Tuesday, July 22, 2014

7/21/2014

We are at the bus stop at 730 along with the other 46 folks in our group for a bus tour of Denali National Park.  Two of the couples have handicapped members, so we are thankful we have our mobility.  We get all loaded up about 745 and are on our way.  Our tour will take us 96 miles into Denali and back to our pick up point.  The first 15 miles of road is paved, the rest is dirt.  We passed several graders working on the road, but it is still very rough at times.  And one section is not meant for two buses to meet, so it is slow going at times.  Our guide/driver is working his 22 season as a guide & is very knowledgeable...talks to us like we are kids at times, but it is still interesting to hear his dialogue.  And it is a pretty day, except in the area of Mt McKinley, which produces its own weather because of its size.  It is the tallest mountain in North America.

Along the way, we see lots of Caribou, ground squirrels, and birds, but no moose or bears.  Our guide claims to see a Grizzly, but our picture of it looks more like a rock...not sure about that one.  He also claims to see a moose but nobody else sees what he sees.  There are even Caribou on the road, so we stop & take lots of pictures & move on.  When we get to the end of the line, we all pile out of the bus and take pictures of the lower 2/3 of Mt McKinley, a little disappointed, but it is what it is.  Personally, I got some good shots of it yesterday and am happy to just be this close, probably 20 miles.  We head back and see lots of caribou along the way, including an imposing fellow standing in a stream.  Denali is an amazing place, and this 8+ hour tour is pretty neat.  There was a bunch of folks in our bus who slept the last 45 minutes or so, been a long day.  I spent that time peering out the windows for maybe a moose, but had no luck.  We have seen about 6 of them and we will probably see more, so tomorrow is another day.

We go back to the motor home and relax a bit after some shopping and getting signed up for an ATV Adventure for tomorrow.  At 615 we walk across the street & meet a bus for a ride to 'Cabin Night', an Alaskan version of the Whoop De Do Review at Disney, without all the wholesomeness...there was actually kissing and affection shown.  It was a fun night with 36 of our new friends...the food was good and the show was OK.  We made our way back to the camper and got some sleep...ATV Adventure tomorrow.

The internet here is awful.  I will add pictures to the last two days when we get to Fairbanks.  Bear with us.

Steve & Barb Larson

Some of the beautiful scenery in Denali National Park



One of the hairy roads we were on in our bus



Polychrome Pass

Wild flowers and a bee
Caribou everywhere



The lower 2/3 of Mt McKinley

look at all the Caribou on this hill
Caribou on the road


One of the many rivers in Denali
More Caribou



The grand daddy caribou in a stream

The dinner theater
The characters in the show


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