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Published: August 16th 2016
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10 Aug 2016: Today we bid farewell to Fairbanks and headed 120 miles South to Denali National Park. There we settled into our reserved campsite which is both spacious and level. We will be here four days.
We signed up for a Natural History and a Tundra Wilderness tour and went into "town" for a pizza at Lynx Creek. It appears we are confining our travels to tour buses with Jeanne's foot and my knees. But, we do what we can and thank the Lord for this opportunity to learn about the wonderful world He formed for us and the lives, past and present, led by our brothers and sisters in this rugged, beautiful land.
It seems the legal name for this awe inspiring mountain, which can only be seen about 30% of the time, is still Mt. Mc Kinley. The Koyukon (Athabascan) people called it "Deenaalee", the tall one. It prompts me to reflect on the conceit and lack of respect shown by the first settlers who disregard the names of features and plaster them with inappropriate names as though they had not previously existed before their "discovery". On the other hand, I am well aware of the
distortions caused by judging actions of the past by standards of the present. Then again, there are truths and standards that are immutable. Righteousness is constant. Round and round. I think of this often when contemplating history.
11 Aug 2016: Today we took an all-day bus tour of a little of the Denali backcountry. We left at 1330 and returned at 2130. About 15 miles out, someone shouted out there was a Caribou traveling down a stream bed. Our driver stopped and backed up...right into a Subaru that was close behind us. After an hour's delay and a new driver (I hope the original driver didn't get in trouble) we resumed our trip. Clouds shrouded Mt. Denali all day but we did see much of the Alaska Range, a couple of glaciers, several glacier-fed streams and a quite a few Caribou. We also saw a couple of herds of Dalla Sheep, two Grizzly bears, and a Moose with calf, although they were so far away they appeared as black dots on the tundra. The bus had a camera connected to monitors inside that had better magnification than my 300 mm telephoto lens so the little black bl ok BS
appeared as big black blobs. The view of the bear pair was better, the Dallas Sheep you could make out and the Caribou were closest to the road. The bus had a wheelchair lift for Jeanne and she seemed to enjoy the trip.
The views of the alpine surroundings were vast. We went from Taiga to Tundra and back. We saw some kettle ponds. Refer to Yellowstone blogs. Also, the gravelly ribbon streams were interesting to see. It was a good trip. At one point you could see where a hlacier once was. Our guide was very knowledgeable and kept us alert with little quizzes about what we were seeing. We brought snacks and some were included with the tour so we were amply fed. We stopped numerous times on the way out at rest stops. One such stop had a visitors center where you could handle Caribou and Moose antlers.
I learned that the farther North one travels, the lower the tree line becomes. Here the tree line occurred at about 3000 - 3500 ft. It. Was a very educational trip.
12 Aug 2016: Today we took another tour. This one was billed as the Tundra
Wilderness tour. It was shorter than. Yesterday's and was somewhat redundant but it did give us an opportunity to watch for more animals. We had a stop at a cabin the Rangers use on their winter patrols (anywhere from a week to a mont). They travel by dogsled and check for poachers and conditions in general. Denali is the only national park that employs sled dogs. They are bred for strength, not speed as their purpose is to carry the supplies needed for the patrols. Cabins have been constructed every 15 miles or so.
We were also given a presentation by a young woman by the name of Jasmine Jones who is a Koyukon Athabascan. One thing she taught us was that if you extend your thumb and index finger and hold your hand upside down you have a representation of the State of Alaska. The heel of the hand is populated by the Unupiaq, down the knuckles live the Yupik, along the index fingr are the Aleuts and the the thumb denotes the area occupied by the Tlingit. Inland, the Athabascan consist of five groups; the Koyukon, Tanana, Ahtna, Dena' ina and Upper Kaskokwim. There are 23 dialects
of Athabascan spoken. Their values include respect for the land, all living things and each other, especially the elders.
We returned just before 2000. The end of another day in Alaska. I should point out that even though we are 100 miles south of Fairbanks it is darker at night than it was up there. I also need to mention that we have been unable to see Denali because it has been obscured by clouds.
13 Aug 2016: Today we decided to take a flight around Mt. Denali because this was a real sunny day but you still couldn't see the mountain due to clouds. I have heard some say the mountain carries it's own weather with it. Anyway, this peak is the singular feature of the Park and we wanted to see it while we'Re here.
We used Denali Air for our carrier. They use an eight passenger twin engine aircraft. They also offer pick up service. The gravel airstrip is about 10 miles south of town. After check in and weigh in
We received a briefing by our pilot and we were off on our 65 minute flight. We flew over the Nenana river as
well as many of the River's crossed by bus a few days ago, saw numerous glaciers and snow capped mountains. Then, in front of us loomed Mt Denali itself. It was huge and soared high over our heads as our altitude was below the peak. Cloud covered even at this range, it was massive. We flew across its South face and East face. Denali is part of the Alaska range, a continuation of the Canadian Rockies. Flying in the turbulence of the mountain air currents was a little stressful at first but my apprehension subsided as the flight continued. It was a thrilling experience in addition to the many we've already had on this trip. None of the photographs come near to capturing the grandeur of Denali and it's accompanying peaks and glaciers.
14 Aug 2016: This is our last day at Denali National Park. We visited the place where they breed and train sled dogs for work in the winter. There was a short demonstration of a team pulling a 200 pound "sled". When it came time to assemble the team, all the dogs got excited, barking and jumping to be selected. The dogs love to work pulling
sled and park ranger. Each animal has a roofed log shelter. They are chained to a post and the chain is long enough that they can freely enter the shelter. In the winter when they are out on patrol with their ranger, they sleep outside. The ranger sleeps inside. These dogs have very thick fur and do all right in below freezing temperatures. The dogs are retired after serving nine years. Let's see, nine people years is...uh...63 dog years. They are then given to an active family in a northern clime to live out their remaining years.
We then visited the bookstore, met the Alaska Railroad train up from Anchorage (everybody loves a train), and then visited the Science Center only to learn it closed at 1630. We then decided to take one final drive up the Park Road as far as the Savage River-as far as one can go by car-in hopes of spotting a Moose or other wildlifewe've either not seen or only seen at a great distance. What do you know, we found a Moose calf browsing on some Willow leaves right by the roadside. It's mother was busily feeding further back from the road in
dense forest. As we returned from the Savage River, we spotted a Caribou off in the distance. It was a good idea to take one more trip up the road.
Tomorrow we drive to the town of Soldotna, on the Kenai Peninsula, where we will spend 10-11 days. This will be our base of operations while we explore the peninsula.
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Todd
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Denali
I'm so glad you got to see that massive mountain. How do people ever climb it? When is Jeanne's foot going to heal? Mom really enjoys your blog entries. Miss you guys but glad you're having so much fun!