Good thing that first impressions don't count for much! This is the Denali Rainbow Village RV Park. Wow. The sites are impossibly small, someone had parked their truck in the 5 foot space that was supposed to be part of our site. The log cabins that you can see behind the RV's are the backs of stores.
The water is nasty, nasty, nasty. And the parking lot is really dusty. If we have ever told you about our trip to the southwest, and you remember what Circus, Circus RV Park was like..... it was heaven compared to this! Oh, and it is expensive as RV parks go. Did we mention that the water was nasty? We had registered for 12 nights, and quickly decided that it was really more than we needed.
But we had booked a trip into the park on the Kantanisha Experience Day Trip, and that was going to give us a chance to see Denali the way we wanted to, so we were really looking forward to that. We had a day to explore on our own and we went into the park to hike with a Ranger. That was pretty good. Ranger Brittney had a good sense of humor, we saw lots of wildflowers and two Trumpeter Swans, and even sang along to a Denali version of "This Land is Your Land"
The next morning we all got going very early to get over to the Wilderness Access Center to board the bus for our trip to the very end of the park road. Can we all say SCHOOL BUS? For 13 hours? Well, the driver/guide was very good,we did learn lots about Denali,got to see animals,get off at some beautiful places, lunch was provided, and the mountain was visable at several points along the way. And that is a big thing. It had been very smoky on the way from Anchorage to Denali, and now and then the smoke would roll in again, so we were very lucky.
The buses will stop if anyone sees any wildlife, and sometimes a bus will be stopped, and everyone will be looking out in one direction, so other buses will stop also.
When the bus ahead of us stopped at one point, it looked like they were looking at a ground squirrel. But as the bus rolled slowly down the road, we realized that this fox was also watching the ground squirrel.
This brown bear was pretty far away, but Jim was able to use his lens to get a picture. On the way out, he was eating grasses. On the way back, 8 hours later, he was in about the same spot, sleeping in the sun.
We saw several more moose, including this moose and baby and the classic Moose-in-Pond.
The caribou are often hard to see, and they move really quickly. At this time of the year they are being really bothered by mosquitoes. They often head for river beds where they can get a little relief.
Here is Mount McKinley from the Eielson Visitor's Center that is at Mile 66 and just opened in the last few years. The center has several displays about Denali, and a very beautiful quilt depicting the season's of Denali. Unfortunately, when we got to Wonder Lake the smoke and clouds had covered the mountain and there was no reflection to be seen.
One of the other things that can be done at the park is go to see the sled dog demonstration. These dogs are working sled dogs, not the ones that race. They just love to run. They know when it is time to be hitched up to the sled, and the minute each one is in his harness, he is ready to go. If it weren't for the brake on the sled, they would take right off.One of the days we were there, Don and Marilyn joined us to take a ride on the Denali Highway which is not in the park. We got some very nice views of the surrounding mountains, Mt McKinley, and some Moose-in-Pond.
We only intended to go halfway along the highway, about 53 miles. We were looking for someplace for lunch, but there wasn't much available. We ended up stopping at a cafe that ended up being closed. The adjoining bar was open, and the grandson that was visiting for the summer said that his grandmother would fix some lunch. See, first looks were deceiving again. Lunch wasn't bad, the family was really nice to talk to, the bar had dollar bills all over the ceiling and walls, and Grandma made really, really good cinnamon buns. She did say that tourist travel was down alot from last year, which is why the cafe was closed, and only the bar was open as needed.
We were able to sign up for a Discovery Hike with a Ranger. Each one is different, and an area can only be used twice. The objective is to have a loose plan in mind, get people out into the wilderness with a ranger, and see what can be found. We were headed toward an area that had been where a wolf family had once had dens, but had left, and foxes had moved in. We headed down a river bed, up over a hill, and back into the river bed. While we were relaxing having lunch, we caught sight of the fox family. We were far enough away that we didn't disturb them and got to watch for quite a while.
After watching the fox, we climbed back up to the top of the nearby hills to walk along the top, see some wildflowers that were in bloom, and maybe see Moose-in-Pond. Our ranger told us that we would be walking on "tussocks". They are clumps of grass that are growing up through the mossy tundra. It was fun, and pretty tricky. Kind of like trying to walk on basketballs that may or may not decide to move. When you opted to step between the tussocks onto the moss there was no guarantee that it would be solid. Sometimes you would sink six inches and sometimes just a little making it very difficult to walk.
It was a small group, we were bused out to the start of the hike, spent about seven hours on the hike, and picked up on the road for our return trip.
We also used some of our coupons. Don and Marilyn did some more rafting and went on a Jeep tour. They had a really good time, I think Don is up for more! We went on a covered wagon dinner trip that was not worth it, and also did a Cabin Nite Dinner Theater that was very good. Kind of an Alaskan Whoop-de-do Review.
So, what started out as disappointing turned out to be fine as long as we focused on Denali National Park and not on the tourist area outside the park.
Now, we have gotten a bit behind on our blogging. A little because there is lots to do and not as much time to write, and a little because sometimes the internet connections aren't very good. So, this update in Denali is actually about a week behind. We will update as soon as possible with our stay in Fairbanks.
Sue and Jim
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