Our trip from Fairbanks was a fairly short one, only about three hours. We had reservations at an RV Park on a bluff above the Nenana River, just a couple of miles north of the park entrance. When we got there, we saw a sign which said, “Campers, use Grizzly Bear RV Park, 9 miles south”. Hmmm. That wasn’t our plan. So, the gals got out and went to talk to the guy in the office. It seems that they were having “issues” getting the RV Park open for the season. They had water and electricity, but apparently the bathrooms were not working right. Since we all have bathrooms in our rigs, he said we could stay. By that evening, there were about 3 or 4 other RV’s camped there, and by the afternoon of the next day, there were at least a dozen or so. Apparently, the “issues” were resolved, but the sign telling campers to use the other park was still up. Strange.
Anyway, after getting our camp set up, we got in our cars and headed into the park. Denali is very restrictive as to the use of private vehicles on park roads. Visitors are allowed to drive to the visitor center and several other park facilities within a mile or so of the entrance, and to drive to Savage River, about 15 miles inside the park. If visitors wish to go further into the park, (the road is 90 miles long) they must use the parks bus system. There are several different bus services; green shuttle buses are used to get visitors to various campgrounds, visitor facilities and view points on the road, and tan tour buses offer three different narrated tours. We had reserved tickets for the “Wilderness Tundra Tour” on Sunday morning, so we stopped and picked up those tickets before going to the Visitor Center to orient ourselves about the park.
Denali, the mountain, is the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet. It is not visible from the park entrance, but only comes into view at about the 50 mile point on the park road. Originally known as Mt. McKinley but now almost always referred to by the Athabaskan Indian word, Denali, or "the high one", the mountain is shrouded in clouds most of the time. On our first full day in the park, we took a 2 mile hike into Horseshoe Lake and back.
It was a great walk, and although we didn’t see any of the “big five” game animals commonly seen in the park, we saw several large beaver dams that contribute to the size of the lake. That evening in celebration of Diane’s birthday, we had dinner at a beautiful restaurant high on a mountain overlooking the Nenana River and the park.
The next day, Saturday, we drove down the highway about 27 miles to a different and much less expensive campground where we settled in for another two-night stay. After dinner the first night, we drove about five miles east to see if we could see Denali. Most of the mountain was visible, but the very top was shrouded in clouds. Still, it was an impressive sight.
On Sunday morning, we got up very early (4:10 AM) in order to catch our Wilderness Tour bus which left at 5: 30. We really couldn’t call it, “0-dark-30”, because the sun had come up at 3:10 AM! It was overcast with rain-looking clouds, so we didn’t get our hopes of seeing the mountain too high, but as we got out of our car at the Wilderness Center, there was a female moose nibbling on the tree leaves in the bus turnout area. That, we thought might be a harbinger of good things to come.
Well, it was! During the trip, we saw a couple more moose, about six grizzly bears, including a sow with twin cubs, at least 15 Dall Sheep and numerous caribou, four of the “big five”.
We didn’t see wolves, which are number 5 on the list, but we did see several foxes and two lynx, a very rare sighting according to our driver/narrator. In addition, we saw hundreds of snowshoe hares, which are the favorite food for lynx and fox. We also spotted a golden eagle, several Willow Ptarmigan, the Alaska State bird, and several species of small rodents.
But the highlight of the trip was the mountain, itself. At about mile 53, we caught a glimpse of it with clouds all around. Then, a few miles later, our guide said we might be lucky; he thought the clouds were breaking up. He immediately sped up, and said that game watching would have to wait. As we rose over a pass, he asked us to close our eyes until he told us to open them. We did, of course, and about a minute later, he said, “Open your eyes.”, and there was Denali in all it’s glory, totally clear of the clouds!
It was a breathtaking sight to see. We drove for a couple of more miles to a turnaround where we all got out of the bus for a photo session. As we stood there, a few clouds began to drift in front of the mountain, and after about 15 minutes, our guide asked us to load up and we headed back down the road. About five minutes after that he told us to look behind us, and the mountain was totally covered with clouds. Such was our wonderful luck that day. He told us that he drives that bus five days a week, and he sees the mountain about once every 14 trips. According to park statistics, only about 20% of the park’s visitors get to see the mountain. Wow! What a day!
The next day we packed up and headed for Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. We’ll tell you all about that later.
Anyway, after getting our camp set up, we got in our cars and headed into the park. Denali is very restrictive as to the use of private vehicles on park roads. Visitors are allowed to drive to the visitor center and several other park facilities within a mile or so of the entrance, and to drive to Savage River, about 15 miles inside the park. If visitors wish to go further into the park, (the road is 90 miles long) they must use the parks bus system. There are several different bus services; green shuttle buses are used to get visitors to various campgrounds, visitor facilities and view points on the road, and tan tour buses offer three different narrated tours. We had reserved tickets for the “Wilderness Tundra Tour” on Sunday morning, so we stopped and picked up those tickets before going to the Visitor Center to orient ourselves about the park.
Denali, the mountain, is the highest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet. It is not visible from the park entrance, but only comes into view at about the 50 mile point on the park road. Originally known as Mt. McKinley but now almost always referred to by the Athabaskan Indian word, Denali, or "the high one", the mountain is shrouded in clouds most of the time. On our first full day in the park, we took a 2 mile hike into Horseshoe Lake and back.
It was a great walk, and although we didn’t see any of the “big five” game animals commonly seen in the park, we saw several large beaver dams that contribute to the size of the lake. That evening in celebration of Diane’s birthday, we had dinner at a beautiful restaurant high on a mountain overlooking the Nenana River and the park.The next day, Saturday, we drove down the highway about 27 miles to a different and much less expensive campground where we settled in for another two-night stay. After dinner the first night, we drove about five miles east to see if we could see Denali. Most of the mountain was visible, but the very top was shrouded in clouds. Still, it was an impressive sight.
On Sunday morning, we got up very early (4:10 AM) in order to catch our Wilderness Tour bus which left at 5: 30. We really couldn’t call it, “0-dark-30”, because the sun had come up at 3:10 AM! It was overcast with rain-looking clouds, so we didn’t get our hopes of seeing the mountain too high, but as we got out of our car at the Wilderness Center, there was a female moose nibbling on the tree leaves in the bus turnout area. That, we thought might be a harbinger of good things to come.
Well, it was! During the trip, we saw a couple more moose, about six grizzly bears, including a sow with twin cubs, at least 15 Dall Sheep and numerous caribou, four of the “big five”.
We didn’t see wolves, which are number 5 on the list, but we did see several foxes and two lynx, a very rare sighting according to our driver/narrator. In addition, we saw hundreds of snowshoe hares, which are the favorite food for lynx and fox. We also spotted a golden eagle, several Willow Ptarmigan, the Alaska State bird, and several species of small rodents.
But the highlight of the trip was the mountain, itself. At about mile 53, we caught a glimpse of it with clouds all around. Then, a few miles later, our guide said we might be lucky; he thought the clouds were breaking up. He immediately sped up, and said that game watching would have to wait. As we rose over a pass, he asked us to close our eyes until he told us to open them. We did, of course, and about a minute later, he said, “Open your eyes.”, and there was Denali in all it’s glory, totally clear of the clouds!
It was a breathtaking sight to see. We drove for a couple of more miles to a turnaround where we all got out of the bus for a photo session. As we stood there, a few clouds began to drift in front of the mountain, and after about 15 minutes, our guide asked us to load up and we headed back down the road. About five minutes after that he told us to look behind us, and the mountain was totally covered with clouds. Such was our wonderful luck that day. He told us that he drives that bus five days a week, and he sees the mountain about once every 14 trips. According to park statistics, only about 20% of the park’s visitors get to see the mountain. Wow! What a day!The next day we packed up and headed for Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. We’ll tell you all about that later.
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