Day 41 - Willow, AK

Our next stop on this amazing adventure is Willow, Alaska. Willow is located at Mile 70 on the Glenn Park Highway which is south of Denali. Why Willow you ask! Their claim to fame is the view of Denali on a clear day, plus the fishing. Hopefully Bob might have the opportunity to catch supper. After arriving at Willow Creek Resort, I know seeing Denali is out of the question since it's been raining on and off all day.

Willow was established as a tent town after gold was discovered in Willow Creek in 1897. The Talkeetna Trail was build, the forerunner to the Parks Highway, creating a major thoroughfare for mail carriers and their dog sleds.

When gold mining ceased in the Talkeetna Mountains in the 1940's, Willow became a ghost town. But the town bounced back with the completion of the highway. The town is well known for their dog mushers. The Iditarod Sled Dog Race officially starts in Anchorage but the restart is in Willow. In the summer months dog kennels offer tours and sled rides. How can you tell sledding is popular.

Our campsite was backed onto Willow Creek which gave us an amazing view of the river. We walked to the bridge and saw the bright red King(Sockeye) Salmon spawning in the river. They just closed the fishing season for King's so the campground was pretty empty. This area is renowned for their fishing. 

As I was walking along the river I spotted a common merganser which allowed me to snap a couple of picture before she flew away.

The campground on a whole was convenient. The owners are really nice people who not only own and run the campground they also offer fishing charters and hunting trips. The one thing I did notice were the amount of domestic rabbits hopping around everywhere. I counted 19 at one point, so I asked the question...why. They said it all started with one and now they have many. I guess the owls, bears, foxes, etc get them which in turn keeps the population in check.

Tomorrow, hopefully it will a nicer day to walk around Talkeetna.