Road Trip Aug 14 - 15: Denali - Mooses and Foxes and Bears Oh My!!!


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Published: August 19th 2012
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Arrived in Denali from Talkeetna this afternoon. Only 2 hours in car which was a welcome break from the 6 hours spent in the car the day before. The gang spent the afternoon browsing the visitor center at the DenaliPark to get the game plan together for the next day before checking into the lodge. When you get away from the town center Denali has a serene feel. We got some really good pictures of Mt McKinley on the way to Denali.

The second day in Denali started out with a moose sighting next to our lodge. After capturing some pictures we headed to Denali park to take a hop on hop off bus tour. Cars are only allowed the first 15 miles into the park so the only way to see the whole park is to take a hop on hop off tour or a guided tour. The hop on hop off was around $50 vs. a $160 for the guided tour.

I wasn’t pleased with the hop on hop off tour for a couple of reasons. First, the driver was pretty rude, and provided no information about the park or the habits of the animals. Second, we only got 8 minutes max in most of the spots, so by the time everyone got off the bus you had about 5 minutes to take pictures and make a pit stop. The longest stop we had was 45 minutes at the Denali visitor center further in the park. We were able to get some good pictures and take a short hike. The tour took about 10 hours to see the whole park. What made the tour worth it in the end was the ability to get so close the wild life. The pictures of the bears I got as they passed in front of the bus on the road. Overall we had about 4 bear sightings, some Dall sheep (to high up the mountains to capture pictures), quite a few carbiou and a fox. We did not see any wolves out during the tour. I was amazed at how quiet it was in the park. During those few quiet moments it really settled over you how vast the park is. If I was a camper I would diffently put it on my Top 10 list as a campsite.

Denali National Park

Mt McKinley


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