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| Breakfast in Wasilla. |
No hassles through Vancouver International onto our Air Canada flight to Anchorage, 3hrs 27mins. Once in Anchorage, and it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, we hired a Chevrolet Malibu LT and headed north to Wasilla to get ourselves on the road to Denali National Park. Diana had booked a B&B an hour north and this one was a bit different. Our host, hostess I guess, was a registered game hunting guide, as was her husband who we didn't meet. In their log house they had trophies all round the living area. Huge antlered beasts on the walls, skins of catches, birds fully mounted and two fully preserved (taxidermied) grizzly bears. Made for something to discuss while eating our scrambled egg and hash browns.....US style.
Our drive from Wasilla to Denali took about four hours but we added to that as we had several stops for photos and caches. Blair was a patient and safe driver and it was good to chauffeured where the people drive on the wrong side of the road, even if it is the right side! The scenery was magnificent and although the day was clear we unfortunately didn't get a look at Mount McKinley, the highest mountain in North America at 6,168metres. Mount Cook is 3,724metres so McKinley is a considerable challenge to those crazy guys that like climbing up things. Not for us, we were very happy driving on well built roads through scenery that isn't seen everywhere. We felt very fortunate to be in Alaska. We called past the Denali National Park headquarters to see what our options could be for visiting the Park tomorrow. There were numerous recommendations and we left excited about what we might be doing the next morning.
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| Caribou |
We were dressed and breakfasted before the sparrows had passed wind and driving to meet our shuttlebus (there are no private vehicles past the 15 mile mark) as the sun indicated a clear sky was on its way. In the bus with 20 other excited people from around the globe we started up the 80 mile journey to the end of the road in Denali. A few miles out from the headquarters and the bus is all anchors on as we see two bull moose a couple of hundred yards away. Some of the cameras made our reasonably impressive Olympus look rather ordinary. We took as many photos as anyone but not sure we could zoom in to the same extent as some others. Around every corner we were hoping to get a view of Mount McKinley, a mountain that is visible only 40 days of the year. Each turn it seemed that there was just a wisp of cloud but the next view point looked promising. Unfortunately, as we got further in the cloud became more persistent and our hopes of seeing the "the Big One" diminished.
We did see more of the critters though. We saw grizzly bears not too far from the bus, Bighorn sheep, white as snow a long way away and caribou, - reindeer to Santa! The animals are never hunted and they take little notice of the incessant shutters clicking away as everyone tries to get the best shot. Generally the aim is to see the 'big five' in the park.....we saw 4 of the 5 but never quite got a National Geographic shot....maybe next time? We pushed on past mile 50 and on to Wonder Lake at mile 80, our turning point. That journey took us 6 hours. As we reached mile 80 the increasing cloud had turned to 100% cover and the skiff of snow had turned to serious white out conditions. Seemingly this was earlier than anticipated and park staff were not prepared for the onset of snow conditions. We were holed up in our draughty old bus for 3 hours in the interior of the park while they rustled up their grader drivers and fuelled said machines so that they could clear the road enough to get 8 buses out. Fortunately I was giving my possum/merino (thanks Simon and Anna) it's first outing and it was well up to the task. All good fun and a bit more of an adventure than we had anticipated. Back at the headquarters we made the decision to head back toward Anchorage as the weather had set in and snow was forecast again the following day.
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| 2000feet up at the "Roundhouse" |
Late in the morning Blair headed our Chev south and off we went, picking up the occasional geocache whenever we felt like stretching our legs. It was a very scenic drive back down the Glenn Highway to Anchorage and as we had a bit of sunlight left we pushed on to Girdwood and made camp at a very austere motel. Blair hadn't heard the word austere before but once in the motel he had a good feeling for the word. There was a microwave and a fridge but no knives and forks, no plates, no toaster, no electric jug......at least our beer is cold!
A clear day today and we went walking on one of the many tracks in Girdwood. We climbed from their luxurious hotel up to the top of the ski field, 2,000feet......sounds better than 680metres. It was a fair hike for us although Blair, weighed down with our lunch, water, extra clothing and a few bits and pieces skipped up the slope like it was just off the flat....that hurt! We could see for miles from the top and while it was a little bit cool it was way warmer than Denali. The best part about the hike (North Americans don't tramp) was that we could ride back down on a cable tram. For free! That about did us for the day and we are now looking forward to a boat trip out in Prince William Sound with the hope of seeing more wildlife of the aquatic type and getting up close and personal with a glacier.
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