Denali
Alaska - USA 
Airstreaming  2006

Arrive:   July 25
Depart:  July 27
Road Conditions:  Good
Weather:  Cloudy/Misty
Miles:  116

Click for Route Map

Denali (Athabaskan for: The High One) has a magical sound. Many think the tallest mountain in North America should again carry that name rather than McKinley, after all William McKinley never even traveled there. The mountain is the center piece of a beautiful rugged wild national park. Eleven of the twelve largest national parks are located in Alaska, Denali being number five. When we discussed the mountain we all seemed to use the name Denali which is the name the state of Alaska uses and the name that fits. Getting a view of this monster is another story. Only about thirty percent of visitors ever see the mountain. Most days it hides in the clouds so a little luck is required with any visit.

Traveling south from Fairbanks we stopped at the North viewing area so we could take pictures of the cloud hiding Denali - we were very successful. Our campground, Denali Rainbow Village is located amongst a group of  gift stores, restaurants, and lodgings just north of the park entrance. We had nice roomy back in sites. The center rows are all packed in like sardines. Wifi was advertised but we found it useless which is often the case with satellite broadband. Our original schedule had us spending four nights at Rainbow  but meeting Michele Stevens at Delta Junction, remember the moose fajitas, beneficially altered that plan. Our first day we drove to Savage River, about fifteen miles, which is the farthest you can drive your own vehicle into the park. There are camping areas deeper in the park but once you drive in you can't leave until your planned day of departure, the bears seem to like that. We hiked along the river and Kathleen, Sarah, and Joe chased some sheep with their cameras.

The big event was the bus ride to Fish Creek. We took the less expensive shuttle bus tour which cost about twenty four dollars and takes about six hours and goes about sixty miles. Let me just mention that Fish Creek is not a destination, it is a spot in the road where the bus turns around, ok there is an eighteen inch wide stream of water and who knows, maybe once a fish streamed by. The longest tour to Wonder Lake would be fine provided you can sleep on a bus and the shortest trip would limit wildlife viewing. Our bus driver was terrific. Patrick gave us a complete guided tour pointing out all the interesting sights and stopping whenever a hint of wild animals was present. Tour buses cost much more, provide a snack, and narration. Shuttle bus drivers are not required to entertain but we got lucky and Patrick made a cloudy day brighter. We saw wild grizzlies, wolf, caribou, elk, one porcupine, Dall sheep, ptarmigan, and a bunny - hmmm  maybe it was a snowshoe hare. The other big event is that Ted got sick and missed the bus ride but more on that later.