Denali - May 15, 2008 - Denali National Park, Alaska, United States

The view from the Great Room at the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge is awesome! The mountains of the Alaskan Range are covered with snow, and, unfortunately, Mt. McKinley, also known as Denali or "the Mountain", is usually covered in clouds. And so it was this morning as well. We know it is right there in front of us, but it is shy about showing up. It is so big that it creates its own weather environment, so even when the skies are clear and sunny, it is usually covered by clouds. We headed for Denali National Park after breakfast this morning. It is a 2-3 hour drive, so arrived there in time for lunch at one of the restaurants at the main chalet building. At 2:30 we boarded a park service bus for the Denali National History Tour. We traveled back into the park where only the park service or permitted campers are allowed, keeping an eye out for wildlife. We saw a few moose, some birds, some folks spotted a couple of dahl sheep on a mountainside, and several claimed they spotted three bears that were so far away, even with binoculars, they were just brown spots. After about 4 hours, we were ready to get back to the chalet, but the park service guide was determined we were going to spend at least 4 1/2 to 5 hours out there. When we finally got back, it was too late to make it back to Talkeetna where we had dinner plans. We had to go to plan B and eat at the chalet again. It was late by the time we started back for the lodge, so many slept on the way, but for those who stayed awake, they were treated to a beautiful snow storm that had Bryce just a little worried about the driving. Needless to say, we were all bushed and ready to fall into bed once we made it back from another great day.