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| The Talkeetna River |
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| old Talkeetna |
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| brave Fisher |
Bucky and I took a walk into town to see what had changed. There were a few changes, but basically things looked much the same. I took some shots of the usual places of historic interest and thought that I might as well throw them on. Talkeetna has a rich history and if you check the archives of this blog I think at one point I wrote about it. Talkeetna is a community in which everyone knows one another and consequently we now know many of the locals. Talkeetna's history revolves around the confluence of three large rivers, the Susitna, the Chulitna and the Talkeetna. The rivers were at one time the main avenues of transportation for trappers, miners and homesteaders. Talkeetna is also known as the staging area for all climbs of Denali. This means that Talkeetna has a busy airport transporting climbers, sightseers and all people wanting to hunt and fish in the bush. There was no road to Talkeetna until sometime between 1950-1960. Up until then, people depended on the rivers, primarily when frozen and the railroad for transportation. Talkeetna boasts the last regular flag-stop train in the nation. The train is utilized by those living in the bush who transport almost anything that will fit on the train. It is also used by hunters, hikers and fishermen. Dogs are allowed aboard.
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Nagley's Store and Talkeetna dogs including Fisher
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| 4 wheelers are used by locals who live "up the tracks" |
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| B and F on cart path |
Talkeetna is known for her bush pilots. One of the originals was Don Sheldon who made heroic landings on glaciers and in places no pilots had ever thought of landing before. All of these were out of necessity to rescue or provide service to those in the bush. At that time, the bush pilot was the only person able to help those living remote. Don Sheldon's original hanger is now a community center used for art showings, banquets, plays, weddings and concerts. It is Talkeetna's gathering place. I didn't take a picture, but as you can guess, the Hanger, as it is known, sits right on a grass airstrip in the middle of town. Local home owners have their airplanes tied down here. So, you might be walking down any street in Talkeetna and hear the engine of a Piper Cub preparing to take off, Shortly, it passes overhead heading into the wilderness. Locals can tell who it is just by the sound of its engine. If you like airplanes, Alaska aircraft history and bush flying, Talkeetna has all the resources around this. Today, Saturday, August 6th, we will move the RV about 500 yards closer to downtown, to an old church that is being renovated by some energetic and amazing educators and artisans. It will become the Northern Susitna Institute. This will be a Folk school modeled after the North House in MN
http://www.northhouse.org/. A very interesting concept. We were invited by a couple of the founders to park there and tap into their electricity and water in exchange for some of Bucky's construction know how. It will be a great spot for us and they like the idea of having someone staying on the grounds. It also is about 400 yards from Carlisle's cabin! I'll send some pictures of the new digs after our move. We also hope to get Carlisle's boat in the water today and take a ride up the Talkeetna and see if there are any Sockeye around as well as if the Silver salmon are in yet. Alaska is all about the salmon!
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| Don Sheldon's hanger (into the light, sorry) |
