Aug 19, 2008 - Denali Grizzly Bear Resort, Denali NP,AK

Travel day to Denali 190 miles...w/ the hope of seeing Mt. McKinley or Denali as the natives call it...and I actually think I prefer. It is said that Denali being over 20,000 feet tall, creates its own weather, so apparently there is less than a 50% chance of seeing the whole thing, neverminding on a sunny day. I am proud and ELATED to tell you that we managed both!!!! The mountain was out in all it's glory at our first glimpse of it in the morning. What a sight. Then as we got closer it started getting cloudy around the mountain, covering...

Jul 16, 2008 - Day 40 - We're on the move again headed from Fairbanks to Denali

Short 130 mile drive today so we got up relatively late and left a little after 10am. We arrived at the campground around 1pm, set up and then headed to Denali National Park to get our Golden Passport and bus tour reservations for our park visit tomorrow. We elected to take a 9 hour bus tour as no personal vehicles are allowed past mile 14 on the park road. We did drive up to Savage Creek (the 14 mile point) and got to see a caribou laying in a creek bed when we first stopped and then as we watched he started grazing. We had to stop in the...

Jul 13, 2008 - Angry Skies To Denali

Not much to report on today, we just mushed our way over to Denali Park today and took a few pic's on the way over. I'm setting here listening to some good music from a guy we heard in Tok, by the name of Dave Stancliff and if you get the chance to hear him do yourself a favor, you'll be glad you did. Hey Chuck Doppler, if you read this, drop me a note in the guest book and let know how you made out on the Dalton Road with that trike. That's it for now, keep yourself safe and mind a manner now and then.....Gummy...OUT Proud people don't...

Jul 2, 2008 - Got tickets for Denali Park tour

Move day. Left the Fairbanks Campground on the way to Denali Park. Since it’s only about 120 miles down the road, we didn’t take off too early. Only a few miles out of Fairbanks, you could see the mountain range at Denali in the distance. It’s a very clear day with no clouds. About half way there, you could clearly see Mt Kinney above all the other peaks. Boy, is it H U G E !! We didn’t have a place where we and the Stover’s could both pull off to take pictures, so Jenny try to take some videos going down the road. I just hope it’s a clear...

Jun 15, 2008 - Denali National Park

Today was rise and shine early for a Tundra Tour into Denali National Park. It was a really awesome trip with many many moose sitings, snow shoe hares and we sae Denali (Mt. McKinley-the great one) with a clear view on the north face. In the photos we took there were lots of Scrub Spruce, the tall spindly trees which are growing where there is perma frost in the ground...with a short growing season in Alaska, they get tall and skinny with broad shallow roots. We stopped by Savage Cabin on the way to experience how life was years and years...

Jun 14, 2008 - Journey to Denali Wilderness Lodge

After lunch we boarded the motor coach to make our way to Denali. We traveled on the Parks Highway and there were MANY areas with permafrost...you can tell by the way the terees grow and th patterns as you look at the hill sides. The "scrub spruce" are tall spindly evergreens which are everywhere. We saw the Tanana Valley and traveled what they call the "skyline route" It is really amazing the variety in the geography and the landscape as you will see by the photos. See you soon!

Jun 14, 2008 - Return to Denali National Park

This morning it was very clear out so we decided to do the 13 mi. drive back thru the park. Vehicles are only allowed to go in that far. They have busses that take you further but the trips were too long to let the dogs stay in the RV. Saw the moose again this morning, she has two babies but they were hiding. We got to the turn-out to see Mt. McKinley and there it was in full site. There were onlya few clouds gathering around the middle. It was very beautifu to see. It is only visible 20% of the time, it was our lucky day. We also saw a...

Jul 21, 2007 - Ninilchik to Denali

So we left Ninilchik last week, stayed in Wasilla overnight and spent two days at Denali National Park. The scenery is spectacular; the photos that Jeanne took really don't show the immense scale of the land here. We had a nice hike on one of the Park Trails. Thats where we got the photos of each other with the mountains in the background (standing on a ledge!)Too bad the RV sites aren't as picturesque. Most of them are parking lots with plug ins. We are pushing on to Fairbanks next and hope to take in a dinner theatre and/or a tour there....

Jul 20, 2007 - Fairbanks to Denali

Well we managed to leave Fairbanks and had Gypsy programed to get us close to our camping site, since there was no address and it was just off the Highway. She got us there but on the way we managed to find the visitor center for the small town of Nenana, AK. The man at the visitor center was a character and allowed me the opportunity to guess when the ice would break in the spring. They have an instrument which documents the exact date and time that the ice starts to break up due to the melting and the winner wins about $3,000.00 The money...

Jul 12, 2007 - Denali, AK - The Parks Highway to Denali

On this bright, beautiful, sunny morning, we reluctantly left North Pole and headed north and west through Fairbanks to the Parks Highway bound for Denali. The road was in quite good shape except for a few construction spots and a few bumpy places here and there. The scenery along the highway was nice with expansive views of the Tanana River, the valleys, and the mountain tops all around. The impressive Alaska Native Veterans' Honor Bridge across the Tanana River brought us to the community of Nenana. The bridge was dedicated to Alaska...

Jul 8, 2007 - 9X's2=A wild ride!

July 8, 2008 Ya'll have not lived until you have taken a 6 hour bus ride with TWO 9 year old budding photographers! Six hours with only four 10 minute breaks!!! "I got one!" "Take a picture of my tongue" "Ewwww!!" "Bunnies" (The last count was 79 ½ bunnies, I will let you figure out the half part!) "My batteries are low" (we went through a jumbo pack of AA's in no time) "Where? Where? I can't find it!" "That's Ok , there's a program to take the windshield wipers out of the picture" "My batteries are low" "Aunt Jacqi, look, look, look at MY...

Jun 26, 2007 - Denali, AK - Day 1

June 26, 2007 Denali Park, AK Today's Travels We only had about 120 miles to travel today so there was no hurry to leave Fairbanks but we eventually did about 9:30. Scott and Di had left much earlier due to their 9 o'clock appointment to have the MH's inverter repaired. Only problem, it was and wasn't. At some point during the repair, a capacitor was blown and the repair could not be concluded. They left town without the inverter and when the capacitor is replaced, the whole thing will be shipped to Anchorage and installed. Watch this space...