Denali, The GREAT one

August 30

We left Anchorage for the final time on this trip. It was REALLY tough, we have WONDERFUL friends there. The hospitality was fantastic, we will be back! Heading north to Denali in the normal rain and gray that is what I expect of Alaska summers now. We drive past many Denali view points but still no mystical mountain for us. The Parks highway is one we had driven most of back in the first of July but this time heading back north, fall was in the air. The further north we went more golden aspen and birch trees we saw. We checked in at the park office for our campsites. The campsite we had reserved was at the the 29 mile mark on the Denali park road. Taklanika Camp ground had a minimum of three nights stay and you could not drive your car once you were into the park. The only transportation was the park shuttle system. As we entered the park the colors got more and more impressive. The golds, reds and greens were the coolest fall colors I have ever seen. We saw a single bull caribou and then a small group of younger bulls on our way into the campground. We found a site and pitched the tent and got the Noah's tarp up before the rain started again. Dinner and bed early as we had an 8:45 bus in the AM.

August 31

A quick breakfast and coffee to go, we catch the bus out in front of the campground. The bus is pretty full with folks from all over the the world speaking languages I did not know. The driver told us interesting things along the route about history and eco-systems. The bus would stop and shut off the engine for most wildlife sightings so there were plenty of photo ops. The day was gray and rainy again but the animals were out everywhere. We saw grizzly bear, wolves, moose, dall sheep, caribou, porcupine, golden eagle, merlin, ptarmigan. The only thing missing is a view of Denali itself. We traveled all the to Kantishna which is the end of the road at mile 83. It was a spectacular day. It was a long day, almost 9 hours.

September 1

Slept in then went for a hike along the river near the campground. Did not see anything animal wise but it was a great education on the way a glacial rivers changes course. I now understand why a lot of glacial river beds are big and wide and open, very cool indeed. The sun popped out late in the day and was beautiful. Then the clouds and rain again, come on, make up your mind! Had a nice fire and then bed.

September 2

Woke up to clear sky's and a heavy frost, temps around 33 degrees. Rain drops from the night before froze on the tarp. The high mountains have a new dusting of snow. It really feels of fall this morning. After breakfast we headed or the bus again. This time we were only going as far as the Eielson Center. Today the animals did not seem quite so active but we still saw some good stuff. We had a wolf with a bad leg hobble right past the bus on the road so I got some decent photos of him. We saw other wolf, sheep, caribou and bear, just not as many. We watched a movie at the Eielson Center and looked at the displays. Of course the clouds had moved in by now and there was STILL no views of the mountain. I was able to snap a picture of a partial Denali shot through the clouds from Stony Hilly, guess that is the best I will get.

September 3

Leaving Denali this morning. Breakfast and break camp, no rain and a dry tent packed. We saw some caribou on the way out and enjoyed the fall colors. At the Denali visitor center we ate a couple cheeseburgers and then went to see the parks working sled dogs demonstration. It was interesting, the dogs do a lot of work in the winter. Heading north now to Alaska's second largest city, Fairbanks. We found a nice campsite in the middle of town on the Chena river. Nice wooded sites with all the sounds of the city around us. The Sandhill cranes were all over the place flying back and fourth making there funny cackle.