Denali National Park & Preserve

Fairbanks to Denali - 6/26 Thursday - Flowers - Mountains - Sled Dogs - Moose

We headed down the George Parks Higway and made it all of a mile and a half. Our first stop was at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Botanical Garden and Experimental farm. The flowers were amazing and they are the genetic banks for Peonie flowers. They also test various forms of vegetables to determine what works best in sub arctic conditions.

From there we continued about 90 miles to Denali. The views of the mountains were magnificent. We did get stopped in a 45 minutes queue for the forest fire. The crews pretty much have it out and it should be open both ways tomorrow.

We checked into our campground and decided to just get the lay of the land. Four hours later we returned. We did such cool things that were all unexpected. We watched two movies in the visitors center highlighting the animals of Denali and then one on the dog sleds. In 1967 there was an act that made Denali a Wilderness area, which means machines are prohibited for the most part. The continue to use freight sled dogs to complete their research and park maintenance. This is how they have been doing it since 1922. All the dogs in the kennel can be traced back to a dog named “Susie” born in 1971. Only one pair of dogs is bred a year and the dogs are highly valuable. it was so fun and there was actually one called Mike.

You usually can ride 80 miles up into the park, but due to a landslide you only can go 40 miles. We will take the bus tomorrow, but today we drove the 15 miles you can drive in your own car. We didn’t see much and on the way back we got stuck behind a bus and saw these beauties. Today we saw 7 moose! First one had got hit by a car :(. Second, a momma and a baby in a field, Then a Momma and a baby crossing the road - the single picture as they were scooting pretty fast. Finally, we came across this Momma and her babe, which were in the park. They are so cool.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/b279c5_19390cf49251447f8361c930f3345dc8/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The day did not end there - we decided to take a late night drive into hte park. Denali did not disappoint - it cleared off and we saw the massive mountain. Absolutely breathtaking! We watched it for about an hour and hte clouds just kept moving out - only a few tendrils left. Denali (Mt. McKinnely) is 20,310 feet tall and the highest mountain in North America!

WHAT A DAY!!!!!

Friday - June 27th - Mountains - Streams - Graylings - E-Biking

We woke up to a beautiful day and decided to try some fishing. Mike did some research and we headed south to Cantwell and then headed East on the Denali Highway. We found a small stream feeding into the Nenana river and he was rewarded with a 16 inch Arctic Grayling - she sure fought like a trout. We tried the same sweet spot and could see four more but no go. We then headed another 8 miles up the road, tried another stream and no luck. I found some lovely flowers and views of mountains and Denali. Finally, we headed back, stopped at the first place, switched up the bait and WHAM we got the second one. That is the limit for the day as I didn’t get a license yet. Great Morning in the outdoors!

Can’t wait for supper :)

After lunch and cleaning the fish for supper we ventured back into the park. We parked at the enterance and headed on the E-Bikes to the visitor’s center and then went on the bike path to check out town. I truly think the town completely closes down in the winter as it is a single road with several small businesses lined up in a row (reminds me of old timey towns that popped up in the gold rush). We went on a Margarita Quest to find the best marg in town. We ended up at Fannie O’s in the Princess Lodge and had a Muskego, WI girl serve us an amazing cocktail. We sat around a fire with some Michiganders and had a grand old time. Dinner was magnificent - Arctic Grayling is my new favorite fish and Mike’s too - it was delicious. Another fabulous day!

Saturday - June 28th - Moose - Golf - Fish - Local Saloon - Pizza!

We woke up to a blue bird sky in Denali. In the morning we headed out to golf, but this lovely family treated us on the way to the course.

We played the Black Diamond Resort in Denali. Yes - it was a Black Diamond as it was the hardest course to date. The frost heaves were terrible, the greens hand beautiful dandelions on them and the cart path looked like an ATV route - but it was still so much fun! We each lost a sleeve of balls:).

On the way home we stopped at a picturesque lake and Mike tried to catch some trout and I did some yoga. We headed back to the campground for lunch and got to see the train. Over 113,000 people visit Denali by train, that is 25%!

After a quick lunch and a rest we headed out on a bike ride. Across the highway from us was the Denali Education Center (think of Hunt Hill). We drove around on their bike paths and ended up at the Nenana River. We were treated to these awesome Moose tracks. The forest was lovely.

We then loaded up in the car to see if we could find the Grayling again. We headed to the Culvert Honey Hole. Mike caught 2 Graylins and an Arctic Whitefish within 10 minutes.

We ended the day with a magnificent pizza at Paramount Pizza. We chatted with locals and seasonal workers - everyone has such an interesting story. For the most part everyone works from late April to early October and then head south for the other seasonal jobs around the Gulf. We were treated to a magnificent moose on the way home. She was the biggest one we have seen except hte ones in the Preserve in Whitehorse.

Off to Talkeetna tomorrow.