Alaska--Part I (Denali National Park)

After a night in Anchorage, Pat and I spent three nights camping in Denali National Park. We found Denali to be wild, rugged and different from any of the other national parks we have visited. However, there are no established trails in the park so the hiking was slow, exhausting and sometimes frustrating. And, let me note for just the first time here, it rained the entire time we were there!

It is a requirement to get a picture of the park sign, so we did.

We saw this Mama Moose and her baby crossing the street right outside the visitors center. Note the wet weather.

We stayed at Teklanika (AKA Tek) campground at mile 29 of the park road (see map above). We were given a special "Tek Pass" which allowed us one passage in to the campground and one passage out three days later. Other than that, we were not allowed to drive our car while at the campground.

I always like to give props to our trusty tent, eight years old but still impervious to bad weather. (Did I mention it was raining?)

After setting up camp we walked down to the river and took a timer picture.

The only way to access the trail less back country is to take the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus runs pretty consistently but is usually full of people who smelled a lot better than Pat and I!

The first day we got off the bus at Eielson Visotor Center at mile 53 and attempted a partial hike around Mount Eielson. Things went awry right at the beginning when we were unable to find a route down to the river and instead ended up bushwhacking through endless Willow trees. Willow trees are not our friends. This is a view of our hiking area from the visitor's center.

Pat at the beginning of the hike.

Eventually, we crossed the river and headed up a game trail on the ridge. We were to the left of this gully and after I took this photo, we saw a grizzly bear on the right side, up on the ridge. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture. This was the highlight of the hike. There is something so powerful about seeing a Griz, not from the comfort of the bus but while defenseless on the trail. The bear didn't notice us and headed away, over the ridge.

We were happy to see this little lake because it indicated (according to our hiking book) that we were on the right route.

Near the end of the hike, we saw this lone caribou, close to where we had seen the grizzly bear. The caribou eyeballed us but didn't see very concerned by our presence.

And on the ride back, we saw a grizzly walking right beside the road.

The next day we took the bus to the East branch of the Toklat (pronounced TOE Klat) river. Luckily, the bus driver knew of a drainage ditch through which we could access the riverbed, thereby avoided the dreaded willows. Our hike went much better but, yes, it was still raining.

We found this set of caribou antlers beside the creek. They still had a bit of flesh on them right around the base!

We looked for bears but didn't see any.

We stopped about three miles down the river for a little lunch.

Ptarmigans are the state bird, and this one was right on the trail.


When we got back to the road, we had to wait for the next shuttle bus to come by and pick us up. So we stood in the rain (did I mention there was rain?) for about 20 minutes before one came along and took pity on us.

When we got back to our campsite, Pat took refuge in the only dry spot--our rental car!

I took this picture as we drove out of Denali on our way south.

When we drove out, we were not expecting to see any additional wildlife. But, darned if there wasn't a wolf just walking down the road!