park geologists are trying to push a 3 year time frame for having a plan in place for what to do if the road is lost permanently.
We stopped at Eielson long enough for a short hike:
The day was rainy and long. The bus had extended stops at certain points to get in a 10 minute walk or, at other stops, a 45 minute hike. The bus ride is well worth doing. There is only one road and private cars are banned past the 15 mile mark. Only bus drivers with weeks of special training are allowed past that point. East bound, the drivers have to hug the outer edge of the road for visibility in curvy areas. The road is narrow and they need to sight each other and following a complex right of way system I never figured out.
What could be seen of the Alaska Range:
I was, as promised, dropped right at my lodging. I was in the heart of the wilderness, 100 miles from any store or cell signal, but I was also at an airport. I was staying with the people who run the air taxi for Kantisha. They can rent out rooms the pilot and and ground crew aren't currently using. They've added a few small cabins so they have at least a few rooms to rent all season. Ground control is run from a small room off of the lobby. They have a single, gravel air strip and fly single engine propeller planes.
Skyline's stairs:
I loved staying there. There are a few pros and cons to being there. Kantishna using to be a mining town. It got eaten by the park when the park expanded and most mining was outlawed. The few bits of privately held land became campsites and/or resorts. Every other resort has a license to run it's own shuttles into the park. At Skyline, you need to deal with the park bus system, which sometimes means walking a few miles of the park road to get to a trailhead or being stuck a few hours at a bus stop. It's also 1/3 to 1/4 the price of staying anywhere else in Kantishna.
Wonder Lake Bus Stop:
You also need to be fine with lots of stairs, separate water for washing and drinking, no private bathrooms and occasional bursts of activity as they bring in passengers directly from various areas to stay there or at the more expensive resorts.
I would not have wanted to stay anywhere else. It was a bit of a paradox, being in a place very few people every make it to and also in basically the travel hub.
The next post is Part 7: Hiking the Tundra
