Wet and Cold in Denali

On our second pass through Anchorage, we ran errands and strolled around downtown. We went to an outdoor farmer’s market with crafts and food. It was cold and started to rain. At the Alaska Park Lands visitor center we watched an interesting film on the grizzly bears in Katmai National Park. You have to fly in, but the bears are acclimated to people, and you can get very close to them. 

At Resolution Park, we looked at a view of Cook Inlet and a statue of Captain Cook after whom the inlet was named. It was cloudy, so we couldn’t see Mt. McKinley, at 20,320’, the highest mountain in North America. 

The following day we visited the Iditarod Trail Sled dog race headquarters and watched as a dog team gave tourists rides ($10 a person) on a “sled” on wheels along a hard-packed mud surface for ¼ mile. Once the dogs knew they were going to run, they barked and pulled at their harnesses and were raring to go. The dogs were surprisingly small and are bred for their speed and endurance. 

At the Dorothy G. Page Museum in Wasilla we learned, among other things, much more about the Iditarod.

The next couple days I had planned for us to do some hiking and to go on the canoe loop trail at Nancy Lake Recreation area, but it was raining and cold, so we skipped that part and headed north on the Parks Highway toward Denali. 

On a clear day you can see great views of Mt. McKinley and the Alaska Range from this highway. Needless to say, we didn't see the mountains. We saw dark spruce trees emerging from the fog and rain against a gloomy, grey sky. Did the trees miss the sun? I know we did.

We stopped at the extensive Veterans' War Memorial with its various plaques and separate memorials that pay tribute to all those who have died or fought in all the wars and in every division of the military. I don’t have a photo because it was raining!

There were also plaques about the elusive Mt McKinley, which is growing ¾” every year. Every year about 1,000 people attempt to reach Mt. McKinley’s summit. About 54% make it. Climbers in distress are rescued by high-altitude helicopters. 

The following day we drove to Denali National Park. It wasn’t raining anymore, just overcast, cold and windy. At one of our stops we smelled the brakes. David had noticed the trailer brakes weren’t working properly. He found a broken wire on one of them. When we got to the campground, he was able to fix it. 

At the visitor’s center, we looked at the exhibits and watched a short film on Denali with amazing footage. 

Then we went to the dog sledding demo. The dogs are used for pulling rangers around the park on patrols. They’re much bigger than the Iditarod dogs but just as energetic. A ranger talked about dog sledding in the park. Actually he explained the history of the park and then gave a dog sled demonstration. It was interesting and entertaining. Everyone had a chance to visit and pet the dogs. 

That night the trailer was buffeted by the wind. It felt like we were back on the boat.

I had hoped it would be sunny and warm in the morning. No such luck. 45^o F on August 4th, and it feels colder because of the wind. I’m wearing 3 layers, a warm scarf, gloves and ear muffs!

You can drive only the first 15 miles into the park. To go any farther, you have to buy tickets for a bus. We bought the $31.50 tickets for the 8-hour round-trip bus trip to Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66. (The longest is 12 hours to mile 90). The bus makes a few short pit stops on the way and then a 40 minute stop at the visitor center before returning, although you can get off anywhere, go on a hike and catch the next bus. I thought we would do some hiking, but it was too cold for us and also, we would have had to get an earlier start. The bus driver provided some commentary when he felt like it and stopped whenever anyone saw wildlife. 

The road was dirt, narrow and winding. In places it was steep with precipitous dropoffs, no guardrails and soft or no shoulders. Also there were a lot of other buses on the road, and passing was sometimes hair-raising. I asked the driver how often buses went over the side. He laughed and said that hadn’t happened in awhile. Even so, I had to close my eyes a few times.

Apparently Mt. McKinley is usually obscured by clouds, and you can expect to see it only about ⅓ of the time, so we were lucky to get some glimpses of it.

I had imagined that Denali would be teeming with animals. I was surprised to learn that sometimes you don’t see any wildlife on these trips. Fortunately, we saw some animals:  2 moose, 7 grizzlies, 12 or so caribous and 1 wolf (who walked by the side of the bus). One of the grizzlies (at a distance) was eating a caribou. 



The people on the bus got very excited when they saw an animal and laughed, talked loudly and even yelled, although the bus driver kept telling everyone to whisper. It was fun to see their excitement and annoying that they couldn't contain it.

As we climbed in altitude, the scenery changed from taiga with trees to tundra with stunted trees and smaller plants to alpine tundra with no trees and hardy, miniature plants. Jagged peaks of bare rock poked through the clouds.  

When we got to Eielson, we started to go on a short trail, but it and all the other trails nearby were closed because there was a grizzly and two cubs in the area (visible at a distance but too far for my weak telephoto lens). We looked at the exhibits, watched a video on climbing Mt. McKinley then got on the bus for the ride back. 

It remained cold and windy all day, but at least it didn’t rain. The sky was a vibrant, pure blue with pretty cloud patterns that cast their shadows across the mountains. 

The following day it got down to 36^o. We drove the first 15 miles of the road, at the end of which is a 2-mile hiking trail. I really wanted to hike in Denali. When we got to the end of the road, it started pouring rain. We sat in the car and watched the cold rain come down harder and harder. Then we turned around. We saw no wildlife that day. 

We returned to the main visitor’s center and finished looking at the extensive exhibits. I really liked the fact that they used fake animals as displays instead of real animal mounts. Everywhere we’ve been, there is a wildlife museum with stuffed, dead animals. These were fake, but realistic enough and ever so practical. You could touch them; they’re easy to clean and will last forever. And best of all, you don’t have to kill any animals. We attended a lecture on all the ways the sun influences Denali and watched an interesting film, Time and Tundra, about park history.