Denali

Arriving at the park, I went to the Riley Creek Campground mercantile to check in, receive my passes and papers, and get my briefing for my stay at the Teklanika River (Tek) campground. Denali is a wilderness preserve and vehicle traffic is limited to a single road. Tek is about as far in as you can get in an RV, and all other travel inside the park is via shuttle busses. This policy limits the amount of travel on the roads, and reduces the impact on the wildlife. Riley Creek is right at the park entrance, Tek is about 29 miles in. I took advantage of the free dump and fill station at Riley, and then went up to the park visitor center to look around. Inside are some really excellent displays of wildlife and park history, including a cool 3D map of the park. A very nice theater shows various films throughout the day. You can spend several hours there easily. There is also a café and a book store/gift shop.

  

  

Heading into the park, the road turns to gravel at the Savage River checkpoint. Only campers with reservations can proceed past this point in private vehicles. The road was muddy, but really in good shape, given how much rain this area has had over the last week.

  

I encounter one of Denali’s road hazards: Caribou cruising along the highway! They seem quite unconcerned by vehicles!

  

  

I meet up with the group at Tek, and we throw a little birthday party for Wendy. It’s good to see everyone again, catch up on what they have been doing and seeing. I show off my mountain pix, and we all hope to see the mountain tomorrow. A little rain chases us into a cluster under Dennis and Carol’s awning. That’s OK: We’re in Alaska!

  

  

The next morning is sunny, and we all grab a bus to the interior of the park. Along the way, we see Caribou, Dall Sheep, Grizzlies, and spectacular scenery. Our bus driver, Craig, keeps us amused with his encyclopedic knowledge of the park and it’s animals while negotiating some of the most narrow and difficult roadway that I’ve ever been on! The trip is a lot of fun, and ends (for us) at the Eielson Visitor’s center, about 65 miles into the park.

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Eielson is where you get a perfect view of Mt. McKinley… on a clear day, that is. Unfortunately, the mountain is hiding behind the clouds, as it does about 70% of the time, but the center has many great displays to show you what you are missing.

  

Outside the visitor center at Eielson

  

I came across a curious tourist phenomenon here… they have antlers on display and there seems to be a curious compulsion to hold them to your head and have folks take pictures. LOL!

  

Anyhow, we load up the bus and head back. I mentioned the road and its extremeness earlier… here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Sure hope we don’t meet an oncoming bus along here!

  

Carol and I hop off the bus at a nearby stop and hike back along the river and through the woods to the campground. That evening, we all gather and compare notes (and pictures) for the day. Some of the gang who caught an earlier bus did see the mountain from the same places we were at… we were just a little too late in the day. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow!

  

North of Ninilchik

Headed out of Ninilchik on Thursday to make my Denali rendezvous with another chunk of the goosey bunch. The weather has turned rainy, and the rain persisted all the way north to Anchorage. That’s a real bummer, as the drive along the Seward highway is reported to be really pretty. Unfortunately, both times I’ve been on it, this is about as clear as it got:

 

I hope that when I head back down to fish again, I’ll be able to catch it on a sunny day! Anyhow, The road leads to Anchorage, which I hit right about rush hour. If I needed any reminder as to why I like to stay clear of cities, I sure got one in the gridlock traffic through the largest city in Alaska!

Like any big city, it is a place of traffic lights, strip malls, and multi-lane highways, and while I’m sure there are things to do and see here, I prefer to be out of the clamor and into the quieter parts of the state.

  

It doesn’t take long to get back into the open spaces north of town. Whew!

It continues to rain, and I finally pull into a nice little campground, lake Lucille, right in the town of Wasilla. As I drove onto the park road, a side entrance and a sign caught my eye: The Iditarod Trail Race Headquarters. Dang! Obviously closed for the day, but a fine place to check out in the morning!

  

  

The first thing I see when I park at the headquarters the next morning is a team of dogs hitched to a 4 wheeled sled. These dogs are a sled team, and they stay in shape throughout the summer by towing tourists around a track. I watch for a while then go check out the headquarters.

  

Inside, there are many interesting displays on the history of the Iditarod, and a great film on the race.

  

  

  

The film almost makes me want to come back in the winter and experience dog sledding for real… almost…. However, I do grab a ticket for a ride, thinking “when are you ever going to get another chance to ride behind a dog team?” The dogs are lean, vaguely huskie looking, but not like what I expected sled dogs to look like. I find by talking to the trainers that these dogs are not pure bred at all, but are known as Alaskan Huskies, and are essentially hybrid animals a la Heinz 57. Racing kennels breed for the characteristics best suited for the job at hand. Watching these dogs work, it is easily apparent that they really love to do this! When the cart is being readied, they are jumping up and down, eager to be off.

  

  

These dogs are ready to run!

I take my seat and get ready for my ride. Wow, that is sooo much fun! I was impressed by the speed, and watching the coordinated effort of the dogs as they wind through the turns is fascinating. Truly a unique experience!

  

My Ride

Heading north again on the Parks highway, still cloudy, drizzly and cool. I stop at one of the Denali viewpoints, but we are socked in, no mountains to be seen at all. However, I do meet a man and his son, towing a neat old truck on a trailer, We get to talking, and it turns out that he’s from Anchorage, and has always wanted a 60s pickup to restore. He found this one in Fairbanks, in a barn, owned by it’s original purchaser, and it was a daily driver till about 7 years ago. I was impressed! It’s a great find: a 65 Ford F100, and it is absolutely complete… not a thing is missing, and the body is in amazingly good shape, no major rust or damage. A very lucky find. We talk for quite a while about old trucks, then I head north again, into the clouds.

  

I stop for the night at a nice little free campground that is actually on the back side of a rest area, about 40 miles south of the Denali park road. It’s right along a river, and is a great find. I go to sleep hoping for a clearer day tomorrow.

  

  

The next morning, there is a big bright thing up in the sky… what the heck is that? Oh, yeah, the sun… I remember now. I hit the road early, hoping I will get a look at Mount McKinley along the way. Here are some scenes from the road…

  

  

Then, I come upon a roadside turnout where many folks are jumping up and down, laughing, and taking pictures. I stop, and sure enough, there is Denali, the High One, in the morning light.

  

  

Seeing the mountain is a special treat…. only about 30% of all visitors to Denali actually see the mountain at all. It is so tall (over 20,000 feet) that it creates it’s own weather, and is usually partly or fully occluded by clouds. Thrilled to be in that 30% club, and cheered by the beautiful day, I head for the park entrance to meet up with my friends.