I haven't been keeping the blog up to date lately. Sorry. I was busy surfing reddit. Anyways, so last time that I wrote a blog post, I had just survived the Dalton highway. Then I spent a couple days hanging out in Fairbanks. And then I rode south to Denali. There's only one road going to Denali. It's the north-south road that connects Fairbanks to Anchorage.
I arrived at Denali National Park last week on Wednesday. That first night, I camped outside the park alongside a river. I think it was the Susitna river. But it could have been the Toklat river. Your guess is as good as mine. I did see one moose on Wednesday evening walking just off the side of the road. But I don't have any moose pictures. I was riding the motorcycle and didn't really have an opportunity to whip my camera out.
I also stopped at a grocery store and picked up a supply of food for a few days in the park. I bought a bus ticket and reserved a campground. And then I was ready to go.
One of the disappointing aspects about Denali is that there is really no way to enter the deep interior of the park without riding the bus. You have to take a bus along the 80- or 90-mile road that travels from the eastern park entrance to the park's center. Personal vehicles are not allowed.
First view of Denali (it's the big white mountain in the center):
So to go to the interior of the park, you ride the bus. And the bus is filled with tourists. Not tourists who are going camping or hiking in the park. Tourists who just ride the bus and take pictures. Tourists who annoy more serious people like myself. Forgive me if I sound like a snob. I am a snob. Whatever. In any case, I endured. Somehow I survived the bus journey. After a short 5 hours, I rode from the park entrance to the campground at Wonder Lake. And I said goodbye to the tourists.
The bus of doom and suffering:
If you look closely, you can see two tiny white mountain goats at the bottom of this photo. My camera couldn't zoom in any further:
I spent two evenings camped at Wonder Lake. In the daytime, I went hiking around the McKinley river and picked wild blueberries. The blueberries were everywhere. I also spotted a few caribou. I met a park ranger who talked about the park's history, and he also gave out advice on how to meet a French wife. I met two hippies from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and they told me stories about other hippies. According to legend, some hippies have become "breatharians." A breatharian is a person who does not eat food. Instead, he nourishes himself (or herself) strictly with oxygen absorbed from the air. So, yeah, I don't know many breatharians who live a long time, but apparently that's the next big thing in Jackson Hole.
By Saturday morning, I had had enough of Denali. There's really not much to do in the park. Sometimes you can see bears and caribou, and that's alright. And you can get decent views of Mt McKinley/Denali if the weather cooperates, and that's alright. But that's really it. You can go hiking in Denali, but there are very few actual trails. And in the interior of the park, there are none. No trails. It's all just wilderness. It's nice to preserve the wilderness, but it's all very inaccessible. It just wasn't really exciting.
A closeup of Denali:
There are actually two summits on the mountain. The pointy summit on the right is the North summit. The lumpy summit on the Left is the South summit. The South summit is the taller one.
Saturday afternoon I was back on the bus. I rode all afternoon to the park entrance. Then I jumped back on the motorcycle and rode south in the general direction of Anchorage. I stopped for the night in Talkeeta. Talkeetna is very cool, but I'll tell you about that in my next blog post. Maybe tomorrow...
I arrived at Denali National Park last week on Wednesday. That first night, I camped outside the park alongside a river. I think it was the Susitna river. But it could have been the Toklat river. Your guess is as good as mine. I did see one moose on Wednesday evening walking just off the side of the road. But I don't have any moose pictures. I was riding the motorcycle and didn't really have an opportunity to whip my camera out.
Moose antlers:
One of the disappointing aspects about Denali is that there is really no way to enter the deep interior of the park without riding the bus. You have to take a bus along the 80- or 90-mile road that travels from the eastern park entrance to the park's center. Personal vehicles are not allowed.
First view of Denali (it's the big white mountain in the center):
A closer look at Denali:
The park guides told me that seeing Denali on such a clear day is a REALLY BIG DEAL. Only 30% of park visitors actually see the mountain. The other 70% have to look at clouds and imagine that a big mountain is behind them.
More mountains of the Alaska range:
The bus of doom and suffering:
If you look closely, you can see two tiny white mountain goats at the bottom of this photo. My camera couldn't zoom in any further:
More goats:
Oh my gosh, it's a grizzly bear. Eating blueberries.
And one more grizzly bear, way in the distance:
A caribou:
The Kantishna airstrip, inside Denali park:
By Saturday morning, I had had enough of Denali. There's really not much to do in the park. Sometimes you can see bears and caribou, and that's alright. And you can get decent views of Mt McKinley/Denali if the weather cooperates, and that's alright. But that's really it. You can go hiking in Denali, but there are very few actual trails. And in the interior of the park, there are none. No trails. It's all just wilderness. It's nice to preserve the wilderness, but it's all very inaccessible. It just wasn't really exciting.
A closeup of Denali:
There are actually two summits on the mountain. The pointy summit on the right is the North summit. The lumpy summit on the Left is the South summit. The South summit is the taller one.
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