6/28/2009 The Quinn's Do Denali

In anticipation of the great day we have planned I was up before the alarm went off. It was either that or the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof that roused me from my sleep. No, it couldn't be rain, the weatherman said sunshine today. The weatherman blew it again, it was drizzle I was hearing. Stupid weatherman. In no time at all I was ready to go. Lunches packed, cooler filled with liquid refreshment, crock pot filled with beef and veggies to cook all day, let's get this show on the road.

We were told yesterday that the line would start forming at 8:45 for the 9 a.m. departure of our shuttle bus. We didn't want to take any chances of being late so we gave ourselves 25 minutes to make the 8 mile drive to the park. Mark this one up to another park we didn't have to pay an entrance fee for because of our park passes.

Needless to say, we were the first ones in line since we had given ourselves plenty of time to get there. the weather even started cooperating and the day became just cloudy.

Just minutes after we arrived 8 people, not of this country, got in line behind us. Of course we didn't understand anything they were talking about but it was clear they understood English.... when it benefited them.

We had a bus full and a second bus was even added for our time slot.

Though I'm not positive about this I do believe some that were slated for our bus were transferred to the second one. Here's why. When the group, not of this country, got on the bus right behind Bob and I they each took a window seat. None of them sat together. They all wanted window seats for photo opportunities and they all had very impressive cameras with the largest lenses....oh I wanted one of those lenses bad! So this practice really threw an fly in the ointment for seating. Finally, everyone had a seat and it was time to go.

We were setting off on our 8 hour, 132 mile roundtrip exploration of Denali. Denali. I like saying that word. Denali. Sounds exotic doesn't it?

Our ultimate destination was the Eielson Visitor Center. This Eielson person must really have been impressive because if you remember we just left the Eielson Air Force Base. I don't think they just pick a name out of the phone book and start naming important stuff after that person. Know what I mean? I'm sure when we get there we'll find out who this person is/was.

Our bus driver, Marilyn, was just the nicest person. Such a sweet lady. After going over all the safety precautions of the bus and such, she explained that since she had to keep her eyes on the road that it would be up to us to keep an eye out for wildlife and that we were to yell STOP if we saw anything. In turn, she would stop the bus so that we could get pictures and just observe. Ok, with all these eyes we are sure to see anything that moves. Yep, that was the plan. We weren't going to miss anything. No siree, we've got eyes looking everywhere. Bob and I were helping look out the right side of the bus as was the couple in front of us, the couple in back of us and there were several others we knew were keeping a watchful eye out on our side. Now the left side, or driver's side of the bus, was another matter. The eight WINDOW seats taken by the group not of this country, well nothing was seen out of those windows because the seat occupants were all sound asleep. Every one of them. The group, not of this country, must have been suffering from jet lag or they partied really hard last night. They could not keep their eyes open. In addition, a father and his ten year old daughter were sitting right across the aisle from us and the girl had the window seat. Do you think she was interested in looking for wildlife? No way, she had her I-Phone with her and played games the whole 8 hours we were on the road. So much for that set of eyes. And of course the open fields were on their side! Our side of the road was heavy brush and rock. For the first three hours our wildlife sightings consisted of five, count em' five snow shoe bunnies. No massive moose, no sly foxes, no large antlered caribou or fierce looking wolves. Bunnies! We got freakin' bunnies!

We stopped for a potty break and I got this scenery shot.

The road we are traveling is paved, two lanes (for now, it will later go down to one lane and dirt or in today's case, mud) and 90 miles long. It is the ONLY road in Denali. There is no other in all of the six million acres of this park. Visitors can freely drive the first 15 miles and that's it. A special permit must be obtained in order to take your vehicle beyond the ranger guarded turnaround point.

There are several small tenting campgrounds in the park along this road. You are bussed in with all of your equipment and dropped off. There is one small RV park, no hookups, probably no generators allowed though I don't know that for sure, and once you park, that's it, the vehicle doesn't move again for three days. The idea behind all this is to keep the animals safe and environment a true wilderness. In fact, this is the first place in the world established as a national park to conserve wildlife. In 1917 Congress established two million acres as a National Park and it was first named Mount McKinley National Park.

Someone in the back of the bus on the driver's side yelled STOP! BEARS! You can bet everyone was awake then. We had a mama grizzly bear and her cub. Our wildlife count just jumped up by two more bear.

A little further down the road and we had fox!

It laid there for quite a while then just got up and walked away.

All along the ride, Marilyn, our bus driver, was telling us about the park, the animal's habits, what it was like here in the winter and lots more interesting information. It is not uncommon for the temperature to reach fifty below in the dead of winter.

We stopped at the Toklat Rest Stop for a bit of a longer rest stop. There was a Quonset hut type building which housed a small gift shop, some displays and a ranger to answer questions.

Outside was display of antlers that have been found in the park.

The scenery from this stop.

We were all really getting bummed out and discouraged that we weren't seeing the wildlife we had hoped to see.

Fours hours after we left the Wilderness Access Center we reached the Eielson Visitor Center, 66 miles into the interior of the Denali National Park.

The first we noticed were these antlers outside the center.

These antlers were taken off the animals that died because their antlers somehow got so intertwined during a mating fight that the two moose could not disengage and they died together. Can you imagine the struggle that took place as these two huge animals tried to get away from each other and couldn't? I could feel their frustration!

This is the view from the front of the visitor center. Wouldn't it be nice to have this view outside your office window everyday? The people who work in this visitor center do.

On he way up here we passed this cabin in a field off the roadway.

This cabin is available for artists to use. It doesn't have to be an artist that uses paint as their artistic medium, it can be any kind of material used to make art. The cabin is used for the artist to use his surroundings as inspiration. For payment, the artist must agree to donate a piece of their art to the Eielson Visitors Center. This one particular donation stood out for us. Its a quilt depicting the four seasons in Denali. (Double click to enlarge)

They had a table full of pelts from animals in the park. Bob liked this one.

Some more scenery pictures.

I have to tell you, I was so surprised to see SEAGULLS!

And even more surprised that it chased this eagle! I don't know if it had a nest of eggs or young and was afraid the eagle was going to help itself or not. (Again, double click on picture)

Now here is what most of us came here for. The spot in which to see Mount McKinley. The highest peak in the North America at 20,320 feet. There are few days when the peak is visible. Today was not one of them. Here's what we saw. Where you see all those clouds, that the peak. We've learned that there are about 10 places in which to see this mountain so hopefully we'll be near one of them on a day when its visible. I've seen postcards...it is impressive!

It was time to get back on the bus for the 4 hour trip back. We were all hoping that we see more wildlife on the way back than we saw on the way in,

I'm happy to report that the wildlife was there for our viewing! First up was caribou and they were playing. Here they are running and chasing each other.

We watched this group run from a green field to a snowy area close by. They looked like they were just having the best time chasing each other.

A little later we found another small herd of caribou hanging around this snowy area. Marilyn explained to us why they favor the snow. In a word....flies. The flies like to make a home, if you will, in the nose of a caribou and lay its eggs. Because the nose is moist and warm its the perfect environment. The caribou know that the flies don't like the cold temps in the snow areas so therefore hang out there so that their noses don't become fly incubators. You know, you just never know what you're going to learn when you read Quinn's Awesome Journey.

Further down the road we came upon a wolf that was in the middle of a mid-day snack.

Here is a picture of an active landslide. Its still in the process of falling.

Sorry, have to subject you to yet another scenery shot.

Before I forget we also saw about 20 Dall Sheep. Now I took a picture of them but they looked like little tiny white specks on a brown mountain. We used binoculars to see them and even with those these animals were still small. So I'll add them to our wildlife count but I don't have a picture.

We were just riding along and all of sudden we heard a half dozen people yelling STOP! STOP! Two more grizzlies.

Another caribou showed itself to us.

So today we added quite a few more animals to our wildlife count.

We were very happy to get off that bus. Its been a long time since we've been on a school bus and I can guarantee you it will be a long time before we're on one again! Our very comfortable seats in our truck felt oh so good!

We got home and when we walked in the aroma of the beef stew that had been cooking all day met us at the door. Oh, what a good dinner we had!

What an absolutely great day!

Wildlife Count:

2 Black Bears

4 Moose

2 Marmots

5 Snowshoe Hare

4 Grizzly Bear

22 Caribou

20 Dall Sheep

1 Wolf

1 Red Fox

1 Bald Eagle

1 Golden Eagle

and a Dead Porcupine