As it was a short drive (about 2 hours) between Fairbanks and Denali, we made a few stops along the way to look at the scenery & a few more animals. We arrived at Denali around Noon and registered for our campground, Savage River, which is about 15 miles into the park. We tried to get a spot 29 miles into the park but it was full. Actually staying where we did was a good thing as we were able to drive out with the truck when we wanted to go somewhere. From the campground further in we would have to wait for a bus and then pay!
We also booked a tour to the end of the road, Kantishna, which is 93 miles into the park. This is a small town (about 15 residents at the best of times), that was started as a mining town. If memory serves me correct, it has cost as much or more to ship the gold out to be refined as they mined… I am sure the lifestyle had an impact on the people staying there.
We took the bus tour to Kantishna on Wednesday but we got a lot more than we paid for. There are two levels of bus rides to Kantishna. On one you get a "guided tour" all the way plus a box lunch and another one where you bring your own food and the driver does not provide any narrative. Well, we paid for the "cheap" ride and got the deluxe ride. We asked the driver several times if we were on the right bus and she said we were. Her name is Lisa Frederick and she has participated in the Iditarod 
where she placed 37th… quite a feat! We saw lots of interesting site and animals along the way - Grizzly Bears, Caribou, Ptarmigan and her chicks, a wolf, Dall sheep, a bald eagle, and a pair of golden eagles. While we were waiting at the bus stop for the tour bus, a cow moose with her calf came wandering out of our campground… they did this 2 mornings in a row!
where she placed 37th… quite a feat! We saw lots of interesting site and animals along the way - Grizzly Bears, Caribou, Ptarmigan and her chicks, a wolf, Dall sheep, a bald eagle, and a pair of golden eagles. While we were waiting at the bus stop for the tour bus, a cow moose with her calf came wandering out of our campground… they did this 2 mornings in a row!
Thursday was a "lazy" day. We took the truck and went to the Riley Mercantile to see if we could stay another night. They had 2 spots and since we only needed one, it worked out great. We then went back to the trailer for lunch. After lunch, we went for a walk that took us to the Savage River that was mostly stones and very little water. We followed this back to the road and then back to camp. The weather was just super all day. That night we went to the Ranger's talk on Lynx and low and behold, a lynx walked right through the area where she was giving her talk. We accused her of using a wind-up prop but she swore that it was a first for her to see a Lynx in the wild.
On Friday we road our bikes into the Denali Visitor Center which was about 15 miles of lots of climbing and a little downhill… much to WD's chagrin but we made it. Our reward was a single scope, vanilla cone that was about the size of most 21 scopes. We then waited for the bus for 2 hours (this was the only negative on our stay here) as the first bus could not accommodate our bikes even though they advertise as much. It was another beautiful day and we were able to watch the train/bus tours come and go and we even talked to several people.
Saturday morning dawned (I guess I can say that even though the sun doesn't really set) another beautiful day so we packed up camp and left. We did stop several times to watch another cow moose (the biggest I've ever seen) and her calf browse. We also stopped at Hurricane Gulch, which was quite impressive. We drove about 150 miles to milepost 76 on Parks Highway where we spent the night.
Did you know? There are several Bald Eagles currently living in the Park in the area of Denali. They do not normally inhabit this area because there are very few fish in the creeks and rivers due to the very high silt content to eat… they are fish eaters. There are lots of Bald Eagles in southern Alaska. Wonder Lake is one of the few that have fish but it is too deep so the Bald Eagle can't catch enough fish to sustain itself. Even the rangers we spoke to do not know what the Bald Eagles are eating… at least for now.
Pictures of the last few days can be found at Alaska - Denali Park - 2009
Until next time – keep your loops open.
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