Marsha/CA
Moderator Emeritus
Well....well....well....on Thursday we took the 12 hour bus ride (my fanny is sore) and it was fabulous. I did this because Tim really wanted to go. I wasn't really looking forward to such a long bus ride, but I signed us up for the trip that goes 92 miles into the heart of Denali Park to Kantishna, turns around and heads back out. This is a single lane, mostly, dirt/gravel road that goes through valleys, around the edges of mountains and across 2 small rivers on concrete crossing embankments. Our destination was Kantishna, the name of a mining area that was a bit of a gold rush. It didn't produce as much as lots of other gold rushes, but it did draw miners to the area. Denali N.P. was established sometime around 1917 and was originally 2 million acres; but then in the 1980 thereabouts, the boundaries were extended and now it is some 6 million acres. It was originally preserved because of the Dall sheep and was called Mt. McKinley N.P. When it was extended the name was changed to Denali meaning "The high one" in the native Athabascan language.
In the actual park, you can dry camp at the last campground within the park itself located at the 25 +/- mile marker; but can not drive back and forth, you must take a school bus shuttle and leave your tow car, if pulling, at the visitor's center. And, you can only camp at the interior campgrounds for 3 days max.
Just after we passed the last campground we began spotting wildlife. The first were a few lone male caribou with huge racks. Then we spotted a wolf trying to dig a red squirrel out of his burrow. Then a mamma grizzly with 2 cubs. That was just the beginning. By the time we got back from the drive, we had seen over 18 caribou and 20 grizzlies; along with ptarmigans and a pair of Merlin Falcons watching their baby hunt and dall sheep. We are thinking a couple of the grizzly sightings coming back were the same ones we saw going out. But they were still lots of fun to watch. Some were pretty close to the bus. At one point someone at the rear of the bus saw a grizzly come running up out of a river embankment, moments later we all saw a very large grizzly going back up the other side of the embankment. The driver thought the larger one was chasing the smaller one out of his territory. One of the nice thing about taking this bus is that the driver is a naturalist and was full of information. She also pointed out cabins where still today, the rangers use dog sleds going from cabin to cabin to traverse the park making sure everything is good. They also do a lot by air.
The tour climbed up to a higher elevation and the cloud cover came in with fog and light drizzle. Close to the end of the trip going into the Kantishna, we picked up a park ranger who rode with us telling us the history of the park and some stories about the people who lived here during the gold mining days. At Kantishna, they have restored an old cabin that was used by Fanny Quiggly a gold miner, who loved to cook, hunt and prospect. She was a character. She was married twice, divorced twice, finishing her life in this one lonely cabin. She was the first (or so they say) to figure out that if she dug down a few feet she would hit permafrost and it would keep perishable things either frozen or very cold. She harvested berries in the summer and kept them in the permafrost hold and they would keep all winter. She was known all around as a great pie baker.
Also at Kantishna are two or three lodges where you can either fly into or take a bus from the Park Headquarters.
We never did see Mt. McKinley but it was still a fun ride with outstanding scenery and lots of wildlife.
Tonight is the dinner/theater. BTW, we woke up to 45 degrees this morning.....burrrrr!
Marsha~
In the actual park, you can dry camp at the last campground within the park itself located at the 25 +/- mile marker; but can not drive back and forth, you must take a school bus shuttle and leave your tow car, if pulling, at the visitor's center. And, you can only camp at the interior campgrounds for 3 days max.
Just after we passed the last campground we began spotting wildlife. The first were a few lone male caribou with huge racks. Then we spotted a wolf trying to dig a red squirrel out of his burrow. Then a mamma grizzly with 2 cubs. That was just the beginning. By the time we got back from the drive, we had seen over 18 caribou and 20 grizzlies; along with ptarmigans and a pair of Merlin Falcons watching their baby hunt and dall sheep. We are thinking a couple of the grizzly sightings coming back were the same ones we saw going out. But they were still lots of fun to watch. Some were pretty close to the bus. At one point someone at the rear of the bus saw a grizzly come running up out of a river embankment, moments later we all saw a very large grizzly going back up the other side of the embankment. The driver thought the larger one was chasing the smaller one out of his territory. One of the nice thing about taking this bus is that the driver is a naturalist and was full of information. She also pointed out cabins where still today, the rangers use dog sleds going from cabin to cabin to traverse the park making sure everything is good. They also do a lot by air.
The tour climbed up to a higher elevation and the cloud cover came in with fog and light drizzle. Close to the end of the trip going into the Kantishna, we picked up a park ranger who rode with us telling us the history of the park and some stories about the people who lived here during the gold mining days. At Kantishna, they have restored an old cabin that was used by Fanny Quiggly a gold miner, who loved to cook, hunt and prospect. She was a character. She was married twice, divorced twice, finishing her life in this one lonely cabin. She was the first (or so they say) to figure out that if she dug down a few feet she would hit permafrost and it would keep perishable things either frozen or very cold. She harvested berries in the summer and kept them in the permafrost hold and they would keep all winter. She was known all around as a great pie baker.
Also at Kantishna are two or three lodges where you can either fly into or take a bus from the Park Headquarters.
We never did see Mt. McKinley but it was still a fun ride with outstanding scenery and lots of wildlife.
Tonight is the dinner/theater. BTW, we woke up to 45 degrees this morning.....burrrrr!
Marsha~