Issue #8
November 5th 2007
November 5th 2007
Page 3 of 5
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Denali National Park
(November 5, 2007)
(November 5, 2007)
Val says...
On Saturday, August 25th we drove to Denali National Park. At one scenic overlook along the George Parks Highway, we were able to get our first view of one of the smaller peaks on Mt. McKinley. The rest of the mountain was shrouded in clouds. Once we arrived at the Park and registered for our campsite, we still had 30 miles to Teklanika River Campground. The first 15 miles were paved and open to private vehicles; after that it was a well-maintained gravel road and private vehicles had to have a special pass (ours came with our campsite). The road continues another 60 miles to Kantishna, which was a mining community, although it didn't have a road. Now there are three or four lodges there and an airstrip to fly guests in and out.
Denali National Park and Preserve comprises over six million acres. That's bigger than New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire plus a few other states! It's no wonder that many people visit Denali for one day and leave without seeing Mt. McKinley or few, if any, animals. The animals have plenty of land on which to travel or eat so there is no need for them to be near the roads or campgrounds. If you decide to visit Denali, we recommend staying at least three days.
We stayed five nights at Teklanika, which is dry camping although water is available. Once we arrived we could not drive the truck, but we had purchased a TEK pass to ride the shuttle buses. On Sunday we took our first trip and after more than an hour, got our first real view of Mt. McKinley. There it was, rising in full majesty out of the fall-colored tundra into the blue sky!! As we drew closer, there was a thin line of clouds about halfway up the mountain. The Native Alaskans and many others prefer to call the mountain Denali, "The Great One", and
On Saturday, August 25th we drove to Denali National Park. At one scenic overlook along the George Parks Highway, we were able to get our first view of one of the smaller peaks on Mt. McKinley. The rest of the mountain was shrouded in clouds. Once we arrived at the Park and registered for our campsite, we still had 30 miles to Teklanika River Campground. The first 15 miles were paved and open to private vehicles; after that it was a well-maintained gravel road and private vehicles had to have a special pass (ours came with our campsite). The road continues another 60 miles to Kantishna, which was a mining community, although it didn't have a road. Now there are three or four lodges there and an airstrip to fly guests in and out.
Denali National Park and Preserve comprises over six million acres. That's bigger than New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire plus a few other states! It's no wonder that many people visit Denali for one day and leave without seeing Mt. McKinley or few, if any, animals. The animals have plenty of land on which to travel or eat so there is no need for them to be near the roads or campgrounds. If you decide to visit Denali, we recommend staying at least three days.
We stayed five nights at Teklanika, which is dry camping although water is available. Once we arrived we could not drive the truck, but we had purchased a TEK pass to ride the shuttle buses. On Sunday we took our first trip and after more than an hour, got our first real view of Mt. McKinley. There it was, rising in full majesty out of the fall-colored tundra into the blue sky!! As we drew closer, there was a thin line of clouds about halfway up the mountain. The Native Alaskans and many others prefer to call the mountain Denali, "The Great One", and
it is indeed that! At 20,360 feet and growing, it totally dominates the view. We felt very lucky to see Denali on our first day, as we know that many people come to the Park and never see the mountain. That is because, in the summer, the massive mountains in the Alaska Range create their own weather, gathering clouds and bringing precipitation.
The TEK pass enabled us to ride the shuttle buses anywhere west of the campground. We could get off where we wanted as long as it wasn't a restricted area (such as moose rutting, or bear or wolf activity) and as long as there weren't any big animals in close proximity to the road. We did get off a few times and hiked a bit, but mostly so Lou could take pictures. One day I picked three cups of tiny wild blueberries in about 40 minutes. Had blueberry pancakes and will use the rest in some muffins. Yum! When ready, we could just flag down another (green) bus and board it if there were seats available.
We enjoyed four beautiful days at Denali and the mountain was visible every day. We also saw three of the 'big five' mammals: grizzly bears, caribou and moose. We did see Dall Sheep, but they were way up on the mountains and looked like Q-tips! I could not see legs or horns, even with the binoculars. We did not see any wolves, although we heard many reports of others seeing them. The snowshoe hare population was at peak cycle so we saw several of those. The increase in hares brings an increase in lynx, but, again, we didn't see any (others did). One day I sat on a hill and watched a red fox run across the tundra, along the road, across the road, and up a hill. We also saw a couple of foxes from the bus. Some of the birds sighted included ptarmigan (State Bird), a pair of gyrfalcons, and golden eagles. The ptarmigan and hares were already starting to change to their white winter camouflage.
It was fall in Denali that last week of August. The tundra was turning while we were there and was more colorful each day. The shrubby willows were yellow, the blueberry bushes were red, and some other bushes were orange. In this sub-alpine area, the plants are much smaller than they are in the Midwest. The days were pleasant -- 65-70 degrees and sunny, but the nights were cool (the lowest was 28 degrees) and we had frost on three mornings. By mid-September we heard there was snow in the Park and the road was closed past mile three. (continued on next page)
The TEK pass enabled us to ride the shuttle buses anywhere west of the campground. We could get off where we wanted as long as it wasn't a restricted area (such as moose rutting, or bear or wolf activity) and as long as there weren't any big animals in close proximity to the road. We did get off a few times and hiked a bit, but mostly so Lou could take pictures. One day I picked three cups of tiny wild blueberries in about 40 minutes. Had blueberry pancakes and will use the rest in some muffins. Yum! When ready, we could just flag down another (green) bus and board it if there were seats available.
We enjoyed four beautiful days at Denali and the mountain was visible every day. We also saw three of the 'big five' mammals: grizzly bears, caribou and moose. We did see Dall Sheep, but they were way up on the mountains and looked like Q-tips! I could not see legs or horns, even with the binoculars. We did not see any wolves, although we heard many reports of others seeing them. The snowshoe hare population was at peak cycle so we saw several of those. The increase in hares brings an increase in lynx, but, again, we didn't see any (others did). One day I sat on a hill and watched a red fox run across the tundra, along the road, across the road, and up a hill. We also saw a couple of foxes from the bus. Some of the birds sighted included ptarmigan (State Bird), a pair of gyrfalcons, and golden eagles. The ptarmigan and hares were already starting to change to their white winter camouflage.
It was fall in Denali that last week of August. The tundra was turning while we were there and was more colorful each day. The shrubby willows were yellow, the blueberry bushes were red, and some other bushes were orange. In this sub-alpine area, the plants are much smaller than they are in the Midwest. The days were pleasant -- 65-70 degrees and sunny, but the nights were cool (the lowest was 28 degrees) and we had frost on three mornings. By mid-September we heard there was snow in the Park and the road was closed past mile three. (continued on next page)