Eugene to Denali — June 4-6, 2010

2636 miles (48 hours of driving) in 60 hours.

Day 1: Drive 9a-12a. Sleep 12a-6a.
Day 2: Drive 6a-11p. Sleep 11p-5a.
Day 3: Drive 5a-9p.

I very much do not recommended driving it this fast. (I had to because of the squeeze between leaving school early and getting to my summer job.) I was so glazed over and road-crazy by the end, and repeatedly passing the constant stream of “oh wow this is so amazing I wish I could stop here for a few days” places made me feel like someone was ripping out my soul. It didn’t help that I was missing Zoe terribly and had nothing but the sound of my own voice singing songs like Jamiroquai’s “Cosmic Girl” for hours on end (not lots of different pop songs sung one after another, but one song at a time) and salty snack food to comfort me as I drove through such lonely country.

Seems the best way to see the North would be to grab a friend or two and make a summer of it. Drive up through Rainier, Olympic, North Cascades; take your time exploring the Cassiar; cruise the roads to the middle of nowhere in the Yukon; then hop from park to range to river to valley throughout Alaska, camping/hiking/backpacking everywhere you go and making as many friends and as few plans as possible. On the way back, take your time following Fall as it cascades down the Rockies.

That’s my plan, anyway.