July 24
Zero miles technically, but actually about 10 miles of biking and walking around Denali area
It rained all night long and into the morning without stopping. Paul and I both had to pee when we woke up and we kept waiting and waiting for the rain to stop before getting up. We did not outlast the rain, but it did eventually stop, though it rained off and on through the day until the evening when the sun finally made an appearance.
Zero days always feel quite busy, because we always have chores to do. First, we stopped at the outfitter outside the park to get a few new items. We both got waterproof socks, and more robust waterproof gloves that are fleece lined. We got some chain lube, and I got a slightly bigger towel. Our tiny towels were not quite up to the task of the past few days.
Next was on to groceries, which should have been simple but we found both “grocery” stores outside the park to have a worse selection and higher prices than the little mercantile shop at the campground. So, we only picked out a couple items before heading back into the park.
We ran to the park store to grab a couple souvenir items, we hung out at the visitor center to charge our devices, and then we went to see the dog sled presentation, which had so many people I felt like we were at Disneyland.
Then it was back to the mercantile to grab a few more groceries.
We decided to have a proper dinner, so we rode down to the Holland America Lodge, which is basically its own little resort village, continuing the Disneyland vibes. The food was decent, not excellent but better than anything else we’ve had the last few days.
Back at camp, we took advantage of the sunlight to help dry some of our still-wet gear, like our shoes and rain pants. (We have sandals we’ve been wearing around rather than the wet shoes). Then back to the mercantile to have a shower and finish charging gear. And suddenly it’s 9pm!