Denali National Park

9/6

The day in Denali itself started early with the official “Denali Natural History Tour”. That’s the thing about being a part of these package groups—we probably would have loved to do a nice day hike, but the bus tour was part of the deal, and we needed to be ready to leave on the 4:00 train to Fairbanks anyway, so we did the tour. It really was quite interesting—our bus driver lives 6 months of the year in Alaska and 6 months outside of Palm Springs, and he really knew so much about the geology and history of the area that his tour was awesome. He not only told you the information, but told stories with humor and spoke about the area with a passion and love that really came through. The tour consisted of a really interesting film about the origin of the park and the park road, and then driving for about an hour or so into the park, stopping at viewpoints and other spots of interest. Once again, the weather was with us, and we had blue skies with some high clouds, so that we could see the mountain at some points, the rest of the range at others, and more of the exquisite foliage. 

The one thing we didn’t see much of at all was wildlife—kind of a constant theme running through this trip—not much sea life on the boat or wildlife on land. We did see one bull moose, but it was pretty far away and hard to see because it was kind of hiding in the underbrush. But everything else was magnificent. (See the antlers sticking up?)

After the tour we had about 3 hours until the train, and we had heard that the demonstration of the only working, active sled dog team and any of the National Parks was a must. So instead of taking the bus to the kennels, about 3 miles away., we walked along the trail with a view, giving us the chance to see the foliage again,  and stop as often as we wanted, and to enjoy the solitude and fresh air. The colors didn’t disappoint, and the hike was absolutely gorgeous. 

This also got us to the kennels before everyone else, so we got to pet the beautiful dogs and have a long chat with one of the rangers, a girl from Tufts who will be spending the winter patrolling the park with the dog sleds this winter. The park is huge (the size of New Hampshire) and must be patrolled in the winter, and with only 3 miles of the entrance road plowed in the winter, all the patrols are by sled dog teams. They breed their own dogs for size and strength (as well as other qualities) and use them to patrol the park. The demo was great—they harnessed 5 of the dogs and took them for a ride around the area. What raw power when those dogs were given the command to start and allowed to run free! And yet they stopped on a dime at the command. It was really awesome.

 

We decided to hike back the 2.5 miles to the depot, which was fine, except that about ½ mile away we heard the whistle signaling the incoming train and decided we’d better run the rest of the way, just in case. Everyone kept telling us the train waits for no man!  But we arrived with the train which did then wait 1/2 hour at the station, so we would have been fine had we walked. The train ride was shorter this time, only 4 hours, and was broken up by dinner down in the dining car—included in the package. I wouldn’t have believed you could get such delicious and wonderfully cooked food on a train!! A delicious salmon chowder, prime rib cooked to perfection, and “chocolate sensation” for dessert—all while rolling past more of the breathtaking scenery. We arrived in Fairbanks at around 8 and spent the evening in our very nice hotel, me catching up on work and then both of us relaxing.