WOWZERS: Mt. McKinley aka Denali!! Mon 6/6/11

Jimmy and I boarded Alaska Rail about 11:30 for McKinley Princess Lodge in Talkeetna. (This lodge is actually in Denali State Park; prior to being here, we didn't know there was a Denali State Park.)  We shared our dome car table with an affable couple named Danielle and Loren for the fantastic three-hour trip, which included a nice lunch. The day was clear, hallelujah for that, and we took a zillion pictures of blue-ice glaciers, milky rivers, rushing streams crazed with snow melt, and the extraordinary mountain scenery -- so breathtaking with new spring green in the foreground.  Everywhere we looked, snowy peaks dominated the landscape ... to flat-landers, this was incredible. Soon, "The Mountain" appeared, and it just kept getting bigger and more impressive the closer we got to Talkeetna.

What a great way to travel.  Take a hat and sunglasses!

"You are 40 miles away from the highest point in North America"

At the lodge, we were treated to a picture perfect view of snow-covered Mt. McKinley, in all its 20,320’ glory, brilliantly lit in the afternoon sunshine. Nice to have digital cameras for lots of pics, but after a while, the wonders overwhelmed me.  On average, we heard the mountain is visible only 30% of the time and, oh wow, we’re pleased to be in that 30% category! What a magnificent sight…! From this point Denali is only 40 miles away, the closest most people can get. 

After putting our things in our room (near the lodge again, hooray), we enjoyed dinner at the 20-3-20 restaurant on-site. Guess you’ll be able to figure out where the name comes from?   Most readers will know that Mt McKinley [Denali] is THE tallest mountain in North America. Denali means “the high one” in native Athabascan and the mountain is still called Denali by most Alaskans, native and non-native alike.  After finishing dinner, we wandered the grounds for a little while, and always our gaze returned to The High One.

Denali National Park! Sunday, 6/5/11

Jimmy and I hopped on the nature tour bus at 8:30 for a 17-mile trip into The Park.  After Mile 17, the road turns to gravel and is open only to Park shuttle buses.  For the entire 17 miles, we were awed by spectacular views of the snow-draped Alaska Mountain Range. Along the way, we spotted several Minnie Mooses and snowshoe hares, plus a pair of Harlequin ducks on Savage River.

At the turn around, we saw a herd of Dall sheep up on a rocky knoll.  Actually, we learned Denali Nat’l Park was created because of Dall sheep.  The bus stopped lots of times for show-and-tell; our driver/commentator was good. This was a superb way to spend a morning!  Near the turn-around we saw a sign for the Savage River trail and decided to hike it after this nature tour was finished.

Picture postcard views at every turn.

Minnie Moose, lower center.

Harlequin duck in the shallows.

(Tiny) Mountain White Avens.

Hello, Alaskan flora and fauna.

You can't see me, I'm camouflaged. (Snowshoe hare)

* * * * *

The tour bus dropped us off at the Savage River trailhead.  But, by this time, clouds were closing in. (Also, at 2780', we were higher in elevation ... tree line/snow line in these parts is 3000’ to 3500’.) We about froze to death trudging along next to the narrow, turbulent river, facing into a blasting wind with light rain pelting our faces, and even spits of sleet.  It was useless to turn around ‘cause the shuttle wouldn’t be at the trailhead for an hour. We kept on; the path was relatively flat and easy. Snow patches lingered on the rocky slopes.  

Hands in pockets to keep them warm.

At one mile, we crossed a wooden bridge and walked on the other side of the river to our start point.  The light rain stopped.  With the wind now at our backs and no more drizzle, our return hike was fairly pleasant. 

I examined sub-alpine flowers: dwarf mtn Azaleas and Dogwoods, mtn white Avens, and other unidentified blossoms.  Goofy mountain squirrels zipped around us.  This Savage River hike was quite different for us. Happily, we spied more moose and hares on our ride back to the Visitor Center, but no bears. Nor mountain lions.  Good. We ate a (marginal-tasting) pizza at Lynx Creek Pizza on-site, and retired for the nite, bone tired, worn slap out. I believe trying to stay warm makes a person tire faster.  Regardless, we had an awesome and very full day!

Tomorrow: Train to Talkeetna!

Denali, Alaska!! Saturday, June 4th, 2011

From Fairbanks, we traveled south by motor coach to Denali Princess Lodge, overlooking the Nenana River, and near the entrance to Denali Nat’l Park, a 3½ hour trip. The weather was cool/cloudy and windy (as usual).  The big question on everyone's lips was: Will we see “the mountain?”  The answer was: No.  Mt McKinley, aka, Denali. is approx 65 miles from here, and other, closer mountains stand in the way.  Even if the sky was clear, we’d not see the mountain, not today from this location.  OK, we can wait.

A wonderfully scenic ride to Denali.

Our room is very nice, tho not as spacious as our suite in Fairbanks, but it is situated close to the picturesque lodge where we’ll get our morning coffee (always a good thing).  The lodge (below) is spacious and very comfortable, as Jimmy can verify.

As we arrived Noon-ish, we had time to take the free shuttle to the 2-mile R/T Horseshoe Trail, an up/down mountain trail that crosses the RR tracks and leads to beaver ponds and the Nenana River.  At the river we encountered a family with two young boys.  The younger kid (four years?) was dressed in a Tigger suit, complete with tail – too cute! He was busy finding sticks by the water to make his own “beaver dam,” and then he’d run up on the bank to pile his sticks.  The Nenana, like most of the rivers in these parts, is icy cold glacial melt.  The little guy took off his shoes and rolled up his Tigger pants and waded in the Nenana to get the best sticks.  Pretty soon he fell into the water (near shore) and got his Tigger suit all wet.  Off it came, and this little fella emerged bare-ass naked! That didn’t deter the stick collecting.  In and out of the water he played, laughing, shrieking and running. Ah, the joys of childhood ... Jimmy and I were bundled up to stay warm!  It was great fun watching him.

We ate an excellent, sort of pricey dinner at King Salmon restaurant on-site, and strolled back to our room, tired as all get-out. Again, we closed the heavy black-out drapes and slept well.