Danali

Aug 16,

At 9:00 this morning, Steve and I left Trapper Creek and arrived at Riley Creek in Denali National Park before noon. This camp ground reminds us of Walt Disney World’s campground in the way it is set up for visitors to catch buses. We aren’t in Jack Rabbit Run the way we were in Disney World though; here in Alaska we are staying in Bear Creek. It’s a beautiful campground the way the trees have been left between all the campers. We have lots of room.

Since clouds are covering Mount McKinley today, we already have decided that we will stay for at least two nights. From what we have heard, only 30% of Danali visitors do get to see the mountain. We have our fingers crossed.

When we took a ride as far as we could into the park this afternoon, we did see a grisly. That was exciting.( They don’t allow you to drive into the park for more than 15 miles. If you want to go further, you have to take a bus.) We visited the Visitor’s Center and saw a couple films about the area, about the beginning of the park and about the native people who have lived here for thousands of years. The building is outstanding.

After supper in our camper, Steve and I took another ride into the park. We had a bit of rain at supper time and then a little rain when we took this trip. We were lucky; we saw a rainbow. That’s a good sign, you know.

Aug 17,

This morning at 9:30 Steve and I were boarding a green shuttle bus for a six -hour trip into the park. Our driver was fun and stopped for us to see wildlife and to take pictures. He talked just the right amount, too.

The hairpin turns here remind us of our driving in Yosemite the time Josh and Dan were following in Josh’s car. No guardrails as you drive over the steep drop offs. The scenery, of course, is stunning.

The ride through the park also reminded us of driving in Yellowstone National Park, but we think that Yellowstone seems to have more wildlife. Our driver explained that the bears here don’t get much protein so they are smaller than bears, say, in the lower 48. Theses bears can’t fish because fish can’t live in the glacial water here. The caribou and moose are smaller as well.
Around 300 -350 grizzly bears, 2,000 moose, 2,000 caribou, 2,500 Dall sheep, 75 fox live here, but the park is larger than Massachusetts! This park is over 6 million acres!

We were lucky. We saw a fox that walked right by our stopped bus, a couple caribou and six grizzlies.

We also were lucky that today turned out to be a sunny day! The temperatures dropped to the 40s last night, but climbed to the 60s today. That was good. It was good that we stayed for an additional day, too. Yesterday, the low-hanging clouds would have obscured our views. Today was clear day.

Being the optimist that I can be, I figured that we would see the mountain. Well, I was partially right. Steve and I saw Mount McKinley’s snowy peak, but the rest was hidden in clouds even on a nice day. The mountain is so big at four miles high, it makes its own weather.

If tomorrow turns out to be a sparking day, we will stay another day. If we have any clouds, we will continue our adventure. We’ve been gone for three weeks and are aware that snow will be flying here soon!