7-10-16

Today we tried to drive the Denali Highway, a 130 mile road with only 20 paved miles. We got 10 miles into the gravel and shredded a tire. Fortunately we purchased a jack the previous evening, and had a spare. The Jack was not tall enough to lift the car high enough. So we engineered a series of rock maneuvers to prop the car up on rocks, then use more rocks to jack the car. Engineers, we are. 

We just happened to find a mechanic on a Sunday who was not at work, just at the shop working on his own car. He sold us a used tire and mounted it on the rim so we could have a spare.

At that we decided no more gravel roads. So, we took the long way up and through Fairbanks to head south to Denali. 

We found a nice campsite about 45 miles away from Denali and plan to get an early start tomorrow.