Denali Park

7/11/17




It rained heavy this morning in Fairbanks, but quit in time for all of us to get on the road.  We left the campground at 10:00.  The roads were fine.  At the 77 mile mark (from the campground) we stopped to fix something to eat.  I was hungry so I decided to make bacon and eggs.  I turned on the generator and put 4 eggs in the pan to fry, cooked bacon and toast, and when I turned my back, the frypan slid off of the stove and landed on the floor (I forgot that the RV was not leveled).  I salvaged the eggs for the dogs’ dinners, and cooked more for us.  Guess I won’t do that again.





We stopped at a turnout just before our exit to unhook the car.  The campground in Denali is so small, there is no room to unhook the tow cars.  We waited in the turnout with 5 other rigs until Chris, our Wagonmaster, came to escort us into the campground.  It took a little time, but we all got in and settled.  Tom and I walked just outside our campground to the boardwalk where all the stores were.  We stopped at a popcorn/candy store that was just putting cinnamon rolls in the oven.  He said they would be ready in 10 minutes, so we wandered down the block, but didn’t see anything else.  We went back and split a hot cinnamon roll and coffee – YUM!  While we sat outside the store on a log bench, Eric, the store owner, came out and we talked with him a while.  Then another man came by and went into the store.  Eric didn’t go in to help him and I asked him if the man was family.  He said, ‘No, he is my boss’.  “I thought this was your store”, I said.  He said that the man was his landlord and owned the entire boardwalk and all the stores (called Rainbow Village).  When the man came out, he stayed and talked with Tom and I for quite some time.  He built the entire 2 blocks of stores and the RV Park that we were staying in during the mid 90’s.  He called it Rainbow Village.  He was very nice and very interesting.  Here is a picture of Rainbow Village in Denali.
  

Rainbow Village in Denali

We walked on down the next block and stopped in an art and gift shop.  They had beautiful photos--all in frameable packages, but when I made my way to the back of the store, I found that the photos were processed on aluminum (just like the turtles we have in our house).  It brought so much more depth to the pictures.  They were really good.  We were able to talk to the photographer of the photos inside the store.  We bought a 12" x 20" picture of the Northern Lights, with purple and blue hues.  These are rare colors, as the more common colors are green, red,  and yellow.  I also found a beautiful picture of Mt. Denali with a lake in the foreground and a swan family.  However, it was large and we just don’t have any empty walls that it would fit on. 

 

Got back to the RV to feed the dogs and go to a Wagonmaster meeting.  Chris went over the schedule for our first day in Denali.  We will be taking a bus tour through Denali Park.  He also introduced a vendor from the boardwalk to talk to us about activities available here.  There was white-water rafting, ATV tours, Jeep tours, flights over the glaciers and Mt. Denali, and ziplining.  We were interested in the ziplining, as it didn’t bounce me too much.  So, we signed up and got a time at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow (after the bus tour).  That will make tomorrow a very full day.













 7/12/17 – Day 1 in Denali




We met the bus at 8:30 and took off at 9:00 for Denali Park.  The bus company gave us a box of snacks, and Linda (our tailgunner) gave us a bag with more snacks.  We also took a PB & J sandwich, as we do not get lunch today.  The bus ride lasted 8.5 hours through the park.  We drove 62 miles on dirt roads to the end, and then turned around and came back the same route.  No wonder it took 8.5 hours.  It was overcast today, and the mountain was obscured by clouds (which is the norm) and smoke from local fires.  At the end of the road, I took this picture of the mountain (at least where we were told it was, as we couldn’t see it). 

Mountains in the foreground of Mt. Denali
Notice the road on the right hillside

And this is a picture from the same location (note the road on the back right) on a clear day.  This is the mountain, now called Mt. Denali – 20,310 ft. above sea level (It was called Mt. McKinley until it was formerly changed to Mt. Denali in 1980).  Mt. Denali means "The High One" in  the Athabasca indian language.

Postcard of Mt. Denali
(notice the same road on the hillside to the right)

During the bus ride we saw a snowshoe hares, several beautiful valleys and peaks, caribou, a grizzly mama and 2 cubs, and other peaks with ice.  On the way out, we also saw Dall sheep in the far hills.  Here are my pictures. 


Snowshoe Hares

Beautiful Valleys and peaks





Caribou roaming free

Mama Grizzly
(notice the hump in her back)
Two cubs are in the bushes



Other Peaks with ice
(blurred by haze or smoke)

Dall Sheep on the hillside
(a long way away)

And this is what Dall Sheep really look like (postcard)

We got back to the RV around 5:45 and the dogs were hungry and anxious to get out.  Tom and I had a quick dinner, and left for the Zipline trip.  Ian was our ATV driver to the zipline course—about 15 minutes (approx. 3 miles) over mud, rocks, and big holes. 

Ian, our ATV driver to the zipline park

The course was out in the forest.  They loaded us up with gear and gave us instructions on safety.  Maureen and Jenny (from Ontario, Canada) went with us.  Maureen was terrified, but she did it anyway.  All in all, we climbed 6 sky bridges, one ladder, and rode 7 ziplines.  What a hoot!  We ordered pictures, but I got some good ones too.

Tom, Linda, Maureen, and Jenny ready to go

This is the center platform
(4 bridges to get to the first platform)

Climbing the last bridge (#4) on the center platform

Looking back down,
then we climbed this ladder to the last bridge

The last bridge (and it was a whopper)

On the top platform (40 feet in the air)

Tom and I raced each other down to this last landing
I won

7/13/17 Day 2 at Denali

We have a day off today.  Tom and I are totally spent.  We are going to stay home and rest.  I am going to try and catch up the writing the words for the blog.  Since we have no internet here, my blogs will not get published until we get to Anchorage, and I hope to get caught up there.  Now for a long shower.  At 5:00 we have a Wagonmaster meeting about the schedule tomorrow. 


 

7/14/17

A travel day today.  We left Denali at 8:15, stopped for gas (and got ripped off at the pump - paid $3.69/gal).  No events on the road - it was about 239 miles from Denali to Anchorage.  Arrived at Golden Nugget RV Park in Anchorage at 2:00 (directly across the street from Costco).  We sat out under the shade of the trees and had beer and crackers.  Tom had a short nap, then we got in the car and drove literally across the street to have the car washed (it was covered in mud again), and go to Costco.  Picked up some more snacks and I got a new jacket.  Back home for leftover lasagna for dinner and more cards.  Tom's debt is still building.