We departed Fairbanks around 8:30 under cloudy skies and intermittent rain. Forecast was for heavy rain all day with the same forecasted for the Denali area. As we drove out any scenery early on was under heavy cover of clouds and fog....not many pictures early. As we drove on, to our surprise, the weather showed some signs of improving.
We couldn't get in a campground at Denali so we ended up staying in a town about 27 miles south of there called Cantwell. When we arrived, the rain was light and almost finished by the time we set up camp around 12:30'ish. After a good lunch we headed into the park at Denali with the goal of finding the location for our tour the next day and possibly taking a hike, weather permitting.
On the way to the park we saw another cow moose on the roadside but not in time to get a photo. But, right after we made the turn to enter the park we saw two moose calves right on the side of the road and did manage to photograph them. Mother moose was not in sight but I suspect not far away.
Moose Calves
Babies entertaining us beside the road
We found the place for our tour, got our tickets and are set for the tour. We took in a movie on the park history and learned that there was a sled dog demonstration in the park and it just so happens it was a two mile hike from the visitors center. We hit the trail at a quick pace and just made it in time for the show which was great. The ranger giving the demo was a young lady from Asheville, N.C. and she was quite good and obviously enjoyed her job.
Blue eyed Alaskan Husky sled dog
Sled dog demo in Denali
After the walk back we decided to drive into the park as far as we could (about 15 miles in personal vehicles) because the weather had improved significantly and we thought we might have a chance to see Mount McKinley (now called Denali).....the skies were clear and it was now a beautiful day. Unfortunately that mountain makes it's own weather and it was not clear/visible. At one point we thought we were able to barely see a small part of it but never the entire mountain nor very clearly.....always tomorrow. They say that the mountain is only visible about half the days of the summer season and guests are lucky to see it.
Not Denali but surrounding scenery
Mosquitos - We heard prior to coming to Alaska that the mosquitos could get pretty bad. We started seeing some in Fairbanks and after arriving into Denali we are now seeing many more. The good news (at least so far) is they don't seem to be biting and probably a good thing as they are pretty big. Ed says when one flies near his hearing aid it sounds like a helicopter landing.
Back to camp around 8:00 P.M. and too tired to cook....left over left overs tonight. A good night's sleep (hopefully) and a very long busy day planned tomorrow.
2 July - Tundra Wilderness Tour
We purchased tickets into Denali on a the Tundra Wilderness tour which takes you 60 miles into the park with a narrated guide (her name was Cindy). The tour was scheduled to last 8 hours....yes, 8 hours on a bus and our departure time was 2:00 P.M.
With that schedule we opted to rest in the morning and eat a big lunch early before heading to the park. Ed grilled a wonderful pork tenderloin that was originally planned for the night before but we were so late and tired getting back we moved it out a day. Turned out to be a great idea....lunch was really good and we were well fed for the bus ride and long afternoon.
An interesting section of road on the tour (no guard rails)
When we left the weather was not too bad and we hoped would clear up as the day went on like it had done the day before. That was not to be...it went from not too bad to not too good...rain and fog most of the way. The scenery during the clearer times was really spectacular however there was not a chance of seeing Denali (the mountain) this day. Our best hope now is that we can see it on the way to Anchorage as there are a couple viewpoints on the way.
Overall we were somewhat disappointed that we did not see as many animals as we thought/expected but it was still a good tour and we did see several animals. We saw a moose early on from a long foggy distance but no chance for photos of it. As we moved along we saw several Caribou which was the first we'd seen of them. We were looking really hard to see a grizzly but was not to be. The highlight on the way back was spotting a bull moose, also from a considerable distance. The tour guide said that was the first she'd seen a bull moose this season.
Bull Moose from a distance
Caribou
Moose
We traveled thru one area of the park on the bus today called Savage River.....a camping and hiking area......... that is where we were the day before (in our own vehicle) looking for a view of the mountain. Today that area was closed to the public....they had an incident with a bear in that area scratching and biting a person/hiker. On our way back there were numerous rangers along that area apparently looking for the bear. Not long after we got back we learned on the national news that they had to kill the bear. (Sad to hear)
All in all a great day and the end of our Denali visit....headed for Anchorage tomorrow with plans to spend a few days including the 4th of July.
A few more photos from in and around Denali:
