Day 30 - Denali

Jeff & Noreene Totten Rig #11 Thursday, July 8,2010

29 days ago, at the beginning of this trip, Ken Adams, our wagonmaster , advised us to be flexible in that Adventure Caravans deals with numerous independent contractors and agencies in arranging events and with numerous people involved, some things, on occasion, might get a little out of whack.

We assembled for a bus pick up at 5:45 A.M. The bus, having mixed up communication, arrived at 6:50. Being flexible, we hung in and had a good day with a tour of Denali National Park. Twenty minutes into our 14 hour, 240 mile bus trip, we left the last significant building other than a hotel at our furthest reach into the park 93 miles away and headed out into beautiful country to observe wild life and hopefully see a view of Mount McKinley which is obstructed 80% of the time by clouds.

Denali was established as a national park in 1917 and is a refuge for numerous wild animals. Our 14 hour trip was expected to take that amount of time because we expected to stop and view wild life of many species. We were rewarded in this endeavor with sightings of male and female moose, fox, wolves, sheep, bear, caribou, swans, ducks, eagles, rock ptarmigan and northern harrier. There may have been more but this writer could not jot them down fast enough. A lot of these sightings and photo opportunities were from inside the bus. With 36 of us in the bus and most of us with cameras, each sighting had us jumping in and out of the bus isle and leaning over seats for that perfect shot that seems to elude the snapshot camera. Many animals were a good distance away so even though they were visible, the snapshots in many cases don’t do justice.

 

 

As we began our day we wondered if we would be able to see Mount McKinley. The mountain is not visible 80% of the time due to clouds and only partially visible for about another 8% or 9% of the time. We caught the 1% day and at numerous spots along the way and about 30 miles from the mountain, we were able to see and photograph spectacular views of Mount McKinley. Once again the snapshot camera does not do justice to the scenery; nor do superlative comments. It is an incredible thing to see.

At 93 miles into the park and a little over 100 miles of our overall journey, we arrived at the Denali Back Country Lodge in Camp Kantishna. We came up a packed gravel road with nothing around but trees, mountains and streams, and there it was. It was quite a sight and a very nice place for a lunch of soup, salads, sandwiches and beverages along with desert. We had some extra time for relaxation before our return trip so we explored and relaxed; even found a bird house with a baby bird inside.

We then left the lodge, and set out on our return to the RV camp. This return trip gave us more views of Mount McKinley and wildlife sightings including a sighting of a Grizzly Bear and twin cubs in the park and a large moose just outside our RV camp. All in all, it was a long, long, tiring, great day!