Welcome friends and family!
The third chunk of our Alaska trip was to Denali National Park. Don't forget, most of the photos can be expanded by clicking on them.
Enjoy,
Sharon & Dan

En Route to Camp Denali (July 6)
The next morning at the crack of dawn (which was actually like mid-day since the Alaska sun had come up hours ago) we boarded a bus to Denali. The Park Connection bus picked us up in Anchorage and dropped us off at the entrance to Denali where we met the Camp Denali bus which would take us into the park. It was an adventure. After receiving some fairly bogus information about Alaska from the crazy bus driver, we were dropped off at a turn-around near the park entrance. This turned out to be about a mile and a half from where we were supposed to be let off to meet the Camp Denali bus. This compounded the fact that we were already nearly an hour and a half late because the bus driver missed a previous turnoff and had to back-track a good 15 miles to let some folks off the bus before those of us who were Denali-bound re-traced the same span for the second time. When we realized we got dropped off in the wrong place, Dave and Sharon charged on up the road to try to catch and hold the Camp Denali bus while the rest of the group trudged more slowly with the luggage. Luckily, most Alaskans turned out to be really nice. A good Samaritan picked up the group with the luggage and schlepped them to the Camp Denali bus pick-up, beating Sharon & Dave.

Despite the other craziness of the Park Connection bus to Denali, we did get to stop in Talkeetna where we had a nice view of the Alaska mountain range to the north of us. Mt. McKinley (a.k.a. Denali) is right behind Sharon's head.

Dave on the Camp Denali bus.

Sharon keeps thinking of this as our first time seeing bears "in the wild" only to be reminded by Dan that all the Katmai bears were very much in the wild.

The signs have nails sticking out to deter the bears from playing with them.

We saw our first caribou at our supper stop on the Camp Denali bus.




Arctic Ground Squirrel at Eielson visitor center.

These guys were a little stouter than the squirrels we're used to. The Camp Denali staff called them "bear burritos" since they provide a tasty snack for their ursine neighbors.

White crowned sparrow


This Long-tailed Jaeger was going to town on some road-kill trying to tear bites off.



Rain, off in the distance, contrasts with the nearby sunny field.

Camp Denali (July 6-9)
There is one 90 mile road into the park and at the end of that road past Wonder Lake are two places to stay that are owned by the same company but slightly different in amenities. The lodge is like a little hotel while Camp Denali is individual cabins. Dan originally booked rooms in the lodge, because he assumed Sharon's folks would opt for a little more comfort. But they soundly refuted that idea and requested a change to the more rustic cabins. The cabins each have their own outhouse. They have oil lamps and a burner for heating water, but the heat comes from a wood stove and the water comes from a spigot outside. Each cabin and outhouse has a view of Mt. McKinley.

We stayed in the cabin "Bedrock Hilton." It was divided in the middle and we got the Bedrock side while Dave stayed in the "Hilton."

The cabins were so quaint inside. The quilts are handmade by the staff.

Mary Lou checking out the dooley.

We enjoyed relaxing on the front porch of the Bedrock Hilton.

That evening we saw a rainbow over Wonder Lake. You can also see Northface Lodge which is the more hotel-y companion to Camp Denali.

The next day we saw our cabins from our vantage point up on the ridge. The main dining hall was near the pond and our cabins were way down the hill (near the bend in the river in this picture).

Ridge Hike (July 7)
For our first full day in Denali, our family split up. Sharon's folks went on the "moderate" hike, David went off on his own on a trail, and we went on the "strenuous" hike. It was not too bad, but a bit like a stairmaster at the gym! We hiked a very steep path up to the nearest ridge, then hiked along the ridge and stopped at a cabin for lunch before descending again.

We also have several nice pictures of wildflowers from this day, but we consolidated those onto our Wildflowers & Plants page.

Our first landmark on the top of the ridge was this big rock cairn.

Despite the very steep climb, the ridge was really broad and fairly flat once we got up there.

Horned Lark


This Rock Ptarmigan was a male. The ring around his eyes is called a comb. Our guide, Hannah, said it's similar to the red comb on a rooster.

This one was giving itself some sort of dust bath.

Hannah also pointed out this moose antler.

The inside was very porous. Some mammals will gnaw on the shed antlers as a source of calcium.

The view was great. If you click on this picture to expand it, you can see the thin clouds that reminded us of flying saucers, or as the French (and our favorite winery) call them, "Cigare Volant" or "flying cigars."

We got to see the rain roll in on the next mountains over.

While we stopped for lunch, another hiker's brand new hiking poles got eaten by some ground squirrels!

Short-eared Owl

Family Hike (July 8)
The next day we decided to stick together. For Sharon's birthday, she requested a moose sighting from our hike guide, Jan. We didn't get to see a moose that day, but we did see a lot of other wildlife, beautiful wildflowers and mountain vistas, and Sharon got to throw a snowball at her brother! How often can you do that in July?!

The wildflowers pictures from this hike can be found on our Wildflowers & Plants page.

We liked the different colors of the mountains and the
shadows of the clouds on the grass.

This mountain looked like it was staring angrily at us.

We had red mountains to the northeast

and dark gray mountains beyond a green valley to the southwest.

Crazy Dave decided to hike up to the snow patch. Can you see him? (If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see his tracks through the red gravel slope.)

There he is! Good thing we had a zoom lens!

Jan pointed out a tuft of caribou hair.

Each strand was quite thick and is actually hollow.

Herd of caribou


Eventually the caribou herd slowly worked its way up and over the mountain.

These are Dall sheep. We think it's a mother and child.

The sheep also headed over the mountain...

...with a pause for some nibbling and scratching.

This was the uphill view from our lunch spot.

And the view (with Mountain Man Dave) looking out at the mountains across the valley.

Mountain Man Dan

You can see how high up and far from the road we were by the size of the bus on the road (at the right side of the photo).

Artistic snow edge

What a treat to throw a snowball at your brother on your birthday!!


Troll!

The skull of an arctic ground squirrel.

Peregrine Falcon

Mount McKinley (July 9)
If your bathroom is an outhouse, you avoid going for as long as possible, but when it gets chilly in the cabin, sometimes you just have to get up. So at 4 AM on our last morning, Sharon was rewarded for her small bladder with a beautiful clear view of Mt. McKinley. She woke the family who all briefly took a peak and then promptly went back to bed. Sharon stayed up, and hiked up the hill to catch some stunning views of the sunrise slowly lighting up the mountain. In case you weren't aware, the park is called Denali, which is the Native American name for the mountain, but official park service name for the mountain is still Mount McKinley. The mountain is usually shrouded in clouds, so this clear view was a real treat.

As the sun slowly came up the shadows were blue while the light turned the mountain pink.

As the sun rose further, the blue shadows darkened while the pink intensified.

McKinley reflected in Nugget Pond

When the sun was fully up, the snow was bright white.

As the morning wore on, clouds collected on top of McKinley. This is called a lenticular cloud. It's interesting to note the transition from snowy to clear mountains at the bottom of the picture.

Wonder Lake

Bus Out of Denali (July 9)
Another early morning. We had to be at breakfast by 5:45 to get on the bus for the morning ride out of the park.


We got a few more great views of McKinley.

We think this was either a Northern Goshawk or a Gyrfalcon.


The fireweed on this river made it look pink.

More fabulous colors from polychrome mountains.

Really cool sun

and clouds that morning.

A moose at last!

Not a moose.

The Muldrow Glacier is flowing down in the center of this picture and continues as lumpy ice covered by shrubbery in the foreground.

In this photo, you can see the abrupt front of the glacier as the ground transitions from lumpy (on the left) to smooth (on the right).

Tracks in the mud.

And then we saw bear cubs!





Train from Denali to Anchorage (July 9)
After our bus ride out of Denali, we boarded a glass-topped train for the trip from Denali to Anchorage. The double-decker train car we were in had dining on the bottom level, seats under a bubble dome on the top level, and a small outdoor platform at the back.

From the outdoor deck, we got good views of the engine when we were on curves. There were two engines, a baggage car, and then our car.

This is the view from inside.

It was a beautiful day to watch the scenery go by.

This is the Copper River, and the blue color is from dissolved copper.

The fireweed gave this creek a pink glow.

Hurricane Gulch is named for the high winds that tear
through it during the winter.

The wiring was stripped away to reclaim the copper, but the glass insulators still remain on these old telegraph poles.

We passed another train going the opposite way and Sharon managed to capture the reflection of her and David.

Snowplow train

We splurged on the luxury car. This was the other option.

Second moose of the day!

This time with two babies.

Loons

Swans

Anchorage (July 10)
While Sharon's folks flew back on the morning of the 10th, we hung out with Dave in Anchorage and flew home that evening.

On our way down to check out Ship Creek, we stopped by the train station to check out the old engine on display.

Dave tries to pull in a big anchor. He looks like he's playing it up, but it was really incredibly heavy. We were taking guesses and agreed that each link weighed at least 20 lbs.

As we walked along the waterfront of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, we saw a nice lagoon that was popular with birds. We particularly liked this pile of ducks.

This bird is a Yellow-legged Sandpiper. It was on the ocean side of the coastal path, strolling through the mud, probably looking for stuff to eat.

Magpie

Baby Seagull

Baby Seagull taking flight


Questions? Comments? Contact us at:
swest@stanfordalumni.org
dsginsburg@gmail.com