We started our day by packing up our stuff and talking a walk down to the river. This was followed by a phenomenal breakfast at the Roadhouse. The Roadhouse looks like it is two hundred years old, but it was actually built only in 1942. In Alaska-years, however, this is around 200 years old, seeing as how the nearby highway wasn't built until 1971 and Talkeetna didn't even have a paved road until the mid-70s. The breakfast was great... biscuits and gravy (with reindeer sausage) for Justin and a single sourdough hotcake (from a 1902 starter) for Cara. Not a bad way to start a day. We both had the "half" order, which was plenty. The full order seems to be primarily for those coming down off of Denali. We snapped a few last pictures of Talkeetna and left for Denali National Park. Denali National Park is notoriously busy. Everyone we talked to and every guidebook we read recommended reservations for everything. Normally, there are no cars allowed more than a few miles into the park. But, none of this applies to us because we are pre-season. Granted, only one loop of one campground was open, but it was free and we found a beautiful spot to pitch our tent easily. And, yes, we still can't drive the full road into the park, but we were able to drive to Mile 30 (instead of only Mile 15), which is 15 miles further than most Denali National Park tourists can get. There were a few other cars, but the road was mostly empty. All of this made the park a much more relaxing place to stay than most guidebooks account for. We tried to start a fire, but our wood (which we had bought in Seward) was simply too wet still. I think it was freshly cut, because it simply wouldn't burn on its own. The next morning we slept in because it was too cold to get up and get out of our sleeping bags. It was a relaxing day, with no obligations other than a desire for a hike. We followed some of the trails around the entrance (the only formal trails in the park) to get a total of a 5 mile hike, with around 2000 feet of elevation change. The Healy Mountain Overlook gave a nice view of the park valley and we were able to see some Dall sheep. A warm dinner and a warmer fire than the prior night (with the help of more dead wood gathered from around the camground) and we were off to sleep.