The Bus Ride

The only way to see Denali is on a park bus, so at 8:55 a.m. on Friday morning, we met the one for which we had tickets.  It was already relatively full, so Don and I got one window well seat, and Katie and Bart got the other.  CJ and Kara sat closer to the front.

The weather was not great . . . cloudy and rainy.  We were not optimistic about the ride nor about getting to see Denali, but forward we went.  The first few stops were pretty ordinary, and we only saw a few bears and a caribou.  When we were at polychrome, besides the beautiful rocks and colors, I came upon a covey of Ptarmigans.  I had not realized how gorgeous those birds are and was lucky to get this photo of Pterry Ptarmigan.

As we were getting close to Eileson Visitor Center, Rex, our driver, kept saying that he was concerned that the ride to Wonder Lake would be awful.  With the dreary weather, animals would be hard to spot, it would be rainy . . . but don’t let me discourage you, he said.  You are making your own adventure.

We were surprised when we came back to the bus after lunch and nearly everyone was still on the bus. I guess we were all risk-takers – or we believed that the lighter skies would bode well for the rest of the journey.  Either way, we all headed out again, including the family with the 4-month-old baby that only cried when he was hungry or when the bus stopped . . . or when he needed to have his diaper changed, which the mom and dad did in the bus.  It was a bit odoriferous . . . but that’s babies!

We were hoping the Mountain would appear, but it did not.  But bears did . . . and a lot of them.  

These guys were on the left side of the bus but eventually just walked down the road.

I think this is such a pretty picture, despite the lack of good light

I think we saw at least 15 of them in the 10 hours we were on the bus.  We also saw a fox, courtesy of Kara, and a few caribou.  We were hoping for a moose in the kettle ponds, but that was not to be, and when I found out there are only 77 wolves in the park, I doubted we would see one. 

Fall is coming to Denali – we saw plenty of gorgeous landscapes, lakes, and trees.  

We decided to walk the last mile of the way to get all of our steps, and by the time we got home, we had had an awesome day, and we were plenty tired.

Six Years Between Wal-Mike's Stops

We had to go by Wal-Mike's in Talkeetna.  We have been there 3 times before, and in 2013, we took a picture of Katie, Bart, and me.  Then we took another one when we visited on Thursday.

2013 - one of us had dark hair

2019 - one of us has lost a lot of weight, one of us now has gray hair, and one looks the same!

It is always fun to compare . . .

Teklinika

The Teklanika Campground is as close to “real” camping as we will get, since we do not tent camp anymore.  No electricity, no water, no dump station, no wifi, no cell service – a bit like being in the Holy Ghost without the ability to leave or to get internet at the store.  With specific generator hours, it is as quiet as can be, and the campers are generally quiet.  I love it.

We arrived well ahead of Bart and Katie, so we spent quite a bit of time walking around the campground.  We found wild cranberries that Kara and I will pick I hope, and once Bart and Katie arrived, we grilled an awesome hamburger dinner – we noticed several campers walking by with their ramen noodle cups, eyeing us a little jealously.

Friday morning, we were awakened to a deluge – oh dear.  We were slated to go on the bus to Wonder Lake, and we were hoping it was not going to be cloudy and drizzly.  Parting clouds just as we left gave us hope . . . 

Denali or Bust!

Since it did not look promising that we would see Denali today (and that did prove to be true), we decided to take the airplane flight to see it up close and personal.  Despite the fact that the valley was filled with smoke, we were told we would be able to see the mountain once we got above the smoke.  So up we went.

The pilot, Andy, was terrific, and he was quite knowledgeable about the area.  His commentary helped us understand what we were seeing, and his reassuring attitude helped those of us who are not prone to liking small planes get through it.  We only had a little turbulence, which was nice, and the rest of the flight was as smooth as silk.

The summit

As Andy said, "An ethereal view."

A brief 12 seconds of our flight

One of the glaciers on the mountain

Perspective is a funny thing.  When we were flying around Denali, it looked like we were flying about the same height . . . but we were at 10,000 feet, and it is about 20,000 feet tall.  Mind numbing, to say the least.

It seemed ridiculous to spend money to see the top of the mountain - but I am surely glad we did!

Talkeetna

We were hoping to see Denali from Talkeetna, since the smoke purportedly had not gone that way.  This will have been our fourth time here, and we have never seen the mountain, and because the day was clear, we were hoping today would be the day.

Our luck, the wind shifted, and Talkeetna was hemmed in with smoke.  So we thought we would take a plane flight . . . but the top of the mountain apparently was covered by clouds.  Strike two.  We scheduled a flight for early in the morning, hoping maybe the top of the mountain would be visible . . . but we will see.

Talkeetna is a darling town with terrific eating establishments.  Last time we ate at the Wildflower, but this time we went to the Denali Brewing Company.  I had a salad with salmon, Don had reindeer meat loaf, Bart and Kara had halibut, and Katie and CJ had a pretzel dip with prime rib.  Since all plates were licked clean, I would say the evening was a success.

We are staying in the same campground we did last time - where Chris tried to befriend a fox.  The train station is right behind us, but because of the fire, people are being bused from here to Anchorage, so we won't be awakened by trains.

Helicopters that are carrying water to the fire are another story.  Not only are they picking up water near here, they also are refueling at the airport right next to the train station.  It somewhat reminds me of MASH tv shows when the helicopter comes in.  It was interesting to see them carry their water buckets to the fire - the buckets do not look very big, but I am sure they are!

 We were supposed to be here two nights, but one must be flexible . . . and we are only here one.  Too bad, as this is a great little town!

Driving to Talkeetna

Several days ago, when we were in Seward and the winds were so bad, a tree fell on an electric line between Anchorage and Talkeetna and started a huge fire.  It was similar in many ways to the fire in our canyon as it was a hot, dry day with excessive winds and a very high fire danger - all of the elements for a devastating fire.

We had been keeping close track of the fire since the road to our next stop went right through the fire-affected area.  At one point,since the fire jumped the road, the whole road was closed down, but then they opened one lane to follow by pilot car.  Yesterday it was taking an hour per trip (two hours for each line to move) and they were only letting 50 cars pass because the smoke was so bad.  Luckily, although we still were only in one lane, the wait was less long and the smoke was not nearly as bad.

Still the remnants of the fire were on full display.  There were still huge puffs of smoke, and sometimes we would see a small area that had come back to life and was flaming in a major way.  The wind had calmed down, however, and therefore, many of the fire fighters were able to get much of the fire under control.

This puff of smoke suddenly came up as we rounded the corner

The lodge at Sheep Creek was totally destroyed as were many cars and structures.  So far 50 structures have been lost but to our knowledge, no lives have been lost.  Apparently, families had time to evacuate . . . but many have nothing left.

I do not know how one recovers from such devastation.  I realize they just lost things - I think even all of the pets have survived - but when everything one owns goes up in flames, putting a life back together would be a huge challenge.

We Are All Together Again!

After being homeless in Anchorage for more days than we care to count -

the Willie finally received his new part (sort of like people get new knees, I guess), the Jeep got its new transmission (a new hip, maybe?), and Katie's truck got a brand new hitch (I think that is more like a shoulder).  Much of the work was done at Trailer Craft in Anchorage - which we highly recommend - and the Jeep's transmission was put in at a small shop that charged us $400 less than they quoted us and had it done at least a half day early.  How can you beat that?  We were delighted, and although all of the repairs were not financially fun, we managed and were able to get on our way.

We loaded up the RVs and went to Wasilla to provision up for the next few days.  We gathered in the parking lot of one of the biggest Fred Meyers stores I have ever seen, did our shopping, and were on our way.  Finally!