Denali National Park

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At 6 million plus acres, Denali National Park is huge -- bigger than the state of Massachusetts, and the terrain is magnificent, with enormous mountains, big rivers and many lakes. There is only one road, which extends about 75 miles into the park. Except for a few miles near the park entrance the road is gravel, and personal vehicles are only allowed on the first 14 or 15 miles. The public can only travel the rest of the road on a limited number of excursion busses. This leaves a whole lot of wilderness for the animals to roam in their natural habitat.

The crown jewel of the park is Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. At over 20,000 feet it is half again as big as Pike's Peak. Because of its size it creates its own weather patterns, and is obscured by clouds over 70% of the time. We talked to people who spent a week at the park and never saw the mountain. We were lucky enough to have great views from Denali State Park, which is immediately south of the National Park, and is actually closer to McKinley than the public part of the National Park.

One of the highlights of our visit was the dogsled demonstration given by the park rangers. These dogsleds are used in the winter to patrol the park against poachers and other unauthorized trespassers, and to check on the few permitted backpackers who are crazy enough to be out there in the winter. Two things struck us about the dogs. First, while the dogs were obviously very fit, they were not as big as we expected. Second, it was obvious that they loved to pull that sled, and they would literally tingle with excitement as they were being harnessed. Although they normally use 10 to 14 dogs in a team, the demonstration was done with only five. We wondered if they could really pull that sled down the gravel path, but when they were given the word they were off like a bat out of hell with the ranger hanging on for dear life.

The main event for us was, of course, the bus tour into the park. We went about 55 miles into the park, and the tour took about 7 hours. We were allowed off the bus only at specified rest stop/observation points, which were spaced about an hour and a half apart. The bus would stop for picture taking whenever we saw animals, but we were told to keep our voices down. If we disturbed the animals or altered their behavior, the bus would immediately leave, but generally they seemed oblivious to our presence. Everyone wanted most to see is the grizzly bears, and we saw quite a few. They are really impressive animals, but we also saw dall sheep (which the park was originally established to protect), golden eagles, moose, and some of the most spectacular scenery we have ever seen. After seven hours and over 100 miles of gravel road on a bus, we were worn out at the end of the day, but it was something we'll never forget.

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