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Close up moose7:30. We will be leaving in 10 minutes to trek over to McKinley Chalet for our 8:30 pick-up( it's 30 degrees and I have no idea why we have to be there 1/2 hour early). Our tour of Denali National Park is going to take roughly 5 hours.
4:30. Well, How Was Denali; I know you're dying to know... Truthfully, I was disappointed. You see, I expected lush green scenery: pure white Dall Sheep skirting the narrow sides of mountains, caribou peeking through bushes while nibbling on vegetation, and grizzlies checking us out with a glare in their eyes. Fool that I am, I completely disregarded the fact that late May is still basically winter up here; in fact, North Pole, Alaska ( I never even believed there was such a place!) is 15 miles from Fairbanks and we went by there...oh well, back to my day in Denali. The hillsides were brown, the lakes were the color of silly putty, the tundra was a gritty gray and the grizzlies, the mountain side Dall sheep, and wolves were all off hiding somewhere. So, exactly what did I see: YES, one caribou close up, one moose sort of close up, and
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Far away carabou one grizzly far off that I saw through binoculars. I was told that it was a Good day (tho I beg to differ). But, I suppose I have to consider the fact that Denali Park is 2 million sq. miles and there are only about 2300 grizzlies and caribou---you do the math...
Adolph Murie, a Park pioneer, said in his book..."One need not see a wolf to benefit from its presence; it is enough to know that there is the possibility of discovering one is on some distant ridge." Well, sorry, Adolph, this girl takes umbrage at that. I came 4300 miles to see those wolves and all their compatriots! But, I guess it's my fault since I didn't really read up on Denali before we left Naples; I just saw photos of this vast wilderness taken when it was emerald green and flowering and that vision stayed with me. So, my advice to you all is, should you plan to visit Denali, read up on it!
I will say this, though: I did learn a lot about the history of Denali and its evolution. (Don't worry, I'm not going to give you a history lesson).But, you should hear this.
The Athebascan Indians climbed over these mountains over 11,000 years ago. ( I can only imagine their disillusionment? Upon finding acres of frozen tundra. Apparently they were searching for wooly mammoths, and these poor people probably couldn't even find decent soil to plant crops ( or Whatever they did to eat). I am sure Q will give you an inside view of Denali and the Athabascans, so do read his blog!
When our tour ended, I wanted to see the sled dogs. Now, that was fun?. To get there we went to the Visitors Center, hopped on a shuttle and went off to feed the animals. What a delight---Piñata even ate from my hand! These sled dogs are incredible, big and gentle, strong and lovable. Their job is to move supplies all over the vast acreage in Denali because you will never find a piece of machinery in this wilderness world. These dogs are all Alaskan Huskies (no AKC recognition for these guys), but, boy, are they sweet! They work for 9 years and then retire ( I can't have one because they can only live in cold climates...Q was glad to hear that, I think!)
Next, back to the
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9th year...retire time! Visitors Center where we took life size pictures of the animals that are (supposedly, lol) in the Park and then saw a film on The Denali I thought I was going to see: lush verdant pastures, gorgeous flowers ( no clue what they are), butterflies with gossamer wings and Cinderella-like chirping birds.
I keep telling myself that I visited "one of our countries most treasured public lands"and on their 100th birthday, too! So, I think I'll buy a Denali shirt, maybe with all the animals on it!!!!!!!
Happy Memorial Day?!
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