Doing Denali

Denali is rated as the cheapest wildlife experience in Alaska, with good reason. For $30, you can take the park shuttle in about 66 miles. For $20 you can dry park in the parks numerous campgrounds. To get from point to point on a daily basis, ride the commuter shuttle that circumnavigates every 15 minutes.

The bus system is the reason the 6 million acre park stays wild. With limited access, the animals wander unconcerned in the back country, visible from the bus. Once off the bus, you are free to hike the tundra to your heart's content. It's a once in a lifetime deal. You can drive your own vehicle 14 miles in to the park to catch of view of the elusive Mt. McKinley.

Denali is the official name of the park now. Mount Mckinley, or Denali, the High One, is the tallest peak in North America, over 20,000. It is so tall it creates its own weather, and is seen on average once in three days. So far, our day has not come.

We took the 6 am cheap shuttle bus 66 miles into the park, after hearing that the narrated tours were no better than the driver talking on the shuttle bus. It was true, and the discomfort of the school bus seats was overrated. Not a bad 8 hour day, really. We got off every hour or so for a rest stop anyway. It seemed that the tour bus was always overcrowded, and we had empty seats. Much better for wildlife viewing. I list the wildlife as we saw them. The driver stops so you can look from the open school bus windows and photograph. Mostly you gaze with binoculars.

1 moose stumbling across the road
Snow shoe hares
Bald Eagle in a tree
1 Moose in a Pond
1 Dahl Sheep on a ridge
12 dahl sheep on a ridge
4 dahl sheep
6 caribou
1 moose in a pond
4 caribou
1 sleeping grizzly
many snowshoe hares
many ground squirrels
1 Red fox
2 blonde grizzlies
12 dahl sheep
12 more dahl sheep
1 red fox outside her den
1 moose munching by the visitor center - best moose photos to date

The park road is cheap thrills. It is gravel and winding, and the engineers laid it out to hug the sides of mountains. I love looking down, but those with fear of heights moved over to the other side of the bus.

Dog sleds are used for winter patrols. Tours of the dog kennel and sledding demonstrations are free, so we intend to do that too.

We have been on the road well over a month, since May 13. I am accustomed to waking with aspens and black spruce outside my window and daylight 24 hours from the skylight above my bed. It was our intention to get a hotel room once in a while, and I will admit I have fantasies of stepping out of the shower and into my bed without walking 5 or 10 minutes. But not enough to give up the wilderness. No, definitely not enough. Life is good out here.