Denali

The Tanana River.  All the river names end in 'na' which means river in Alaskan heritage.  

Beautiful views on our drive to Denali from Fairbanks.

A popular local establishment along the way. 

This is the Tanana and Nenana confluence where the rivers merge.  Many of the large rivers contain volcanic ash so fish cannot survive in it.  The Arctic Grayling (cousin of the trout) is able to survive and spawn in the rivers. 

Starting to prepare already.....

Driving into the town of Denali.  A very busy place.

We stayed in Denali for four days in the hopes of seeing the mountain 'Denali'. The town is small but very busy with tourists. Bus tours, river rafting, hiking, and other sport activities abound.

There are many hotels in Denali that cater to cruise ship passengers who get off the boats and are bussed from Anchorage to Fairbanks, stopping in Denali for a few days. Everyone wants to view the mountain and take pictures of wildlife, especially a moose.

Majestic Denali. Wish I could take credit for this photo!

Denali National Park and Preserve, originally called Mount McKinley National Park, was founded in 1917.  It is the highest mountain peak in North America with a summit elevation of 20,310 feet above sea level.  In 1896, a gold prospector named it Mount McKinley in support of then-presidential candidate William McKinley. That name was officially recognized by the U.S. government.  McKinley never saw the mountain or even visited Alaska.

The State of Alaska requested the name change to Denali starting in 1975 and it took until 2015 before the name was officially changed to Denali.  Indigenous names for Denali can be found in seven different Alaskan languages and the name means "big mountain" or "the high one".  

Denali National Park is comprised of the Park and the Preserve. Together, they contain over 6 million acres.  The original park, the Preserve is 2 million acres in size and is designated as wilderness.  No hunting is allowed. There are no boundaries or fences so the animals in Denali are allowed to roam freely.  There is only one road, 92 miles long, with only 15 miles of the road paved.  You are  allowed to drive 15 miles into the park in your personal vehicle, the remaining drive must be taken by bus.

Denali has its own ecosystem so the mountain is fully seen only 30 percent of the time.  It has been described as "the coldest mountain in the world", with record temperatures of -60 degrees,  wind gusts to 100 mph, and wind chills down to -100 degrees.  Only one day in three is storm-free.  

A topographical map of Denali Park and Preserve. 

We checked with the Visitors Center and there were trails within Denali where dogs are allowed to hike so we took the pups with us.  We also found paved walking trails in the town of Denali where we could exercise the pups. 

Early one morning we took a 4.5 hour bus trip into Denali in the hopes of seeing the mountain and some critters.  They offer many other bus trips, up to 12 hours long, to go further into the park. We were told there was a better chance of seeing 'things' earlier in the morning so we left at 7:30 am but the bus was still quite full.  

  

The park has many beautiful birch trees.

And different types of spruce.  We noticed some of the trees were filled with burls.

There is a section inside the park where they house dogs for dog sledding.  These dogs are not used for racing.  They are larger and have better endurance for long treks.  The dogs are used by the park rangers in the winter to get around within the 2 million acre preserve checking for poachers and making sure everything in the park is okay.  Not even ATV's are allowed in the Preserve section of the park.  In the summer, people volunteer to care for the dogs and make sure they are given hikes twice  a day so you will see them alongside the road as vehicles and tour buses go past.

As we traveled further into Denali the tree line was reduced.

The 'braided' Savage River.

There were many other mountains, part of the Alaska Range, but no view of Denali.

We did get a glimpse of a fox and her kits but they were so far off the road the pictures didn't capture them well.  We could hear a few people in the back of the bus complaining about seeing few animals.  We were told along this ride that there are only 1,700 moose within the preserve which is 2 million acres.  There are also not alot of bears or wolves, and no deer at all.  They know that because the scientists here spend a good deal of their time counting and tracking the herds.  

We stopped at the visitor center on the way back and several couples got off the bus there while the rest of us rode back to the hotel where we had boarded the bus.  We were near the entrance to the park, probably about 100 yards from where the big Denali Park sign is, when the Captain shouted, "Moose at 9 o'clock".  The driver slammed on the brakes and there was this big boy standing right by the side of the road munching on shrubbery.

It was a male because you could see the knobs on the side of his head right above his eyes.  Only male moose have antlers and their growth is regulated by testosterone.  They cast off the antlers after rutting season in the fall. This frees the moose of up to 60 lbs of weight allowing him to store more energy for the winter.

Each spring, antler bone begins to grow inside a nourishing skin covering on the moose's head called velvet due to its short, soft hairs.  The antlers grow quickly, and have been seen to grow as much as eight inches in nine days.  The velvet will remain on the antlers for four months when the male will start rubbing up against trees and bushes to remove it. 

What?

Well our bus caused one heck of a traffic jam but everyone got lots of photos.  Except, of course, for the folks who got off at the visitor's center.  Their fellow cruise mates couldn't wait to tell them what they missed!  

Thanks to the Captain spotting this big boy everyone was thrilled about our bus trip.

We went to a local brewery called The 49th State which was a few miles outside of the town of Denali.  I had the St Elias Burger which is made of locally grown Alaskan yak.  They describe it as having a delicious and delicate juicy flavor.  They were right, it was quite good.

They even had a fire pit you could sit around inside the restaurant for those cold nights.

We walked around the town of Denali to see the sights and take in the local shops.  Most of the shops were your typical tourist spots with hats and tees and sweatshirts. We did find one that had local artwork and surprisingly good prices.

The Nenana River goes right through the town.  You can see rafters on the water but the current was very fast.

Many of the local hotels are run by the cruise ship companies like the Princess Lines.  The hotels have a chalet-type look that blends in well with the area.

The Captain was really tempted by this display.

But I decided to pass even though it was on sale for only $79.

We spent 4 days in Denali and decided it was time to move on.  Our next stop will be in a small town about 45 minutes outside of Anchorage.  There are few RV parks in the city and most have poor ratings.  We talked to another RVer who had his wife and three teenage daughters with him on the trip and they all wanted to go to Anchorage to go shopping and stay at a hotel.  He told us the hotels in the city are $300-$400 a night so he had to find a place further out to get halfway decent pricing.  We'll stay with our RV.  Peace!