Advertisement
Published: September 26th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Denali National Park
Tundra Wilderness Tour Day 3 - (Continued) Denali National Park
Denali National Park was absolutely incredible --- not at all what I expected. The Alaskan spirit makes a statement all of its own - nothing you can prepare for - it will stay in your heart forever - - - -
We began our journey into the park riding on a blue school bus. This excursion was called the “Tundra Wilderness Tour.” The only vehicles allowed in the national park were the blue buses. Our tour began in the early afternoon and took about seven hours to complete - a very long day!
We all had an opportunity to eat lunch at the visitor’s center after our train ride - but as the bus ride was a very long journey and would take such a long time to complete, we were each provided with a box lunch which was neatly placed on each seat of the bus for us to stow away for when we became hungry later in the day. Remember - no food off of the bus and do not feed anything.
The tour guide for the Tundra Wilderness adventure was exceptionally bright and knowledgeable about everything and
Denali National Park
Tundra Wilderness Tour anything to do with the tundra, the wildlife, the natives, the culture, the weather, and tourists. He had been taking people on this particular tour for many many years. In fact, he indicated to us that on his first journey to Alaska - he got one look at the abundant life and couldn’t get it out of his mind - he moved to Alaska and has been taking tourists on the tour ever since. He had a wonderful sense of humor and we enjoyed his commentaries immensely.
I couldn’t ever describe to you the views we saw or the emotions that we experienced on this part of our journey - so I think it is best said in the pictures that accompany this entry. Most of the pictures were taken by Don or myself but there are many that were taken by different people in the Moosecruisers group - so I hope they don’t mind my sharing the memory with all of you.
With these pictures available, you don’t need my words of description. You can decide for yourself what the day was like ….. but, just for fun, as you glance at the pictures --- take your
Denali National Park
Tundra Wilderness Tour mind to the Alaskan tundra. Put yourself on a blue school bus. Imagine if you can the bus is incredibly hot on the side that the sun is beating in the windows and very cold on the side that has found the shade - a true bus experience - where oh where is our luxury motor coach?? Imagine that the windows you are looking out of - actually sometimes just pressing your face against for a better view -- are covered on the outside by a fine film of the pale tan Alaskan grit and dust that has flown up from the dirt road --- the only path for the blue bus to travel on - the only path at all - no paved roads in the tundra. Imagine the shock and surprise of seeing brown bears mating --- hah!!! You should have seen it! They were quite a distance away but with the aid of some extremely good technical devices owned by a few fellow travelers who happened to have great binoculars and even better zoom lenses on their cameras - we were able to capture the moment to share with you. Imagine being incredibly exhausted from traveling all
Denali National Park
Tundra Wilderness Tour - Bears in a Bush -- what could they be doing? day - and yet so excited that you couldn’t help but stay awake so as not to miss a single thing.
Feel the cool air hit your face and perk you up as you descend from the bus to get a better look at the view. And as you are getting back on the bus, take in the comments and incredulous looks of your friends as you make your way back down the narrow aisle of the bus to find your seat as the driver begins to find his way a little bit deeper into park to see more of the tundra and perhaps a glimpse of some more wildlife.
What’s that ahead???? Is that another bus stopped on the side of the road??? Have they spotted something wonderful???? What do you think it is????? Will it still be there by the time we get there?
Anticipation - sleepiness --- where’s my box lunch? Don did you eat my cookie? I was really looking forward to that part of the box lunch --- FORGET the COOKIE - look at all those mountain goats over the cliff! Is that what the other bus stopped to see?
What
Denali National Park
Tundra Wilderness Tour about the big mountain - what about getting a glimpse of Mount McKinley? Do you think we will be one of the lucky 20% of tourists that get to see the big one?
Let the pictures take you away…….
And at the end of the very long day, we were escorted back to our luxury motor coach for a short drive to our next lodge. Could we have possibly fit in another minute of time and adventure into this day???
The Denali Wilderness Lodge - my memory is foggy here. I know the bed was comfortable and that the shower was nice and hot…. and I slept like a baby until 4:00 a.m. (well it was really 8:00 a.m. eastern time - I don’t adjust well to time changes). Some people had really great window views of the mountains - I think our window view overlooked the parking lot. I think Joe & Cathy got to see the dumpster - again. But who cared at this point -- Don and I didn’t even eat dinner that night - just went to bed ---
But --- hah hah
Denali National Park
Tundra Wilderness Tour --- you know not everyone gets tired like me. I know there were other Moosecruisers out that night who did more stuff. Maybe we’ll hear some comments from the others who weren’t so tired that night and enjoyed the amenities of the lodge more that I did.
Well, that’s all for now.
Next blog - white water rafting, a second train ride, and a most wonderful evening looking at Mount McKinley from the seat of an airboat and from the verandah of our next lodge - see you in Talkeetna!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 6; qc: 26; dbt: 0.022s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Becky
non-member comment
Gorgeous!!
Fantastic pictures and your descriptions make me feel as though I had been along for the adventure myself. Thanks for sharing!