Blogs from Denali, Alaska, United States, North America - page 2

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North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 25th 2016

I obviously have not managed to do a blog during this trip....I had such good intentions and I really enjoyed blogging during my last two trips....but I just haven't been able to manage to do it this trip....I can put some blame on the slow and sometimes non-existent internet, but it's also partly related to the nature of this trip, particularly when the group adventure started. Activities begin very early (tomorrow we have breakfast at 6am) and we often don't return to our rooms until after 10. With such an early start tomorrow, I'm not going to attempt to describe anything we have done. However, I do want to mention that the company we are doing the guided part of our trip with is Alaska Alpine Advenures. We booked the trip with World Outdoors, but it ... read more

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 13th 2016

I cannot say enough about Denali. We got up at 5 AM and took a 12 hour bus tour of the park. You ever get here this is the way to do it. Also we had incredible with super clear skies which we were told only 10 percent of the tourist at Denali get this kind of view since the top is usually socked in. Saw grizzly bears, ptarmigan, Dall sheep, Caribou, Moose, and more. The view we got of Denali was absolutely incredible as the pictures show. At the end of the tour we had a choice of panning for gold or watching a dog mushing training session. I panned for gold in the creek and found a fairly large flake of gold. They laminated it for me to take home and told me that ... read more
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North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 11th 2016

We stayed a few extra days in Cantwell waiting for Wayne and Ronda’s visit. We could have moved up to Fairbanks, their arrival point, and centered our tourist time around the Fairbanks attractions but one of our main goals was to visit the Denali National Park with them and it is just up the street from our rocky little RV Park in Cantwell. Not the best park we have camped in but what they lacked in amenities they more than made up for in friendliness. They put The Kids rental trailer in the site right next to ours so we could easily share food, drink and space. Their flight from Phoenix was a late night arrival so they did a one night hotel stay at the airport, some early grocery shopping, and headed down to meet ... read more
Denali Lookout but the mountain was covered in clouds....again
Ronda scores a trophy Alaska Rainbow
Fly fishing Grayling

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 6th 2016

Early in our trip planning process we made a conscience decision to go south first and then swing up north as we exit Alaska. This decision was mostly predicated on the anticipated weather. Historically it is still pretty cold in Fairbanks during late May when we planned to arrive and the weather warms in the south earlier in the season. It also had a lot to do with being near the King Salmon fishing areas during the spring run. So far it has worked as planned with the exception of the seemingly endless spring rain storms. Sometimes you just go even in the rain but fortunately we are on a long time line so if necessary we can sit out a few days of rain and do our exploring when the weather clears. I have begun ... read more
Along the road from Palmer to Cantwell
East Side of Denali
We stop only long enough for Michelle to shoot this, then sit to enjoy the view, not wanting to leave

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali May 26th 2016

DAY 12 - Tok, AK to Denali National Park Sunrise 3:58 AM – sunset 11:01 PM. Thank goodness we covered our bedroom skylight with foil. Left Tok about 8:45 and headed north toward Fairbanks; it's a beautiful sunny morning. Sourdough Campground was nice the people quite friendly, including their Husky, Lakota. Just feels nice being back in the states(we can watch the big numbers on the speedometer). Not sure how far past Fairbanks we'll get since there are several stops we want to make. Breakfast at Golden Bear Restaurant, where we were thoroughly entertained by Linda, our waitress. On the way we saw a mother driving her daughter(~10yrs old) to school. Mom was driving of four-wheel ATV and the daughter AND her bicycle we're on the backend. Life is a little different up here! Tok is ... read more
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North America » United States » Alaska » Denali August 20th 2015

After leaving Talkeetna, we reconnected with the George Parks Highway and drove north on the strong recommendation of our nephew Shannon Shue to hike the Kesugi Ridge. The ridge trail is 27.5 miles from end to end from Coal Creek to Byers Lake and can be made in a multi-day backcountry camping trek or broken up into longer day hikes. It offers fabulous western views of the Alaskan Range, particularly in the northern alpine section. The bluff is relatively flat after a steep ascent and can be enjoyed for miles. We heard that Byers Lake was not safe due to a large bear presence, doesn’t offer great views for a long while so we decided we would hike up and back on the Coal Creek Trail after exploring the northern highest end of the ridge. The ... read more
Terry on Kesugi Ridge view of Alaskan Range
Denali from Parks Highway
Kesugi Trail Topo Map

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali August 3rd 2015

Iconic reflection photos of Denali are taken from two primary locations: Reflection Pond and Wonder Lake. Both spots are beyond the Wonder Lake Campground. The only way to reach them is on foot or by taking the infrequent bus to Kantishna, the furthest point on the bus route and hopping off about a mile up the road. The most important consideration is going when the water is still and this is normally early in the morning. We coordinated our trip to catch the bus to Kantishna (mile 90), jump off at Reflection Pond, walk up to Blueberry Hill, then wait for the return bus to our campground which would return in an hour. We had phenomenal fortune again because both bodies of water were mirror smooth, there were no clouds around Denali and we continued to ... read more
Terry Denali reflection in Wonder Lake from Blueberry Hill
Becky Denali Wonder Lake Reflection Closeup
Denali Entrance to Reflection Pond

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 28th 2015

Today was a long day. Literally! It started on Monday, July 27th at 8:00 am and ended on Tuesday, July 28th at around 11 pm! You do the math. We woke to a drizzly morning, got packed and left Denali Cabins to see the dog sled demo at the park. That was cool. Despite the rain we got to see the dogs, pet them and get to know them a little. Each dog has his (or her) own kennel and they are wonderfully cared for. Each has a sign with their name, and some had additional information like 'It's my birthday today' or 'I'm retiring this year after 8 years of service'. A ranger called everyone under an awning for the demo and she explained about the dogs, what they do in the park and why ... read more
Northern lights at Ted Stevens
12 egg omelette

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 25th 2015

What a day! Our rafting tour is scheduled to pick us up from the Denali cabins at 11:30, so we first went shopping in 'downtown', about 10 miles up the road. Downtown Denali is a lot bigger than downtown Whittier, but still not big by any stretch of the imagination. There are two 'general stores' with small selections of basic groceries and large selections of liquor, some restaurants, a gas station and lots of souvenir shops and tour operator offices. We bought some milk, bread, cereal and returned to the cabins. The bus picked us up at the Denali cabins on time. Let me tell you a bit about the buses here at Denali. All the buses that work in the area are old school buses that were reconstituted to work the tours here. Your basic ... read more
On the raft with Bobby
Horsing around

North America » United States » Alaska » Denali July 23rd 2015

I'll tell about the journey this time, not quite by date because it was a long journey. We slowly woke to our last morning in Kennicott and went for breakfast. Our plane out is only at 2 pm, so we went for a walk to pass the time. We walked up towards the Bonanza copper mine, climbing the hill until we reached the tree line, more or less. We took in the view, and then made our way back down to town. The only sign of wildlife we saw on the way was some (we presume) black bear feces in the path. Looks like someone ate too many berries and was sick. We searched for bits of malachite (green) and azurite (blue) near the copper mill, and then went for lunch at the lodge before our ... read more




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