We drove from Fairbanks to Denali in the rain and arrived at our destination to find the campground was full but we scheduled a site for the following day and an 8 hr tour into the park for the next day.
It rained all day. Tours go out anyway because there’s no way they can accurately predict what the weather is going to be in the park. It’s controlled by the mountains, much like weather around Virginia Beach. The mountains block some of it. As it turned out, when we got close to the 53 mile turn-a -round at Toklat River it was clear, windy and cold. Along the way, we passed through Savage River, Sanctuary River, Teklanika River, Igloo Creek and Polychrome Pass and did see some Caribou but they were a long way away from us. There were some Dall Sheep ( small big horn sheep) way up on the mountain where they normally are and could be barely seen. A bear was a mile or so away and barely seen. The dust/mud/rain on the windows prevented the taking of photos. The driver had to try to clean the windows at each rest stop (1 to 2 hours)
The nails were to keep the bears from eating the wood as they did the previous sign. But if you look at the post, you can see that they are doing it again. The nails prevent them from eating the sign
This cow moose hangs around the park center. She has two calves, she seems to know that she's safe from bears, so close to people.
A ravens nest under a bridge support. It has two fledgeings. (they call them ravens, they are crows)
We really had our hopes up for seeing Mount McKinely (Denali Mountain)the highest mountain in North America at 20,356 ft. (it actually grows each year), but we couldn’t because of the rain and apparently clouds on the mountain. Of interest, Denali (The Great One) was named by the Indian Natives. When white man “discovered” the area, they named it for President McKinley. When the Alaska oil money began to roll in, the Alaska Natives were granted a portion of the money and certain other matters that had been previously discussed. Giving the Mountain it's historical name was part of the agreement. BUT you know our crooked politicians--they refused to do it. They renamed the park (6 million square miles) but not the mountain. So, it is known by both names. Personally, we think it should be renamed to the original name.
The park uses scaled up school buses for the tours. They have a strong camera (around 400mm lens) and a pull down screen in the bus much like DVD movie screens that amplified what we saw. It certainly was a help, however we (I) was a bit displeased that we had to use it. People were actually taking pictures of the video screen as their “wild animal” souvenir. Unsatisfactory!
You can only drive to Savage River (11 miles) on your own. The park maintains a fleet of buses to transport the large number of people taking tours or camping (93 miles). There are campgrounds at several locations. People can hike or ride bikes, but the motorized vehicles have to be limited for the sake of the "wilderness".
The tour guide, Mrs Janlean Hath, (sorry it’s misspelled) was a well seasoned lady who reportedly had worked for the park for numerous years and as such, she was very articulate and knowledgeable of the history and tales of the area. She was most pleasant to listen to and generally could spot the wildlife before we could. She related several stories of incidents that occurred in the park.
The mountains we passed over, going around shear drop off u-turns around mountain corners were enough to raise the hairs on the back of ones neck. Her ability to navigate the single lane, narrow gravel road, especially when she had to intercept and pass an oncoming bus was nothing short of “amazing”. I did commend her for her driving ability and I must say she presented one of the most pleasant tours I’ve ever been on.
I recall driving a similar road that was one lane (called Shelf Road) and virtually impassable while driving from Canyon City to Cripple Creek in Colorado. We did meet an oncoming car (actually two together) and I had to back up to find a spot close to the mountain so they could squeeze by). It was extremely close and they were very close to the outer ledge. Thankfully, it was them on the outer edge and not us.
Rain here is not stormy or heavy. I mentioned the mountains being a factor, so it just drizzled all night. Or at least part of it. We had reservation for a camp site in the park so we called it a day.
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