Monday, 22 June 2015 - McKinley to Denali

We opted for a quick breakfast this morning so we could be ready for our "shuttle" to the Princess Denali Lodge. Before we left we were able to upgrade our Tuesday morning tour to an 8 hour tour this afternoon. We left McKinley at 9:15 and were assured that we would arrive in time for our 1:10 departure. The best laid plans.... We ran into so much construction traffic that stopped the coach for a half hour at a time. I was convinced that we would never make it, but we did with about 15 minutes to spare. So we jumped off one coach and hopped on our upgraded school bus for the Tundra Wilderness Tour.

This tour was an exploration 53 miles deep into the tundra of Denali National Park. the second oldest national park. Unfortuately because of the smoke from the forest fires the summit of Denali (Mt. McKinley) was not able to be seen. We will add this to the list of Dublin's Book of Kells and the Sistine Chapel as places we to which we have traveled and not been able to see an important place there. But, the scenery at the lower heights was still so beautiful and breathtaking. We got to over 4000 feet in elevation, well above the treeline. Our guide, Terry Grabow, was a virtual encyclopedia of Denali information. I am now finally aware of the confusion between McKinley and Denali. McKinley is the name recognized by the U.S. government and Denali is the Athabascan name that Alaska recognizes. Every so many years legistlation is introduced to change the name back.

In addition to the magnificent scenery, the wildlife spottings were so exciting. We did not find a fox, but did see the other large animals that inhabit the park. Most of the pictures were taken from inside our bus because the animals get frightened of people and run away. Unfortunately, on one side of the pass we ran into some rain which made the windows very dirty.

A moose and her calf

High up on the side of one of the mountains was a flock of Dall sheep. They really looked like specks of white from the road.

The road, single lane at best, hugged the edges of cliffs. It was a very scary ride on the return trip as I was sitting on the right side of the bus. Sharon made fun of my anxiety! Again, pictures cannot do justice to the majesty of this land. There are infinite oohs and ahs at every turn. Denali is a 600,000 acre part and home to the Alaskan Mountain range. There are glacier paths, river beds, and snow capped mountains. It should be on every American's must see list.

 

As usual, Sharon provides the levity.

We were so excited to see our first grizzly bear. It was frolicking and eating very close to a caribou and neither paid any attention to the other. I didn't get to the other side of the bus to get a picture of them in close proximity. There were a number of busses stopped to see the bear and nonchalantly he crossed the road to the other side right between two of them. Definitely a high point of the day.

The steep cliffs of glacier worn land. Look closely at the right most peak of the formation.

Our guide spotted a gyrfalcon perched high on the cliff. He has very well trained eyes.

We saw many caribou, that it almost became passé when someone spotted them. They are huge and the racks are massive.

The tour was an incredlble experience and we are so glad we upgraded it from the 17 mile that Princess had scheduled for us. This will leave us some time on Tuesday morning to regroup and take advantage of the WiFi in the lodge.

On a down side, I found that I left a camera battery in its charger back in McKinley. I called the lodge and no one had turned it in. They will have to wait for morning to get housekeeping involved. I have a feeling that I maybe cameraless for the remainder of the trip. But Earle and Sharon have cameras and I will rely on their pictures for Fairbanks.

Bucs didn't play today. Hopefully, they will find their bats when they return to PNC Park on Tuesday.

 

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