Wednesday 31 July
We left the visitors centre at 7.15 and had the best driver, who wasn’t really meant to be a tour guide but was! The park bus system is a hop on and hop off but our bus driver was so good we decided to stay with her the whole day.
Drove past the entry and exit of the Savage Alpine hike we did the day before. Looking back at the end of our hike, we were glad we did it the way we did, as looking up at our decent, it appeared much steeper than we felt it was coming down.
The bus seats were a great deal more comfortable than we remember, but the road was much the same, fairly rough and narrow in places. Toilet breaks every hour and a half or so, time seemed to go fairly quickly with plenty to see, and always scanning for wildlife. Managed to see the ‘top 4’, Moose, Bear, Caribou, and Dall Sheep before mile 35 which was by all accounts, very good. God continued to bless us with great weather, with clouds clearing from Mt McKinley/Denali during the trip, and although a bit hazy, we got a number of unobstructed views of the mountain on our way out. We would discover later, after meeting a couple that was due to make the trip the following day, that their forecast was for rain, a forecast that indeed turned out to be accurate.
We stopped at Eielson Visitors Centre for a longer stop and had our lunch and shared it with a talkative Ground Squirrel.
In parts (through Polychrome Pass) single lane, buses going both ways, with huge drop-offs into the valley below with no barriers. In one spot the road had slumped significantly requiring considerable repairs and reconstruction. The driver told us that there were some early level discussions/investigations around a probable alternative route, bypassing the current road altogether. Some options may require the park road to be temporarily closed while alternatives were built, which would significantly reduce access to an incredibly beautiful area.
We then got to Wonder Lake which was beautiful and looked like a lake in the South Island of NZ. This is where Chris and Ross camped overnight in 1996 and the mosquitoes were so bad it sounded like it was raining on the tent but it was just the mosquitoes. Due to the high temperatures and fires, there have been minimal mosquitoes this year. Often mosquitoes are referred to Alaska’s State Bird.
Total Wildlife seen in Denali: 7 moose, 14 caribou, 7 dall sheep (including lambs), 11 bears, 1 fox, Squirrels (Bear Burrito!)
Got back to the Grizzly Bear Campground, had Thai and Mexican from food trucks at the campground and had some much needed and enjoyable showers. Chris and Tayla did some washing while sitting in the Laundry charging devices and working on the blog and business.
