Denali National Park, Alaska

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We got an early start on Friday for our trip to Denali. The clouds were hanging over the mountain tops, so we figured our first views of Mt McKinley would not be good. However, as the morning went on, the clouds lifted and the sun was shining. We were able to pull of and get some pretty good pictures, even though the mountain was quite far away. At least we got the snow capped top of the tallest mountain in North America. Once in and set up, we had a bus picking us up for a dinner and entertainment.

On Saturday, we all went on the Husky Homestead Tour. This was a great stop to see and hear how the dogs are trained for the Iditarod. Jeff King gave a great presentation on preparing himself and his team of dogs for over 1000 miles through the Alaska winter race known as the Iditarod. He has won 4 of these races.

Our schedule gave us another free day on Sunday. We chose to go to Denali National Park to see their sled dog demonstration. These huskies are raised to pull sleds throughout the park during the winter months. Although both of these places call their dogs huskies, because of their breeding and the responsibilities of these dogs, they differ greatly in size and appearance.

Today was our bus tour into Denali National Park. Private vehicles are not allowed in past the first 15 miles, so this was our opportunity to see the "wilderness". We met at 7:00 am, in the rain. The rain did stop once we got into the park, but it remained overcast, cool and windy all day. It was, however, a great day to see the wildlife. That's the only good thing about 48 degrees ... we even got snow flurries at times, but we did enjoy seeing moose, caribou, wolves, black bears and grizzlies.

They are predicting a low temp of 36 degrees for tonight. It's time to get out of here! Our next stop is Fairbanks .... further north, but warmer.

Oh .... on a fun note, we have seen so many Wisconsin people here in Denali. Most were on cruises, as this is a destination stop for many of the cruise lines. (Buses were everywhere!) We were meeting a good friend's sister and her husband last night (they live here). It had been years since Jim saw her last, so to make it easy for her we wore our Wisconsin sweatshirts. We were also very easily identified by a number of "Wisconsin tourists" ... and Jim had to stop to visit with every one of them!

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Photos

Husky Homestead Puppy
Could someday be in the Iditarod