Jun 20, 2011 - Denali - A Day Early

Woke to a light drizzle today. Not raining hard enough to get you wet but still annoying. Filled up fresh water and emptied all holding tanks. The next week or so we are dry camping. No facilities. In fact most of this trip we have been dry camping. We have used the generator lots and it does a great job. Very quiet so our neighbours appreciate it. A lot of state, national forest and national park campgrounds do not have facilities at your site. They have a central dump station, potable water, toilets and some have showers. The big benefit...

Jul 17, 2010 - Denali Park tour

July 17, 2010 day 42 It rained off and on all night, heavy at times. Our 106 miles round trip tour into the interior of Denali Park was due to start with a 7:30 pickup at the Denali Princess Hotel across the street. But what we thought was going to be an 8 hour waste of time turned out to be a fairly nice day. The clouds started to thin out and partially dissipate as we headed into the interior. There was the occasional shower but for the most part we had good visibility throughout the day. We even had a partial view of Mount. McKinley,...

Jul 16, 2010 - Denali National Park

July 15, 2010 day 40 Today is another traveling day. We are ready for a change of scenery. After fueling the MHs, we headed for Denali National Park, some 130 miles south. It’s supposed to rain today and the weatherman didn’t disappoint. The road out of Fairbanks climbs for a few miles onto a plateau with some spectacular views of two valleys on either side IF it wasn’t for the rain. Your are teased with glimpse, from time to time as you come around a curve and few trees block your view , of the foreground of the valley floor with the Yukon...

Jun 15, 2010 - Denali Park, AK

Tuesday: We slept in later this morning and were up at 4 am AK time. We woke up quite a few times and each time it was light outside. I looked out the window at 12am and 1am and "no dark". I walked at 4:50 in 51 degree, overcast weather. We left the campground at 6:30 AK time bound for Denali Park, 132 miles away. We did not see any wildlife this morning. We arrived at Denali Rainbow Village RV Park and Country Mall at 10 am. It was cold at 45 degrees and the wind blowing so hard made it even colder. Our satellite for TV has not been able...

Jun 5, 2010 - To Denali National Park

It was a short trip today, only 120 miles from Fairbanks to Denali Park. We arrived by 1PM, had lunch, then were off to the visitor's center to explore. Our timing was perfect for the shuttle bus to the dog sled kennels and demonstration, so we hopped on and got our first look at the park on the way. It was quiet as we got off the bus and made our way to the kennels....then a dog heard us and the excitement started. Frantic howling and yipping and barking started as we came into view. These dogs LOVE to be around people, but they also know...

Jul 16, 2009 - Denali Park - Teklanika Campground

July 16th - July 18th We drove to Denali (20 minute drive) and went directly to the visitor center to catch the early Dogsled demonstration which is done 3 times every day. This was a very informative, hands-on experience. We got to walk around the kennels which were for the most part dog houses where the dogs were tethered to their home which is much better then pens in my opinion. Visitors are encouraged to go up to the dogs and pet them if they are not in their dog house or sleeping. All the dogs are mild mannered, have longer legs then...

Jul 19, 2008 - South On The Parks Highway

Headed south on the Parks Highway for the 220 KM trip down to Denali National Park. Pretty good highway down and a little more then three hours after leaving Fairbanks we were set up in the Riley Creek Campground. We headed over to the Wilderness Access Centre and picked up tickets for the 6 AM Eielson Visitor Centre shuttle Bus. Private vehicles are only allowed 15 miles into the park, to the Savage River. After dinner we took in one of the Ranger talks, this one on the early climbers on Mt. McKinley. Still in the land of the Midnight...

Jul 13, 2008 - Denali National Park

The drive from Anchorage to Denali National Park was as good as any scenic drive in any National Park. We were just settling into a steady speed when a cop stopped us for speeding. But, my luck with cops continued and he let us off with a warning. Even the highways in Alaska had grooves in them resulting from snow chains. We passed the road towards Talkeetna, the town from where most Mt McKinley expeditions began. I remember a bumper sticker, which is hard to forget - "Talkeetna: A small drinking town with a climbing problem". We reached...

Jun 26, 2008 - Denali National Park

We said our goodbyes to staff friends we've made - they were all really great people. We then had to tell our friends the Brewers goodbye also; they are just a truly wonderful family, and we are all the more richer for having met them. (Brewer family - be sure and stay in touch...we will too!) How true - strangers are friends you just haven't met yet. Our drive down the Parks Highway was very relaxing and scenic. We were so excited to have a view of Denali at an overlook along the way. The photos don't do justice to what we could actually...

Jun 24, 2008 - Fairbanks to Denali

Today we traveled from Fairbanks to Denali. We left Fairbanks in the rain and it continued until about the time we got to Denali in the afternoon. We got settled in the campground and drove into the park as far as allowed (15 miles). Went back to the visitor center (really nice) and back to camp. On the way we stopped at the merchantile and as we were leaving we saw this moose with the newborn calf. Probably no more than an hour old. Mother didn't seem to be bothered, she was just eating. Since it stays light so late we to another ride to...

Jun 12, 2008 - Denali - Faibanks to Healy

Today we moved to the RV Park about 8 miles from the park entrance. After checking in we drove to the park Wilderness Center and purchased tickets for tomorrows 6:00am shuttle bus. It will take us to the Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66. Afer getting our tickets we visited the Denali Dog Center. The Park Service uses dog sleds for transportation to patrol the park during the winter. Snowmobiles and ATV's are outlawed. They explained the importance of the dogs and how they are used followed by a short demonstration arount the area. These...

Jul 26, 2007 - Day 45: Back to the "real" world

Today was the day to pack up. We did things slowly and left on the 12:40 camper bus after a short hike near camp. We had a few bears, moose, caribou, and dall sheep sightings on the way out. Today's bus ride was about 100 miles on mostly narrow dirt roads, the full trip taking 6 hours. We're really tired, but really thrilled with our Denali National Park experience.