The Great One

Days 5 - 6, Denali National Park to Wasilla, AK

This trip to Alaska is not our first, but we have been looking forward to it for a long time.  One of the things we booked was a tour within Denali National Park. (www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles) There is only one road into the Park, and driving a personal car is limited to the first 15 miles.  Shuttles and tour buses are the only way to get deeper into the Park.

There are several shuttle options and we decided to take the green shuttle, which is a basic school bus with more comfortable seats, pack your own lunch and hopefully the driver will offer some insight into what we are seeing.  We got very lucky!  Our driver has been driving these tours for 23 years and offered just the right amount of commentary.  The destination for the day is Eielson Visitor Center, 66 miles down the Park Rd.  The hope for the day is to see Denali (Mt. McKinley) and wildlife, especially bear.  Let’s get the suspense over with . . . we didn’t see the mountain and we didn’t see a bear.  But, we did see moose, many caribou, eagles, and Dall sheep.  And, we had a wonderful eight-hour drive through dramatic and beautiful Denali National Park.

Flag over Denali National Park

The word “Denali” means “the Great One” in the native Athabascan language.  At 20,320’ the mountain is the highest peak in North America.  It was originally named after President McKinley in 1897 by a local prospector and is quite often still referred to as such on many maps and registers.  Denali is more than a mountain; it is six million acres of vast wilderness and inspiring landscape around every corner.  Not only is the mountain “the Great One” but the Park is a great national park.

Park view

Park view

All bus tours take off from the Wilderness Access Center (different from the NPS Headquarters and Visitor Center) and each type of tour travels the same road, just varying distances.  Our choice to go to Eielson was based on having a full day of tour without it being exhausting.  It took us 4 hours to get to Eielson, we had about 40 minutes there, and about 3 hours back to the WAC.  The day was overcast but not cold or drizzly.  There had been a number of fires in Alaska and the valley’s air quality was not great so we pretty much knew our opportunity to see the mountain was doubtful, at best.  The Denali Park Road parallels the Alaska Range, going west into the Park.  There’s not a better side of the bus to choose, because there is only one road; going into the Park you will see one side of the road and coming out you will see the other.

As mentioned, the first 15 miles of road are open to the public.  At mile 11 there is a wide-open viewpoint where on a clear day you can see Denali . . . we didn’t see it but we did get our first sense of how big this Park is.  It’s worth noting that both Bob and I felt a great sense of tranquility while riding down the road in a modified school bus; I think most of the other people on the bus felt the same sense of quiet and solitude.  The operative word in that statement might be “most” and I found myself wondering what the foreign tourists thought of some of the American tourists.  Having lived internationally, we are rather sensitive to that perspective.

A short distance from the WAC is the Savage Campground, where campers and hikers can wave the bus down and get a ride deeper into the Park.  Mile 15 of the Park Rd. is the end of the pavement where the road crosses the Sanctuary River, and also the point where a NPS ranger comes on board the bus to welcome us.  Our ranger said she had grown up in the Park; Denali is her sanctuary.

A bit further down the road we came to our first rest stop (mile 30) just past the Teklanika campground.  The facilities are quite nice and of course after an hour and a half on the bus we were all ready for a brief stop.  Again, there’s no shortage of scenery and opportunities for photos.  Look in any direction and it’s beautiful.

It’s worth noting that throughout this trip we saw wildlife.  The big four are bear, moose, Dall sheep, and caribou.  We had actually seen a cow moose and her babies the day before alongside the road just inside the entrance to the Park.  On the bus ride we saw many caribou and were excited to see several Dall sheep.

Dall Sheep

Eagle

 

 











In particular, one Australian gentleman had an eye for spotting wildlife and everyone’s eyes were peeled for the hope of a bear sighting.  Our driver had told us to shout out “stop” if we saw anything of interest; he would then position the bus, backing up if necessary, so that we could get photos. 

Departing the Teklanika rest stop we began to climb in elevation to Polychrome Overlook.  The name comes from the kaleidoscope of colors from the exposed volcanic rock that you can see from the high overlook.  The Polychrome portion of the drive is dramatic, rising quickly with many tight turns, and the views are equally dramatic . . . and colorful.  The bus did stop at the overlook area so everyone could take plenty of photos.

View from Polychrome Overlook

View from Polychrome Overlook

Winding our way off Polychrome we entered the Toklat, a broad valley with a braided riverbed, and our last rest stop.  The steep cliffs are often dotted with Dall sheep and we were lucky enough to see some.  The riverbed is lined with tundra leading up to the steep slopes of the Alaska Range.

Toklat braided riverbeds

View from Toklat

A few minutes later and we arrived at the Eielson Visitor Center. (www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/the-eielson-visitor-center)  Named for Carl Eielson, a famed Alaskan aviator, the visitor center is outstanding.  It is partially bermed, and the buses park on the roof.  The beautiful facility incorporates many sustainable features and has been recognized architecturally and within the National Park Service.  The displays are informative and there is a nice art museum featuring some of the works by Denali artists-in-residence. 

Tundra sod roof @ Eielson

Not Denali but beautiful!

Way behind this mountain is Denali

Weather forecast for Eielson

On a clear day, the view of Denali is unsurpassed.  We didn’t see it . . . and if any consolation, we were told only about 30% of all visitors to the Park see “the Great One.”  

The return bus ride was equally as beautiful as going out to Eielson.  It was a great day viewing Denali National Park even though we didn’t see the mountain or bear!  However, we had two more chances to see the mountain, and bear can be anywhere, so we are still hopeful for the next day’s drive.

Driving south from Denali National Park, the highway has two viewpoints of the mountain.  They are appropriately called the North and the South views.  The north yielded nothing and by the time we reached the south view, the clouds began to part.  While we were walking down the pathway, just for a moment, the tip of the mountain (20,320’) was visible.  By the time we got our cameras ready, it was obscured again. 

South Viewpoint along Denali Highway

We cannot complain.  I’ve been to AK twice before, once in 1977 with my brother, and again in 2004 with Bob.  On both occasions I saw Denali in all its magnificent glory.  While Bob was working in the Aleutians, he saw Denali from the air.  Spectacular!

The Great One, Denali, 2004 from Talkeetna

Denali, 2004, from Talkeetna

One of my favorite Alaskan villages is Talkeetna.  It’s a favorite gathering place for Denali climbers and it has become a common day-trip for tourists from Anchorage.  I was surprised at how busy little Talkeetna has become!  We enjoyed lunch (the restaurant had an “I Can See Russia” burger on the menu), and a walk around the hamlet, appreciating the historic buildings and character but being very aware of how much it has changed over the years.  I miss the Talkeetna of 1977 and 2004!

 

We had a perfect ending to our day of driving from the Park.  Our lodging reservation was at Wasilla, which has become one long strip mall of a town.  But the Agate Inn (www.agateinn.com) was indeed a hidden gem and we arrived just in time to help the owners feed their reindeer!  We wished we had planned to stay longer in these comfortable accommodations.

Reindeer @ Agate Inn

Another great day in Alaska!