On July 10 we drove to Denali National Park from Wasilla, and on July 14 we left the park and headed to Fairbanks. We camped Friday through Monday nights at Teklanika River Campground, at mile 29 of the park road. Private vehicles are not allowed to travel beyond mile 15, unless they have a camping permit. Campers are only allowed to drive in and out one time with their permit. All travel beyond mile 15 is done by shuttle bus. We rode the buses three days. Most are comparable to school buses. Two days we went to mile 85 and one day to mile 66, where there is a new visitor center that was just finished last year. It was under construction when we were there in 2007. We prayed that we would be able to see Mt. McKinley one of the days we were there. As you can see, our prayer was answered on the first day. After that it was obscured by smoke and clouds. Alaska presently has 70 forest fires, and there are a number in the Denali area, causing a lot of smoke. Driving north to Fairbanks from Denali it was particularly thick and completely obscured the sun.
This momma Grizzly and her two cubs were busy eating vegetation. She had just disciplined one by giving it a couple of good swats which we missed catching on camera.
Look at the hind legs on this snowshoe hare. This is the animal we saw the most often in the park.
Denali is patrolled in the winter using dog teams. They are more reliable than snowmobiles. They don't have to worry about a part breaking down in a remote area. They use a sled with wheels for this demonstration.
We saw a number of fox along the roadway. This one posed for us for a long time.
Momma grizzly and her cub were just waking up as we drove by.
It isn't every day that a wolf is sited. We felt fortunate. It was walking up the road in front of the bus early in the morning.
In some places the road is only one lane wide and winds around the often, very steep mountains. It is much worse than it appears in this picture.
In the Polychrome area the mountains are brilliantly colored.
Caribou were not abundant. We saw one or two each day.
We saw golden eagles soaring in the park. This is an immature. Bald eagles are not common, as they prefer a fish diet; and there is not an abundance of fish in Denali. We did see one.
On July 10 we drove to Denali National Park from Wasilla, and on July 14 we left the park and headed to Fairbanks. We camped Friday through Monday nights at Teklanika River Campground, at mile 29 of the park road. Private vehicles are not allowed to travel beyond mile 15, unless they have a camping permit. Campers are only allowed to drive in and out one time with their permit. All travel beyond mile 15 is done by shuttle bus. We rode the buses three days. Most are comparable to school buses. Two days we went to mile 85 and one day to mile 66, where there is a new visitor center that was just finished last year. It was under construction when we were there in 2007. We prayed that we would be able to see Mt. McKinley one of the days we were there. As you can see, our prayer was answered on the first day. After that it was obscured by smoke and clouds. Alaska presently has 70 forest fires, and there are a number in the Denali area, causing a lot of smoke. Driving north to Fairbanks from Denali it was particularly thick and completely obscured the sun.
This momma Grizzly and her two cubs were busy eating vegetation. She had just disciplined one by giving it a couple of good swats which we missed catching on camera.
Look at the hind legs on this snowshoe hare. This is the animal we saw the most often in the park.
Denali is patrolled in the winter using dog teams. They are more reliable than snowmobiles. They don't have to worry about a part breaking down in a remote area. They use a sled with wheels for this demonstration.
We saw a number of fox along the roadway. This one posed for us for a long time.
Momma grizzly and her cub were just waking up as we drove by.
It isn't every day that a wolf is sited. We felt fortunate. It was walking up the road in front of the bus early in the morning.
In some places the road is only one lane wide and winds around the often, very steep mountains. It is much worse than it appears in this picture.
In the Polychrome area the mountains are brilliantly colored.
Caribou were not abundant. We saw one or two each day.
We saw golden eagles soaring in the park. This is an immature. Bald eagles are not common, as they prefer a fish diet; and there is not an abundance of fish in Denali. We did see one.
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