Day 60: Denali National Park and Preserve

June 13, 2014

This morning was another early one – out the door at 4:20 in route to the McKinley Chalet to catch our bus tour in to Denali National Park. But before we left we saw a beautiful sunrise in front of Fred and rainbow as the sun glistened on the mountains behind Fred. We have now seen rainbows at 11:00 pm and 3:45 am – Yep, crazy!

The trip into the park was excellent. We had a very good bus driver/tour guide. He was very knowledgeable about the park and the animals. We went about 60 miles in side the park on the bus. Individuals can only drive about the first 15 miles in private vehicles. To go deeper into the park you must take a bus tour or shuttle. This is to reduce impact on the surroundings and wildlife. The wild life viewing was very good and so much fun. Three grizzlies, moose – mom and calf, caribou, fox, porcupine, and Dall sheep. The rivers, streams, mountains – beautiful.

This bear had a fresh kill and the park closed off the area to hikers.

 

 

 

 

When we came back by the bear was still eating.

 

 

Unfortunately Denali – at over 20,000 feet was not to be seen in its entirety today. We only got about 75-80% with the the rest clouded over. Only about 1/3 of the people who visit the park are ever able to see the entire mountain. It is so huge that frequently the top is in the clouds. We were fortunate to see the entire mountain on our last trip and it is massive. We hope that maybe Barry and Donna will have the opportunity to see it before they leave.

 

A few changes we noticed since we were here in 2006. They are now allowing more buses into the park. There was considerably more traffic on that narrow little road today – too much traffic in our opinion. We would suspect that due to the increased numbers they are running tighter schedules and seem more rushed. We discussed the park usage with our driver and found that there is a push for more buses by some but push back by others in a continued attempt to keep the park in its natural/wild state. We did not see as much wild life today as we did in 2006. This of course could just be the day but others have also noted lower wild life counts. Some feel this has to do with the additional traffic in the park. We do hope they keep this wonderful wilderness in its natural state and don't turn it into just another tourist attraction.

Click to enlarge pictures

Buses must pass oncoming buses on this road

It was windy today

Tomorrow we move on to Byers Lake Campground in Denali State Park. We have heard wonderful things about this park so we are looking forward to this. Some say it is better than the national park with better view points for the mountain. They do not take reservations so we are hoping there is an open site. We will let you know.  We do not expect to have Internet there so we may not post to the blog tomorrow night.