Denali – Part 1

Denali National Park, AK – Sunday, August 21 thru Wednesday, August, 24, 2011

At last we have arrived in Denali. This is both exciting and a little sad. It's home to Mt. McKinley, the highest mountain in North America, and home to wildlife such as Dall sheep, caribou, moose, fox, coyote, wolf, arctic ground squirrel and more. The park itself is larger than Rhode Island, and is the third largest National Park in the United States.

The park is a real feast of sensations. There are snow covered mountains, high mountain deserts, the multi colored Polychrome mountains, and valleys filled with braided rivers. Every where you look it is a treat for the eyes.

Another plus is that since we left "coastal" Alaska and traveled north of the Alaska Range mountains, the weather has been beautiful. The mountains block most of the moisture to the park. In fact, annual precipitation is only 15 inches.

The reason it's sad, is that Denali marks the point where our journey begins an eastward trend and beginning the long trip home. Don't get me wrong, there is still lots to do and see, but we can feel the end of our Alaska experience approaching.

We can also see signs that we are starting to run out of time. Already we are experiencing morning temperatures in the upper 30's. Another seasonal indicator they use here is the fireweed. It's normally brilliant red, but at the end of summer turns white then brown. We're seeing more and more fireweed turning white.

With the exception of Talkeetna and Seward, Denali has been one of the busiest places we've been to in Alaska. Tour buses roll in and out of here all the time. Passenger trains come from Anchorage and Fairbanks twice a day. There is no such thing as a lonely hike here. Everywhere you go, you've got company. We're glad to see such a wonderful resource being so well utilized, but we had not anticipated being surrounded by so many people here in the "wilderness".

On our way here we got a glimpse of the “other side of the mountain”. No more glaciers and snow cover instead there are beautiful hillsides, trees and valleys.

Before checking in at Riley Campground, we took advantage of the dump/fill station. It is one of the nicest ones so far. Three stations and extra places with potable water. We wanted to take care of business because this was the first time we have encountered the following and didn’t want to chance it.

After getting checked in and settled into a really nice space, we went to explore the Visitors Center and Wilderness Access Center to find out about bus tours and hiking. Believe it or not we have phone service and wifi at the camp store.

After seeing how much there is to see and do and how beautiful this place is, we extended our 4 day reservation to 7 days. Went back to the RV and cooked out steaks and fresh veggies. We enjoyed our food, wine and evening.

Monday we drove into the park to Savage River which is as far as private vehicles are allowed. Beautiful drive and we found out we made it in time for the fall foliage.

We hiked the Savage River Loop Trail and enjoyed a beautiful day and more great scenery.

Along the trail we encountered lots of Arctic ground squirrels. They are really curious fellows and so much fun to watch. We also saw a ptarmigan crossing the trail, but too quick for a picture.

The trail followed along the river and over a bridge for the return. We took an unmaintained trail up to the top of one of the mountains for a different view.

We couldn’t resist checking out some of the features.

On the way back to camp we stopped at Savage Cabin interpretive trail. There was a docent at the cabin who was waiting for the next tour bus. He took time to explain a few things about the cabin and how it is still used today by the rangers in winter when they patrol the park. Frank asked why there were nail on the shutters with the pointed ends sticking out. He told us it was to keep bears out, because if they smelled your food they would try to get in. The other picture is of an outhouse roof. Great insulation.

Tuesday we decided to go to the Dog Kennels Demo. Our original intention was to take the bus there and then hike back. We waited in line with lots of people and only one bus going back and forth and decided on plan B. We drove over and got there before the rest of the crowd. I don’t think they expected this many people. They only have a few seats and some standing room, but today it overflowed.

The ranger explained that these are working dogs. The park is patrolled in the winter by these sled dogs. They are huskies, but not a specific breed. They are any working dog that can pull the weight, stand the cold and have a good personality to work with rangers and other dogs. They really do love their work. When they went to hook up the sled for the demo, all of the dogs in the kennel began barking and pulling, saying “pick me, I’m ready to go”.

After the demo we hung around while all the others had to board the buses back. Driving actually turned out to be a good plan, plus it looked like rain so our hike would have been more interesting.

We decided to drive into “town” which is just outside the park. Lots of lodges and shops, tourist city. This is what we saw on our way out of the park, as it began to rain.

Wednesday we went in search of Denali (aka Mt McKinley). The sky was clear with fewer clouds than the days before. They say you only have a 25-30 percent chance of actually seeing Denali because it has its own weather system and is very illusive. Frank’s hunch was correct, we saw both north and south peaks for a brief time. The pictures don’t do it justice. You have to look between the darker mountains and into the clouds to see the peaks (about 70 miles away). It felt really good to be a member of the 30% club!

We went to do some more exploring and drove up to the Grand Denali Lodge for a higher view over the park. We drove by these two guys and have no idea what they were doing or where they were going. There was all kinds of gear on the ground and only one pack horse.

We also got to watch as several groups prepared to take off on rafting adventures. They slide the rafts down the steep sides and load up at the bottom.

Tomorrow we take an 8:00 am bus tour into the park to the Eielson Visitors Center. It’s an 8 hour ride round trip. Should be great.

BG Miles Today	53	BG Total Miles	7006
Eat Out total $	860.55	BG Total Fuel $	3827.34
Entertainment total $	487.88	Total Camping $	1076.91
E Miles Today	130.4	E Total Miles	2320
E Total Fuel $	461.07	Day # of Trip	82 - 85