Alaska with Robert & Anna, part 1: Denali

Sorry, Robert and Anna, for taking so incredibly long to blog about your visit.

Our best friends came to Alaska! They are our best friends, because they are our friends, and...well...they are the best.

In early-mid July they arrived for their first time in the wild state, Alaska. Our main adventure with them was to visit Denali National Park and Preserve, which is a 4.5 hour drive north.

If you don't know, Denali National Park is so named for it's tallest mountain also named Denali by Alaska's Natives, which in their language means, "the big one." In school, we learned about Denali as the tallest mountain in North America, only my teacher called it Mt. McKinley.

Denali National Park isn't all about the mountain, it's about wildlife and the wilderness too. Of course, we wanted to see the mountain, but there's so much else to see as well. But to see Mount McKinley, one must, after entering the park, pay to ride a bus far into the park. It's about a two-hour ride to the first spot where the mountain is visible. But there's plenty to see along the way.

For instance, check out the side of this mountain and crappy dirt road our large busses were driving on and passing each other.



We spotted this little fox guy trotting along the road. He went right past our bus like we weren't even there. Cutie.


Yogi the bear decided to show his face to us. He was the first of about four brown bear sightings during the day. This pic was taken from far away with Anna's stellar zoom lens.






According to our tour guide/bus driver, only about 30% of the visitors to the park get to see Mt. McKinley, because the mountain is so tall that it has it's own weather system in the higher altitudes that often hides the mountain. Plus, this area of the state is simply prone to cloudiness. The day we went into the park, it was grey, completely overcast and drizzly. We didn't get our hopes up to see the mountain.

However, As we drove further into the park, the clouds began to break up a little. Then a little more. Until, we came around a bed in the road and saw this...

Denali through the clouds

The mountain was peaking through the dark clouds. Almost as if Denali was creating a little elbow room, "Uh, 'xcuse me fellas, but could ya make some room?"

To give some perspective, the mountains we're driving through as well as the dark gray mountains in front of Denali in this picture are around 4,000 feet tall. Similar to the ones around Anchorage. They themselves are breathtaking and beautiful. Denali's highest peak is just over 20,000 feet tall. The effect was this: as we drove through the park, we were amazed at being surrounded by mountain views in all directions. But when Denali peaked through, suddenly these large gorgeous mountains were dwarfed. It was a cool effect. 

Our trip down the park road continued. Eyeing what parts of the mountain we could make out through the clouds, we found more wildlife as well. We spotted another bear and this elk as well. His antlers were just growing back and were still furry. 

We pressed on. 

The heavens were smiling on our group that day, because the closer we drove toward the mountain, the more the clouds gave way to blue. 

Only a few clouds around it now. 

Eventually, there she was. A crystal clear view of the biggest mountain on our continent. Only on little lone cloud hover over the summit (again, it has it's own loyal weather). Remember, the mountains at the base are about 1/4 the height of Denali and taking this picture, we are closer to those mountains than they are to Denali. 

Only one word could describe it: Massive. 

Enormous. 

Breathtaking. 

Inspiring. 

Humbling. 

Okay, that was 5 words. And I know this is the most over-used word out there, but it was amazing!

Make that 6 words. 

Getting of the bus, we walked to Reflection Pond and got several really neat pictures with the mountain reflecting off the water. 

The mountain was in view for only about two hours before it got tired and decided to cover back up. In this last picture of the four of us, you can see the clouds creeping back in front of and around Denali. 

Our timing was perfect!

Everyone we talk to who's lived here a while tells us how lucky we were and what a treat we got. One friend of mine grew up here and has been several times, but never gotten this good a view. 

Needless to say, we had fun. We were, however, worn out after the bus trip. We were on the bus for about 12 hours that day. And about two hours before the end, I was done and wanted off. It was a long last two hours.

The whole day was majestic. I'm so glad to have shard it with Robert and Anna. We miss you guys already. 

Next time: Part two, Talkeetna, Flat Top and The Coastal Trail. Can you guess what might happen? Will Anna get sick, will Robert fall off a mountain, and who's the fastest biker of us all...?