The road in is very nice graded dirt. We picked a campsite and set up then had lunch. Lou made open face chicken sandwiches and Dawn made a fruit salad. We relaxed much of the afternoon. Lou and I took a walk out by the river and wandered back to camp. We visited with a couple from Arizona that were using spotting scopes to watch a bunch of Dall sheep on a nearby hill. They gave us some good pointers on what they had seen and we advised them about where we had been and they were going. While talking with them a ranger came by and invited us to a campfire talk on grisly bears. We had about 20 minutes until the talk. We hurried back to camp and Lou was serving dinner five minutes later. Pasta with salsa and cheese with hot dog pieces. We finished dinner and were on time for the talk. It's always good to have leftovers (noodles) to press in to service with the microwave oven for a quick meal. It's just as easy to cook too meals at once to save time and resources. This is our first night of a six night stay here. The Teklanika campground in Denali National Park is about 29 miles in on the parks road. It's 15 miles past the end of the public driving access. Once we moved the RV in to the campground we had to stay there. No driving in and out. Only shuttle buses are allowed on the park road past mile 15. We couldn't even take the towed Jeep in. It was left at the overnight parking at the Visitor Center. Hopefully we're stocked with all we will need. We, of course, don't have any cell phone signal at our campsite so blog posts were delayed while we were in the park.
(GPS:63.669902.-149.58177)
The river behind or campsite at Teklanika campground. There were lots of trails wandering around camp. Generally there are few official trails in Denali National park. Hikers take the road, walk river beds or chose a path over the tundra.
Tuesday: (08/02) Granola and bananas for breakfast. We headed out to the shuttle bus stop to catch our 855 bus to Kantishna, the end of the 92 mile park road. Almost immediately we saw a couple of grisly bears and during the day we saw 7 grisly bears and 4 cubs, a lynx, a wolf, many caribou, 2 Dall sheep, 5 moose, 1 hare, 1 vole and many red squirrels. By the way, some animals may actually be counted twice, once going and once returning. A sighting is a sighting and one animal looks like another. We had lunch, Olive loaf sandwiches and apples, at Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66 of the park road. From there one should get good view of the West side of Mt McKinley but the weather didn't cooperate. It was cloudy all day and we didn't get a glimpse of the mountain. We probably wont get a good view the rest of our stay either because the forecast is the same through Saturday when we leave. It matters not. The views were good and we were fortunate to get a look at lots of animals. We continued out the park road on the shuttle to the end of the road at Kantishna, the farthest a road goes West on the continent. Fortunately the road looks different and we saw more animals on the return trip. The total trip for us from and back to our campground was 124 miles and a little over ten hours in the bus. We returned home a little after 7pm. Hamburger patties with mashed potatoes and a bean salad for dinner. We took quite a few pictures so some should appear in the blog soon.
Wednesday: (08/03) We slept in this morning. The sky was half clear and almost sunny when we got up. Pancakes and sausage for breakfast. I started some pork chops with potatoes and sauerkraut in the slow cooker (powerless slow cooker) About 11am we caught a shuttle bus up to the overlook about a mile past our camp. We got to see a couple of grisly bears there but the clouds had returned and the wind was blowing so hard we just walked back to camp. Going further out seemed like it might not be rewarding. Maybe tomorrow when we're rested up. Lunch was salmon and noodles. We relaxed at home all day looking at pictures from yesterday's bus ride. We took a LOT of pictures.
For dinner we had the slow cooked pork chops, sauerkraut and potatoes.
Thursday: (08/04) Granola and a fresh peach for breakfast. I was off early on a shuttle to Eielson Visitor Center. On the way out we were treated to a couple of clear views on Mt McKinley. It was mostly clear when we arrived at Eielson. I hiked up the Alpine Trail where the wind was surely blowing over 80 mph. I also hiked the Tundra trail below Eielson and down to the river on a rather unimproved trail. Along the way out and back we saw 3 wolves, more that a dozen Dall sheep, and 11 grisly bears including 4 cubs. On the way out I saw a wolf dining on a caribou carcass in the river. By the time I returned a grisly bear had claimed the carcass. By the time I left Eielson clouds had completely obscured the mountain. While I was waiting for my bus to return to camp, Lou and Dawn arrived on a bus. Their seats were assured since they rode it out. I was waiting for a standby seat since I had taken the hikes. So I got a seat on a bus before they returned. On the return trip we saw a nice rainbow. There might be hope for the weather? Lou and Dawn's experience on the bus out today was different than mine. Of course I got to see the mountain today, they didn't. A couple of hours can make a big difference. They also caught an unlucky bus. A terrible grouchy bus driver caused them to decide to wait at the Toklat River Rest Stop for another bus. The next driver, like all our other drivers was good at pointing out the sights and making the trip enjoyable. Lunch was trail snacks. For dinner Lou fixed all the leftover, leftovers. I had a pancake with sausage gravy, some pasta, and chicken.
Friday: (08/05) Lou fixed hash browned potatoes with ham and eggs for breakfast. It was raining and foggy but we decided to ride a bus anyway. We hurried out to catch the bus to Eielson. We had some good animal sighting but of course no view of the mountain. Two wolves, two foxes, several caribou, and nine grisly bears with four cubs. On the way out we had quite a bit of rain and snow. Eielson is up above 3000 feet while our campground is down at about 780 feet. Fortunately we only have been getting rain at camp. When we went out a tan grisly bear was eating the caribou carcass, on the return the shift had changed and a black grisly bear was eating with a wolf hanging around. It would have been interesting to see the shift change since it likely wasn't voluntary. On the way out we saw a fox sleeping about 25 feet off the road on a hill. On the way back it was hunting near the same spot. All in all another nice ride. Lou had fixed quesadillas for lunch which we ate on the bus.
For dinner we had leftover pork sauerkraut and potatoes. Lou baked brownies in the evening.
Saturday: (08/06) Our last day here at Teklanika Campground. We had cereal for breakfast and headed out to catch the shuttle. The first bus by went out to Kantishna so that was our destination again. We saw nine grisly bears, thirty-five Dall sheep, three wolves, a porcupine, and two willow ptarmigans (basically a chicken). Lunch was PBJ sandwiches with jerky and other trail snacks on the bus. Nice mostly clear day so we almost had a clear view of Mt McKinley today. Just a slightly hazy peak. Yesterdays snow made all the mountains much different than before. By our afternoon return, much of the low altitude snow had disappeared. Dinner was leftover salmon pasta and/or pork and sauerkraut. Lou and Dawn went over to the evening campfire talk.
Some photos from our visit to Denali.
A few nice flowers were seen.
More flowers at Denali.
Our first day views were not great as in no views of the mountains. Some caribou were seen.
A couple of views of Mt McKinley on our first visit to Eielson Visitor Center. Since we couldn't see the real mountain the model and a quilt hanging on the wall had to satisfy our viewing needs.
First Day view of Mt McKinley on left. Another view of the mountains near the Eielson Visitor Center.
Much of our viewing was from the bus along the park road. Notice the nice view of Mt McKinley over Reflection Lake on the right above.
Soap berries were in abundance and are a favorite food of grisly bears.
A map of the park roads on the left above.
The weather forecast for our first trip into the park and our last trip.
On the second trip I went alone and got a clear view of the mountain for a little while. It's ever changing. The left view above is at stoney point, just past the Toklat River crossing on the road near the summit. The view on the right is at Eielson Visitor Center. Clouds were already moving in.
View of Eielson Visitor Center and Mt McKinley from the top of the Alpine Trail.
The snow kind of ruined some of the views on our third trip.
The view of Mt McKinley over Reflection Lake on our last trip.
A wolf walked by the bus along the road.
The fox above was sleeping just above the road on our trip out and was hunting by the road on our way back on the shuttle.
A grisly bear eating soap berries. A momma grisly bear and her two cubs above right.
A bear cub taking a good look at something. On the right two young bears are considering interrupting the big grisley bear eating the caribou carcass on the right of the picture.
A porcupine running up the side of a hill from the bus. Lots of caribou were seen.
No comments:
Post a Comment