Denali National Park

August greeted us with nine days of cold, dreary, rainy weather. For several days the temperatures only got into the 50's. Finally on August 10 the front moved on to Canada and our sunshine returned. We planned a two day trip to the Denali Princess Lodge which is two hours north of here. When we give people with cars directions to Denali it's fun to see their expressions when we say, "Turn right and go to the first red light which is two hours away."  We were blessed with beautiful weather when we did the Tundra Wilderness Tour at Denali National Park. It is a eight hour bus trip to mile 62 on the only road in the park of 10,000 square miles and 6 million acres. The road continues on to mile 92. When we did our cruise/tour two years ago we only went in 17 miles so we were excited to see more of the park.  Our driver guide who had 30 years experience was excellent. Whenever anyone saw wildlife they would shout "stop" so everyone could watch the animals. He had a zoom lens on a video camera and drop down screens. He would focus in on the animals and we could see them up close and personal. The grizzlies mostly had their heads buried in the berry bushes munching away and getting ready for hibernation. We saw a total of seven grizzlies at different points of the trip.





It was sometimes hard to get pictures because the animals were surrounded by shrubs and trees. We saw dall sheep on the hillside but it was impossible to get pictures of them from our angle. Here is a shot of caribou relaxing on the tundra.



And here's a moose climbing up a hill.



The view from the bus was spectacular. Only tour buses are permitted on this part of the road so there was no problem stopping whenever we wanted. There were no guardrails and sometimes it was a little scary looking over the edge. It was hard to capture the beauty of the park with pictures.



Another area was called Polychrome mountain and overlook. The colors of the mountain and view were breathtaking.



At mile 62 there was a scenic view of Mt. McKinley from the north. At that point we were 35 miles from Mt. McKinley.  At our lodge we see the view from the south, and we are 40 miles away. There were some clouds blocking the top of the mountain but it was still an amazing sight.



The last animal sighting was a caribou ambling down the road with two buses behind. We were facing it and watched while it made its way off the road and into the hills.



We were in awe of the size and beauty of the part of Denali National Park that we saw from the ground. It was definitely a worthwhile trip. Now when guests ask about the tour we are able to describe it from our experience.

Misc info: The days are getting shorter. Today sunrise is at 5:51 and sunset at 10:10. So it is getting dark again. We have 38 days more days to work. The last guests leave on September 21 and we leave on September 22. We have not decided on which route we will take but plan to take our time getting home. We hope it doesn't get too cold and snow before we leave.