Denali National Park: The Great One (Was Hiding)

Yesterday we put Fairbanks in our rear view mirror and headed south to Denali National Park. Over 6,000,000 acres of pristine wilderness. Believe it or not, in Alaska 6M acres is only big enough to make Denali National Park the third largest national park. Wrangell St Elias National Park is the largest and Gates of The Arctic National park is number two. In case you didn't know, all three are located here in Alaska. Wow - is Alaska big or what?

Mt McKinley is the official name of the tallest peak in North America; the original Indian name was and is Denali which translates to "The Great One". Most Alaskans and most visitors think the mountain should be changed back to it's original name: Denali. Almost everyone agrees this makes sense -- everyone that is except for some yahoo congressman from Ohio -- the home state of William McKinley. Seems reasonable to me to call the mountain by the name it has been called for generations, especially since McKinley never even visited Alaska yet alone spend time at Denali.

Regardless of the Ohio congressman's wishes, almost everyone refers to the mountain as Denali.

The drive from Fairbanks to Denali was very scenic. It's funny - coming into Fairbanks from the east is not particularly scenic - mostly muskeg and scrub forests. Come into Fairbanks from the south and you get a completely different & scenic view.

However, no one ever said Fairbanks was selected for it's beauty. Actually it wasn't selected at all. A riverboat captain was hired by a businessman to transport his family and $20K worth of goods to the goldfields. The boat developed some sort of problem with the boat (stories differ: sandbar? mechanical?). Whatever the cause, apparently the captain unceremoniously booted the passengers and supplies off the boot onto the banks of the Chena river, turned around and left them there to make it on their own.

It was the end of the season and before the businessman could arrange transportation to the original location for the following season, gold was discovered a few miles from their location on the banks of the Chena. Deciding that one gold field was as good as another, the businessman sent word out to the lower 48 about the "huge" gold strike and opened his store on the ground that eventually came to be known as Fairbanks. Did very well from what I understand.

We arrived at the Denali RV Park located about 8 eight miles from the Denali park entrance in the early afternoon, set up camp and then went exploring. Bus trips into Denali vary in length from 3 to 12 hours, depending on your desired viewing points, your budget, and your back muscles. We purchased tickets for the 8-9 hour trip into the park.

This morning we set off for our Denali park adventure on a school bus. The Denali Park road goes about 90 miles into the heart of the national park; only the first 15 miles or so is paved, the rest is gravel. Too keep Denali in a state of pristine wilderness the park does not allow private vehicles into the park; everyone must take the bus.

The goal is to keep Denali from becoming what Yellowstone has become: one large congested traffic jam where the wildlife is constantly interacting with park visitors.

Despite having misgivings about spending 8-9 hours on a school bus, the system actually works pretty well. The buses run every half hour or so starting at 6 am. They stop at rest stops about every hour or so. And you can get off & hike or spend more time enjoying the sights and sounds at any point. Then you simply flag down another bus, show them your ticket to ride and you are on your way.

The park is absolutely amazing. Our trip started with picture perfect weather: warm sunny temperatures and beautiful blue skies. Our driver told us the chances of seeing Denali today were 'pretty good' however it was not to be.

Did you know that Denali is so big it creates its own weather, and that weather is usually not good? The mountain is covered by clouds more often than not. In fact the average number of days the mountain is visible in June is 4 days, in July the average is 1 day, in August the average is 3 days, and in September the average is 5 days. I kid you not! In fact your odds of seeing Denali actually increase as it gets colder -- go figure.

Despite not seeing "The Great One" in its entirety (we saw approximately the lower third of the mountain), the trip into the park is absolutely worth it. Spectacular beauty is around every bend with lots of wildlife thrown in to make it even more interesting.

We saw a grizzly sow and her two cubs, lots of caribou, bald eagles, ravens, ground squirrels, mountain sheep, and more snowshoe hares than I thought could possibly exist in one place.

We did not see any moose, which is unusual, nor did we see any lynx or wolves. Still it was an incredible day. It's hard to describe just how big and how remote this place is. Just this one park is the size of Connecticut. Truly an amazing place.

Tonight we went to a dinner and a show at a 1930's style Alaska Roadhouse with a family style Salmon & Ribs Bake meal. One of those places where the waiters/waitresses become actors/actresses and put on a show. These folks did a great job and we had a blast.

One thing you see over and over again here in Alaska. People are originally drawn here seeking to make their fortune and, despite the hardships and difficulty of living here, they end up falling in love with Alaska. Most folks you talk to tell you they found their 'fortune', just not the one they were originally seeking. Most folks who live here will tell you Alaska is all the fortune they need.

See Ya!