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Published: June 28th 2019
Talkeetna 1
One if the cute shops in town.After yesterday's fun and games, we all managed to sleep remarkably soundly and were pretty well rested for our longish drive to Denali National Park today. Our hotel, the 'Towneplace Suites by Marriott' was unusual (for an American hotel) in providing a 'free' breakfast and we all met at eight to refuel before our trip. We checked out, left our broken suitcase with reception for them to chuck in their dumpster(!) and loaded up our new vehicle, a Toyota Sienna people carrier, which is just about big enough for the five of us and all our baggage! We are off to Denali for a couple days and will then be back to Anchorage for a proper look around where we will be staying at the Hilton Anchorage for a further couple of nights.
Yesterday evening we had purchased a dozen bottles of drinking water and put them in our fridge to keep cold. Before we left our room for the last time, both Mandy and I said that the last thing we must do, is leave the water behind and.......sure enough.....the last thing we did was......you've guessed it.......leave the water behind. And if that wasn't enough, we were already 20
Talkeetna 2
The fast flowing Big Susitna river. miles up the road when we realised, and weren't going to go back; we would simply buy more water at some point. Our road trip today would be about 230 miles, straight up Highway 3, the one and only route to Denali National Park from the South. This....and the absence of water.....would, as it turned out, prove quite important as our journey progressed!
I started the driving and swapped with Steve after about an hour and our first stop of any importance was the small town of Talkeetna, a 30 mile detour off Highway 3, but a detour well worth doing. I'm not sure what was the original purpose behind the creation of Talkeetna, but these days it is one of the railroad stops on the Denali Star route from Anchorage to Fairbanks and, as a consequence the small town is made up principally, of shops and restaurants to service the tourist market. Despite this, Talkeetna is a pretty little place and worth a visit, especially the very fast flowing Big Susitna River, formed by the confluence of 3 rivers the Talkeetna, the Susitna and the Chulitna, at Talkeetna. We had a good wander around and then stopped off
Talkeetna 3
....another cute shop. for a coffee and all shared Steve's yummy, homemade rhubarb crumble and ice cream!
We then headed back to Highway 3, to resume our journey north and we hadn't been going long (in fact, we had reached mile post 112, roughly the half way point), when firstly, a police vehicle came screaming by us and then, the traffic ground to a halt. I say traffic, but the truth is, the roads aren't busy at all, but somehow we were in a traffic jam! More emergency vehicles flew past, including police, ambulance, a recovery vehicle and a water carrier(!!!) and it was clear that something serious had happened and, as it turned out, this was only about a dozen vehicles in front of us! It wasn't clear what had happened, but a SUV pulling a caravan was a crumpled mess in a ditch on the wrong side of the road at least 3 other vehicles were badly damaged and spread across the road.
We were stopped for a good 90 minutes, in beautiful sunny weather (and now, pretty warm) and were initially warned that we could be stuck for 2-3 hours, still (I am ashamed to report) without water
Talkeetna 4
Steve manages to find a chair colour that matches his shirt! and with no choice but to stay where we were, because there was no other route to Denali. But, a bit like Sunday on the broken plane, we were thankful to be unhurt and, of course, very sorry for those injured in the accident, or even worse.
After getting moving again our next stop was the Denali South Viewpoint at mile post 135, a stop which, not only promises great views, but also has the all important restroom facilities! As it happens, Steve was driving at this point and despite requests to pull over, we flew past with Steve complaining about late requests to stop and there being a stream of traffic behind us! After a lot of cajoling, Steve found a place to turn around and we were soon pulling in to the viewpoint carpark. And we were so glad we did (even Steve, I think).
It is a fact, that with Mount Denali (formerly called Mount McKinlay and the tallest mountain in North America at over 20,000 feet) regularly shrouded in cloud by virtue of its own micro climate, only about 20-30% of visitors each year, get to see the peak. But there it was, in
Talkeetna 5
The Denali Star passing through. amongst the other high peaks of the Alaska Mountain Range and a fair distance away, but there nevertheless! The view was fabulous and if you do get to go, don't forget to go to the second viewpoint a little way up the hill, where the views are even better!
By now, time was marching on and our original estimated arrival time of 1pm, was looking like nearer 6pm, so we decided that we needed to pick up the pace and although we did pull up for a few more photo opportunities, we more or less continued on to our accommodation for the next two nights, the Denali Crow's Nest Cabins. Although, this was quite a long drive (particularly at a maximum speed limit of 65mph), it is a beautiful route, through some majestic scenery, which just got better and better. We had originally considered taking the Denali Star train up from Anchorage and then a coach back, but firstly the Gold Star service (which I feel is a must) is quite expensive and secondly, we were struggling to make the dates work in our itinerary. But in any event driving did give us much greater flexibility to stop when
Talkeetna 6
Yet another cute shop! we wanted to.
The accommodation and other facilities at Denali are spread across a few miles, either side of Denali Park Road, the entrance to the National Park and the Crow's Nest Cabins were located just on the north side of the entrance. As the name implies, this place is made up of a series of log cabins over three or four levels going up a hill and they are best described as 'very rustic indeed'. A great location, a good bed, a decent shower and more power points and better wifi than at most other places we have stayed so far. However, this is definitely not luxury living (no fridge or drinking glasses, for instance and a room that is on a permanent slope, which is a bit weird when you're sitting on the loo!), although it arguably costs a 'luxury price' of almost £250 per cabin, per night! The thing is though, it seems that due to the Park's remote location and relative scarcity of options, the properties are pretty much able charge what they want......and they certainly do!
It was at this point that we hit our second '
snag' of the day (after the traffic
The Denali Viewpoint South 1
The Famous Five with the Denali range in the distant background. hold up on Highway 3 being the first!), with poor old Steve and Lily having a problem with their room. When Steve booked this particular accommodation for us all, he requested a room for 3 adults for him, Lily and Sarah. However, their cabin was exactly the same as ours (namely quite bijou!) and it seems that the owners were assuming that the 3 adults would be sleeping in the one bed! After pointing out the error at reception, the best they could offer (with the property 'full'), was a separate camp bed to put in the room, for which there was barely room, but clearly there was no other option. Steve is still waiting to come to a suitable financial resolution on this one!
While the Forbes waited for their camp bed to arrive, Mandy and I decided to pop to a shop to try and get some mixers for the gin and vodka that we picked up in Vancouver airport. It was only a relatively short distance to the shop, but we opted to drive rather than carry several bottles back up a steep, gravel road. And there we hit the third
'snag' of the day! We
Denali Viewpoint South 2
The cracking view over the Big Susitna river..... got the mixers ok, but as we were leaving, some chap chose not to look and instead reversed into us, crushing the front bumper of our vehicle, on the passenger side.
We just couldn't believe it, especially after Mandy had found a coin on the floor this morning and went through her usual, 'see a penny, pick it up, all day long, you'll have good luck' routine - complete baloney that is, clearly! The other driver was very apologetic and happily exchanged details, so we could get on our way and with our car perfectly driveable, there was no real harm done, BUT......what have we done to deserve this run of misfortune?! We got back to the cabins and told Steve and Lily who, like us, simply couldn't believe it!
We needed food and alcohol and strolled down to the Overlook Grill (part of the accommodation) and had a really good meal, with some lovely, locally brewed beers, which helped us unwind a bit after a day of real mixed emotions! But we didn't have the energy to give the mixers a bashing and with a very early start tomorrow, we decided to fall into bed and write
the day off (or, at least, parts of it) to experience. Mandy decided by this point that the good luck penny had definitely turned into a bad penny and threw it out!!
Day 2 in Denali and our main reason for coming up here, our visit to Denali National Park, almost certainly the most remote NP in all of the USA and home to Mount Denali, as I said earlier, the tallest peak in North America. The NP is a massive 6 million acre wilderness and access is by one road, starting literally just down Highway 3 from our accommodation and running for 92 miles through the Park to a former gold rush settlement called Kanisha. But that only tells half the story; the road is only tarmaced for the first 15 miles and is gravel covered thereafter, with permit vehicles, principally the park-run transit buses and private tour buses, being the only vehicles allowed to proceed past the 15 mile marker. The reason being, that the terrain after mile post 15, is simply too tough for private cars and also, it allows the Park to accommodate its' half a million visitors a year, in a far more environmentally
Restroom stop
Surely, one of the best located petrol stations in the world! sustainable way.
When I first checked this out some months ago, my inclination was to go for a private tour bus experience, but the more I looked into the reviews online, the better value the Transit buses seemed to be. The main difference between the two options is that the private buses are fully narrated and are able to stop at pretty much any point during the journey for photo opportunities and the like, whereas the transit buses are essentially hop-on/hop-off shuttles, which do not 'formally' offer the narration and stopping opportunities. However, the reviews suggested that, depending on the driver, the transit buses are as good as the private ones AND are a THIRD of the price, so we decided to book that option online.
We went for the Wonder Lake Experience, which would take us 85 miles into Denali (the last 7 miles didn't really seem to offer much more) and as a day trip, would last at least 11 hours(!) and more if we elected to take some of the hiking opportunities available at various points! This meant another early start and with the bus scheduled to leave at 7.15, we needed to be there
Highway 3 views 1
Just one of the spectacular views on the way....... by 6.45, but with the Bus Depot located one mile into the Park, it was only a five minute drive from us. We grabbed some breakfast from the 'mixer shop', being extra careful as we drove out (!), plus plenty of food and water for the day - whilst there are a number of 'rest room' stops in the Park, there is only one place where water bottles can be refilled and ABSOLUTELY NO opportunities to buy food anywhere. It is also important to have lots of clothing options (layers are best), because the weather can change in an instant, good footwear and bug repellant.
After checking in at the Bus Depot, we stood in line for our bus, which duly arrived at about ten past seven and as soon as I saw the driver, I knew we would be OK. Wayne must have been in his early seventies, had a kindly face and had been driving these buses for the last 11 years and..........he was a chatterbox! The buses are fairly old and basic, but pretty comfortable as it turns out; they also run on propane which is apparently better for the environment than diesel, but means that
Highway 3 views 2
......and another! the engine is less powerful and the bus trolls along at around 25 mph, which is the speed limit in most of the park anyway and about as fast as the road conditions will allow.
It's probably fair to say that 11 hours on a bus, is likely to be most people's version of hell, but you would be very, very wrong. After giving us a safety briefing (including what to do and not do, if attacked by a Grizzly or a Black Bear - basically, don't run from a Grizzly and try to play dead, but run like hell from a Black Bear or you will be dead!!), Wayne started our journey and was narrating on his head mike from the word go and he was excellent. And, as he explained, if we saw any wildlife we should just yell 'stop' and he would do his level best to do so, which he did.
You'll be relieved to know, that I don't intend to describe all 11 hours of the experience in this post, but safe to say that it was an absolutely amazing trip and well worth the $60 cost per person. Some of the highlights
The Denali Crow's Nest Cabins 1
The outside of our 'little' shack...... included:
* The weather was perfect when we started, with clear blue skies and although it was a lot cloudier for the return journey back from Wonder Lake, we were very, very lucky AND.........managed to see Mount Denali free of clouds, in the morning, at least;
* We were just as lucky on the animal front, seeing a lot of Grizzlies with Cubs at different times, a number of Caribou, several Dall Sheep, a few Moose, some Ptarmigan birds (the State bird of Alaska), a Gyrfalcon (the largest bird of the Falcon family), numerous Arctic Hares and lots of other smaller species of this, that and the other. Whilst we were allowed to open some slide down windows to get the best shot of the wildlife, we were not permitted to interact with them in any way, by getting out of the bus or even hanging anything out of the windows; the whole approach is to ensure that the wildlife ignores the general public as much as humanly possible. Talking about the slide down windows, they were easy enough to slide down, but required a real knack to push them back up.......a knack that Steve really struggled with,
The Denali Crow's Nest Cabins 2
......and the inside. Nice bed, but pretty cosy! much to the amusement of the rest of the bus;
* We had the choice of getting off the bus at any point to explore if we wished and then wave down the next bus that came along, although you were taking a chance that there would be space available, especially for five people. As a result, we decided to stay on board (as did most passengers), especially as Wayne was so good;
* I'm not sure what to say about the scenery because, in reality, there are no words good enough to describe it. Amazing, stunningly beautiful, majestic, incredible are all words that simply seem too trite to describe one of the natural wonders of the world! We absolutely loved it and whilst I have included lots of pictures in this post, none of them really do it justice;
* The road itself was interesting, to say the least. The first 15 miles were straightforward enough but once we got on to the gravel, the road got narrower and narrower and very soon, was reduced to a singe track, with the odd passing point. That was all very well, but at some points the road was
The Denali Crow's Nest Cabins 3
And a taster of the view from our cabin. passing through mountains with a sheer drop on one side, bad enough in itself, but pretty scary to say the least, when another bus had to pass by. Wayne also explained that some sections of the road are constructed on permafrost (frozen soil), which is creating a problem with erosion when the soil melts in summer. In fact, at what is probably the scariest section of the road, Wayne calmly explained that this is a permafrost area and looking some 20 metres below, he pointed out what used to be the road, before it collapsed last year! Very reassuring just as we were about to travel across this section;
* There were rest room stops every 90 minutes or so and usually in extremely picturesque spots. Most of these stops were for 10 minutes, but there were also a couple of 30 minute breaks;
After a truly amazing day, we got back to the Bus Depot at 6.15, said our thank you's to Wayne (with a tip, which I don't think he was expecting) and made the short drive back to the Crow's Nest, tired but completely ecstatic after a day to remember.
Now everyone, it's time
Denali National Park 1
Our bus for the next 11 hours and the Mighty Wayne on the right! for the quiz question and many thanks to all those who answered the last question and the answer was, of course, Mount Robson. And as for today:
Wayne kept referring throughout the trip to the 'Lower 48', what did he mean and why?
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Marie Blakeley
non-member comment
Another very enjoyable read. Envious of all the wildlife you managed to see but not so envious of your numerous pitfalls.