A Day in Denali National Park

Today we had to be up and ready and at the bus for 7:25am. And by the bus I don’t mean the tour bus but the bus from Denali National Park that was taking us on our Tundra Wilderness Tour. This tour takes you through the park (on the only road in the park) to about mile 65 which is at Stony Hill. The bus driver and guide (ours was Sarah) gives you a guided tour and some of the history of the park and mountain. She will also point out any wildlife and will talk about where to look for them and a little about the wildlife found in the park. This particular tour usually lasts between 7 and 9 hours. The bus you ride on is a modified school bus. Each person has their own seat (it is not the bench seat) but they are pretty close together and there isn’t much leg room. That’s it – there are no pockets on the backs of the seat to store things, no arm rests and not a lot of room under the seat to put things. With that being said it was pretty comfortable, you just had to get all your stuff organized or travel light. They also give you a box lunch . . . ours had a small bun, four slices of Alaskan sausage made with reindeer meat, a small piece of cheddar cheese, about eight baby carrots, a small bag of trail mix and potato chips. They also had bottles of water (enough for everyone to probably get two bottles each). The driver quickly went over rules for on the bus and in the park, she also talked about what we would be doing throughout the day and what stops we would be making. With all that done we were on our way.

The drive started out good and we were learning things about the park and the wildlife and wildflowers in the park. The beginning of the drive is on a paved road but that only goes in to Mile 15 (which incidentally is how far private vehicles are allowed to go in) at the Savage River checkpoint. To get to drive in further the park holds a lottery and only allows those people that win the lottery to get to drive their own vehicle into the park. Only after a few miles in the driver announced that the bus was giving her trouble – she didn’t think it had enough power to get us over a couple of the Passes and she called for another bus so we could trade. She parked at a pullout and we waited until a mechanic came and checked out the bus. While we waited we had the most spectacular view of Denali. The weather was gorgeous and there were very few clouds so we had a clear view of both the north and south peaks of the mountain. The lower half of the mountain did have some clouds over it but it was still an incredible view. You could see the beautiful snow covered peaks looming over the rest of the brown and green mountains in the foreground. So we all had a great chance to take pictures – we even got together for a group shot. So even with the minor problem with the bus it was starting out as a great day – we were in an elite group – only 30% of the visitors to Denali National Park get to see the mountain. When the mechanic had finished looking (and fixing?) the bus we continued on – and the mechanic followed in case the driver felt that things still weren’t right. About another mile or two down the road Sarah decided it would be better to get another bus, so she pulled over and we waited for one (it really didn’t take too long).

We quickly boarded the new bus and we were on our way. And Sarah seemed happy with the new bus. As we approached the checkpoint at Mile 15 (Savage River) Sarah told us we would make a quick stop and a ranger would come on board and gives us a little “Welcome Talk” and then we would continue on. At this point the road changed from paved to gravel and got bumpy. We all kept an eye out for wildlife while enjoying the beautiful scenery in the park. The wildlife seemed really scarce and the driver explained that when you have beautiful clear weather you have a better chance of seeing the mountain and a slimmer chance of seeing wildlife. The beautiful and sunny summer days make it a little too warm for the animals to be out roaming. Remember we are in Alaska and their Spring, Summer and Fall are between mid May and mid October. So they only have about five months of this kind of weather, otherwise the temperatures are much cooler. With that being said it wasn’t long before we spotted our first animal. It was a caribou laying up on a hill. It was a little far away but with my zoom lens I was able to get a decent picture. So we now have seen the mountain and some wildlife. We continued on and drove for quite a ways (making a couple of bathroom stops at some rest areas) before we saw another animal. Again we saw another caribou – this one was a little closer and we had a much better view. During this time we never saw the mountain again – it was pretty much covered by clouds. Not long after this someone shouted that they saw something in the distance. Sarah stopped and we all looked to see if we could make it out. There was division about whether we were looking at rocks or bears. We never really decided. So we continued on and made a stop at the Toklat Visitors Center. This seems like an after thought and a temporary situation because it isn’t an actual building, it is a large tent with a wooden floor. They have books and gifts as well as a National Passport Stamp. I had asked earlier if the driver could drop us off at the Main Visitors Center after the tour but she said she had to get the group back to the hotel. So I was glad that we stopped here and I was able to get one stamp from Denali National Park. After leaving this area we continued a little further up the road to Stony Hill where (if the mountain is visible) you could get a really great view. We did get to see the lower part of the mountain this time but the peaks were covered with clouds. We spent about 20 minutes just in case the clouds parted and we could get a look at the mountain – no luck so we turned around and started our trip back to the entrance of the park.

We made a second stop at Tolkat Visitors Center for a short time and then continued. From here the day just got better. Of course from the time we entered the park the views were incredible. It seems like there isn’t a bad view at all. So even if you don’t get to see the mountain or any wildlife the drive is spectacular and well worth it. But our return trip netted us some fantastic views of wildlife. Remember the debate about whether or not we saw bears or rocks – well it turned out to be three grizzly bears. When we reached the area again Sarah stopped and we all realized that the spots we were looking at had moved. They were now a little closer to the road and we were able to make out a mama bear and two cubs. Even though they were still a ways away we had a good enough view to make out the bears. During the rest of the drive we saw another three caribou – one of which ended up running out into the road and walked in front of the bus (as we followed it) for about a quarter of a mile. We also saw two Dall Sheep. They were pretty high up in a rockier part of a hill but we were able to see them pretty well. We also got to see one moose and she was actually not that far away – so now we have seen what they call at the park – the big four – Caribou, Dall Sheep, Grizzly Bears and Moose and don’t forget that we made it into the 30% of visitors that get to see the mountain. We did see a few smaller things – a snowshoe rabbit, artic ground squirrels and a mother ptarmagin and some chicks.

Sarah drove us back to our hotel and we ended the tour at 5:45pm – which made our trip a little over ten hours long – and none of minded. As we left the bus Sarah handed us some nice souvenir books with pictures or Denali, wildlife and wildflowers. It was an incredible day in the park and we were so glad that we got to see it.

Thomas and I stopped in at the gift shop to pick up some trail mix and snacks for our trip to Anchorage tomorrow – we won’t be stopping for lunch so we need something to tide us over until we get to have dinner. We then went to our room to drop some things off and get the letterboxing stuff and some clues and we were off again. Since we sat on a bus all day we decided to go for a couple of hikes and look for a few letterboxes. Our first hike was the Triple Lakes Trail (about a five mile round trip if you go all the way to the last lake). The clues told us to go to the first lake and then continue looking for other clues to find the box. We went a little ways past the first lake but didn’t reach the second lake when we found the box. I stamped in while Thomas took pictures of wildflowers. Once done we made our way back to the trailhead completing about three miles. We then crossed the road and took the Oxbow Loop Trail where we were on the hunt for two boxes. The first box wasn’t very far up the trail and we found it without any problems but the second box eluded us. We never really found the landmarks and we had completed the loop without finding the box. We decided since it was only about a mile and a half and a pretty easy trail we would walk it one more time and see if we missed something. We still ended up empty handed. We looked at the time and it was 10:00pm (remember we are in the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’) and the sun was still out but didn’t seem late although we were tired from getting up early and our long drive through Denali National Park. So we gave up searching and returned to the hotel. We ended up finding two boxes and walking between 5 and 7 miles. Once back at the room we showered and then I got this post done. Unfortunately the internet connection is very weak and I had trouble actually posting so I copied and saved this so I can upload it when the internet is better.