Denali National Park

We were so excited to finally arrive at Denali National Park, a place that both of us have always wanted to see.















After checking in at the Wilderness Access Center, we headed down the park road. Only the first 15 miles are paved. When we reached the dirt and hard-packed gravel, we were greeted by this caribou crossing the road in front of us.









The views of the Alaska Range along the park road were beautiful, but there were too many clouds to see the elusive Mt. McKinley (Denali). At 20,000 feet, it was more often than not hidden by clouds. We were hopeful that it would appear at some point during our stay.










The Teklanika Campground is at mile 29.1. It's the furthest campground inside the park that you can drive to. No private vehicles are allowed beyond this point. During your stay you must rely on the shuttle buses. Minimum stay is three nights, but we signed up for four.








On our first evening in the campground, it started to rain and then briefly turned to hail. Once it stopped, we took a walk around the surrounding area. The mountains in the distance had a fresh dusting of snow.







The Teklanika River ran behind the campground. We were able to walk along its banks.

Lee waiting for the bus

The park is 6 million acres in area and there is only one 92 mile road. The rest is wilderness to explore on foot. In this way, the park service preserves the wilderness atmosphere and protects the wildlife. The shuttles run often. You have the option of getting off anywhere along the road and picking up another bus when you're ready to return. On our first full day in the park, we stayed on the bus the whole way to get an introduction to the park.

We took the first bus in the morning (6:25 a.m.) and we were going to the farthest point, Wonder Lake, at mile 92. We were lucky to get a driver, Mike, who had been working in the park for 24 years. He was a bit of a character, but he seemed to know every inch of the park and was eager to share it with us.






The road is narrow and winding in many places, which is another good reason to keep the public off the road. There would probably be many going off the cliffs otherwise!

I had my eyes closed a few times!

The scenery was spectacular. We were glued to the window the entire time.

This section of the park was called Polychrome Pass because of the colors of the rock.

Once we got through the pass, the road was flatter and the landscape was more open and less mountainous.

There were many small, crystal clear lakes along the road.

Wonder Lake is a spot where it is possible (weather permitting) to view Denali. Unfortunately, the mountain was hidden in the clouds. We weren't going to see it today!

Mike, our driver, seemed to be able to spot wildlife from a mile away. He drove very slowly and would even pull over whenever he thought there was a possibility of viewing an animal. When one appeared, he waited to give everyone an opportunity to get their photos. He was also an avid wildlife photographer, so he understood the desire for us to get good shots. Here's what we saw on that first day.

Grizzly Bear

Caribou

Moose

Geese (forgot what kind)

Golden Eye Duck and Ducklings

              Arctic Ground Squirrel

Red Fox

The highlight of the day was toward the end of the ride when we spotted a grizzly cub. Mike pulled over to the side of the road and waited. We knew there must be a sow nearby. We were in for a real treat to discover two cubs along with mom! We watched the whole sequence of events with cameras clicking away!

Cub digging for ground squirrel

Cub walking off behind the bushes

Mama Grizzly and 2nd cub come into view

 

Mama heads off up the hill

Both cubs follow her

Mama rolls over onto the ground. 

Cubs start nursing 

Note Mama's paw on the cub's back. Such a sweet moment.

We didn't see Mt. McKinley that day, but this scenario more than made up for that!

The next day we planned to hike with two couples from Bend, Oregon whom we had met the previous day. We all decided to ride the bus up to the top of Sable Pass, about 10 miles from our campground and hike down the park road back through Igloo Creek (about 5 miles) in hopes of spotting some wildlife up close.







Along the way, it started to rain lightly. We kept walking and hoping it wouldn't rain too hard. We spotted a magpie nest with four baby birds. That was the only wildlife we saw.











The Oregon group decided to hop on a bus and go out farther into the park. Lee and I decided to continue to walk back toward the campground. As we walked, the rain got heavier and we got wetter! We kept walking and hoping a bus would come along soon. When we finally flagged down a bus, they only had one seat available, so we watched it drive off as we kept walking and getting wetter. When we had gone about 5 miles, we spotted a cabin with a porch. Yay, shelter! We waited there until the next bus came along.


On our last day, the rain stopped, so we took the bus out into the park again and saw a few more caribou. But the highlight of the ride was seeing a wolf. In a park of 6 million acres, there are only 51 wolves and we were fortunate enough to see one of them! We were up on one of the high passes and the wolf was way down in the river bed, so the photo is blown up quite a bit.

I took this photo from the open door of the bus. For a moment I forgot that I was looking down over the edge of a cliff!

We left Denali NP the next morning without seeing Mt. McKinley, but we were still hopeful that we'd get a chance in the next couple of days in a nearby town. The next post will prove us right! Stay tuned.