Denali Day 5

We are sitting outside beside a crackling fire, the sky to the east is blue but it is black and threatening rain to the west. Not sure what the weather will do next.

The hike we chose to do by ourselves today is across from the Polychrome Plains on one of the fingers of the Polychrome Mountain. We chose a route that took us to the top of a ridge and then walked along it to its end before descending. As is usual in this area, the base is covered with willow trees and birch bushes that we have to bushwhack our way through. The wild flowers are prolific on this ridge and John is happy that I'm not making him stop to look at them or take pictures of them.

It is a steep climb thru the bushes but we are rewarded with a walk along the tundra at the top. The view is spectacular! We are surrounded by mountain ridges and peaks. The plain below is cut through by a wide river and is a lush green. Behind that are mountains that still have snow caps and glaciers running between them. Opposite that view and behind us are row upon row of mountain peaks, some closer than others. Most are colored rust, gray or black, and shades of green and shrouded in clouds with bursts of sunshine highlighting their vibrant colors. And in all that splendor there is not one animal!!! We see no caribou, sheep or bears! Where did they all go??

As we walked along the ridge it rained for about 10 minutes, thankfully that was all. We found a small bowl of green grass below the edge of the ridge where we stopped for lunch and a short nap. As we geared up after our break we watched a pika scamper across the rocks and a marmot sunning itself at the top of the ridge. At last some animals! The point of the ridge is rock covered with no easy way down in sight. We very slowly and cautiously descend a short distance to the tundra. When we look up from our feet we see a grizzly bear lumbering along the field right below us. He is probably 400 yds. away. Just as John gets the camera out, the bear lies down for a nap, so we walk down the hill to try to get closer for a better picture but that bear is really sleepy and doesn't move. With the naked eye it looks like a brown log in the grass but with the binoculars it is massive! Such a large bear! I wish we could show that to you.

It was a really neat day! We celebrated with a couple of beers before supper and wine after as we toast by the fire! Aahhh.

Denali Day 3 and 4

Yesterday (Tues.) it rained all day! Started around 10 AM and never really quit. We finally got so bored and tired of sitting around that we put on our rain suits and went for a walk around the campground. We hadn't gone more that a few yards and my feet were soaked! My shoes were supposed to be water resistant but the ground was just too wet! We walked in the woods for about an hour on ground that felt like walking on a leaky water bed. I got turned around but John knew where we were (more or less) and we ended up back at the RV. We shed a layer of clothes and took off again and walked along the Teklanika River bed for about an hour. When we got back both of our boots were soaked, the rain suits were wet and our pant legs were dripping. It took a bit of work to get us all dried out.

Today we prepared for a ranger led discovery hike that we signed up for earlier this week. We rode the bus to Cathedral Mountain with 7 other people plus Ranger Dave. The day was dreary but not rainy, cool but not cold. This hike is off-trail which is the way that this park keeps everything as natural as possible. There are a few "social paths" but once they end we just take off cross country. Everyone makes their own path, trying not to follow anyone else's foot prints. Our first obstacle is a creek crossing but there are enough rocks that we don't get our feet wet. The biggest safety concern in this park is running into moose or bears. So whenever you think you are nearing bear territory, everyone starts shouting "Hey Bear! We are here, bear!" This will let the bear (or moose) know you are coming and not startle them. Of course, we never saw one bear or moose, but we saw lots of bear scat! We also saw lots of holes the bears had dug to catch the arctic ground squirrels. Otherwise known as "grisly granola bars".

Our next obstacle is low brush, mostly willow trees and miniature birch trees but they all look and feel like bushes. Once we work our way thru them, calling out to the bears or moose who might be hiding there, we start working our way up a steep ravine across some rock scree and onto the tundra. We go up between two peaks and back around a saddle then up a short but steep ridge. We stop often to look at flowers, moss, lichen and animal scat. We are standing on living tundra full of moss and plants, so soft it feels like a cushy mattress. But what John and I enjoyed most was the spectacular view! There are mountains all around us. Ranger Dave pointed out some glaciers way off in the distance (around 8 miles away). But even the mountains near us are so beautiful -- various shades of green on some then browns, grays, black, red, rust and white snow on others. It is so huge and vast it is indescribable!

We are entranced by marmots and Arctic ground squirrels, awed by Golden Eagles and excited to see Dall sheep and caribou (so far away we can only see them with binoculars unfortunately). We stopped once to listen to the wondrous sound of ptarmigan but we never saw them. The hike took us about 3.5 miles off the road and up the mountain and lasted about four and a half hours. It was strenuous at times but always a challenge and worth every minute.

When we get back to the RV it is comforting to dine in the RV and enjoy a roaring fire in the lowering sun.

Denali Day 2

We had to get up really early today and catch the bus at 7:20 AM! This bus will take us all the way to Wonder Lake, 85 miles inside the park. We start at about 2,600 ft. and will go over the highest point on the road at 3,950 ft at Thorofare Pass then down to Wonder Lake at about 2,000 ft. The weather is cool and partly cloudy and gets windy at the passes. The bus driver is full of information and doesn't mind questions. She is also good at spotting animals and will always stop for closer looks and for awesome views. One goal for today is to see all of Mt. McKinley aka Denali, an Athabascan Indian name meaning "high one".

We stop to view Dall sheep way high up on the side of the mountain (LWD-little white dots). There are 30-40 ewes and lambs. The rams will herd together in another area this time of year. Just a short distance down the road we get really excited because someone spots 4 grizzly bears! It appears that one bear is being chased off by a female bear. The other two may be her cubs, but they seem big for young cubs. The driver spots a golden eagle soaring over head. We have a 45 minute break at Eielson Visitor Center where John and I check out and sign up for a ranger guided hike on Wednesday.

The center has a fantastic view of Mt. McKinley! This mountain is the tallest mountain on the North American continent at 20,320 ft. 75% of the mountain has permanent snowfields which feed several glaciers that surround its base. There are two peaks. The north peak is sharply pointed and rises 19,470 ft and is the one most often seen from this direction. The south peak is more rounded but taller at 20,320 ft. and is one mile away from the north peak. As we watched, the clouds that are almost always around the mountain, moved enough that we got a glimpse of the south peak! Only about 30% of the time is that possible.

As we near Wonder Lake the bus driver points out this green, undulating plain of grass and brush and called in the Muldrow Glacier. It is such an old glacier that up to 2 1/2 feet of dirt has accumulated so that plants grow on it.

The bus drops us off at Wonder Lake where we have our picnic lunch, swatting mosquitoes the whole time. Wonder Lake is 4 miles long, 1 mile wide and 480 feet deep. It was also carved out by a glacier and then filled with glacier melt. Only 4 type of fish live here but not much else due to the harsh winter. The driver had pointed out a hike that was supposed to take us to McKinley River so we decided that we were more comfortable doing a trail than going off-trail at this time. We walked along firm ground, then down a rocky scree then thru marsh like area then across a couple of creeks. 45 minutes into the walk and still no river so we turn back so we can catch the next bus back to camp.

Before getting back to the RV we spot a single moose, a lone grizzly way high on the hill grazing in the grass, then I spy a female moose lying among the willows with at least one calf. Unfortunately the bus can't stop in time for a good picture but this stopped 2 other buses behind us. We see two caribou but they are so far off we can't get a good picture, then some more Dall sheep. We get back to the RV around 6 pm, build a fire and cook some hamburgers. Long day.

Denali Day 1

We changed our minds and decided to bring our bikes and John's fishing gear. After parking the Jeep in over night parking, we go again to the visitor's center to visit with the rangers there about hiking. This one was much more informed and encouraging about hiking off-trail. She also pointed us in the direction of doing a ranger guided hike.

The drive up to Teklanika Campground is 29 miles and takes about an hour. We are climbing the whole time on gravel road and always have an eye out for wild animals, although we don't see any. The views are beautiful. Tall mountains surrounded by fast moving rivers and grassy or shrub covered fields. We cross the Savage and Sanctuary Rivers and pull over a couple of times just to check out the views. At Teklanika we come to a border crossing where we are informed that if we come back thru there we cannot go back to the campground and we cannot drive past the campground. The only vehicles going on from here will be campground and tour buses. There are more campgrounds besides ours inside the park but all others are tent camping and one must ride the buses to access them.

Once we have set up the RV we get on the bikes and ride up the road about 5 miles. The only animal we see is a snow-shoe hare. The Teklanika River is nearby so we walk down to look at it. As are all the rivers in the park, it is not clear but a gray chalky color. Almost all the water in the park comes from melting glaciers and they carry glacial silt. This is from the ice moving across the mountain rock of slate and granite, crushing it into a fine powder. That also means the fishing in these rivers are poor at best as most fish can't survive in this water.

There is a ranger program each night at the campground and tonight he talked about Caribou. Both the male and female has antlers and both shed them each year but at different times. The male antlers grow about an inch a day and can weigh more than 20 pounds when fully developed. The female antlers are smaller and used for protection. There are only about 2000 in Denali at this time and most have moved north to calve and feed so we may not see very many.

We are so tired! It's an early bed time tonight!

On the Road to Denali

It is really a short drive from Fairbanks to Denali so we stopped often to stretch out the drive. We stopped at a little town called Nenana (prounced NEN-a-naw) where they have an annual festival to celebrate the break up of ice on the Nenana River. They place a large tripod on the ice with a rope tied to a clock. When the tripod falls over it trips the timer. If you guess the right day and time you win the grand prize of $338,000. And then on to Healy before coming to Nenana Canyon at the entrance to Denali National Park. We found that the first campground in the park was full so we had to stay in a commercial park in town. We rode our bikes back into Denali to the Visitor Center and did some information gathering. For supper we had some really good pizza and a lot of beer! This little town knows how to party. All the bartenders are young folk from other parts of the US here for the summer to make some money and then gone in Sept. One young lady was from Hawaii! She said this wasn't that much different from home, that people are pretty much the same where ever you go.

Tomorrow the Denali Adventure begins! We will have no phone or internet, no electricity, no Jeep and no bikes. After driving the RV 29 miles inside the park we travel on shuttle busses and hike in the wilderness where there are NO trails. Kink of scary, isn't it? Actually, several people have told us of places to hike where there are trails, or where it would be hard to get lost on tundra or in meadows. John is kind of nervous about not having any contact with the outside world and being stuck with me for 5 days!

Back in touch on Friday!

Fairbanks, Con't.

We checked out of the River's Edge RV park, got the oil changed in the RV and drove out to North Pole, Alaska. Santa's workshop is located there and so are 3 of his reindeer! John was so excited about shopping in a Christmas store!! (NOT)

We decided to stay in Fairbanks one more night before heading to Denali. We are in a state park in the middle of the city. It's a beautiful day for a change. On the drive to North Pole we could actually see the Alaska Range mountains and possibly Mt. McKinley although we aren't sure which peak that was as they are about 145 miles away!

We rode our bikes over to the airport. Only in Alaska will you find one airport with a jet runway, a small plane runway and a water runway! It was neat to see all the seaplanes parked along the shoreline of the airport "pond".

We then took a really nice bike trail along the Chena River to the downtown area. There really is not much happening down town so after a cold ice tea we headed back -- 15.5 miles altogether. We stopped at a meat market and John met the butcher whose family founded 20th Century Investments in Kansas City! Small world.

Fairbanks

  

We are learning so much about Alaska thru the tours and museums in this area. Today we went on the highly recommended Riverboat Discovery Cruise. This is a paddle wheeled powered riverboat on the Chena River. It is captained by 3rd and 4th generation Alaskan captains in one family. As we cruised down the river, a bush pilot showed how he takes off and lands on the river in his float plane. Then we got to watch Susan Butcher's Iditarod champion sled dog team pull a ATV around the nearby pond. Susan Butcher is the only woman to win four Iditarod's. It was fascinating to watch these dogs get so excited about pulling. They were amazing. We then went on down the river to an authentic Athabascan Indian Village. The Athabascan are Native Alaskans. We got off the boat and learned how the natives used to live, tan hides, fish and preserve the fish, build tents or log cabins and dress. The scenery along the river was really pretty -- actually it was mostly homes and some were beautiful!

After lunch we rode our bicycles over to the Museum of the North located on the University of Alaska campus. (Nobody told us it was at the top of the only long hill in Fairbanks!) The Gallery of Alaska covered the cultures and history of the various natives, the history of Alaska from when gold was discovered, the building of the Alaska highway and the oil from Prudhoe Bay. World War II brought the Japanese invasion and the interment of the Japanese already living in Alaska. Mammoths and steppe bison also roamed this state so there were bones, tusks and a mummified Ice Age steppe bison on display. Of course there was lots of art work and specimens of native bead work, fur and weapons.

We had dinner at the Salmon Bake on the grounds of Pioneer Park. They cook a really good salmon over a wood fire. Oh yeah, we finally got some good pictures of the big animals we have seen.

Catch Up Day

We did very little sight seeing today as I needed to do laundry and grocery shopping. John ran errands and fixed a few minor things. We are signed up to do touring tomorrow and hope to ride our bikes some. The internet in the campground is so slow that our computers don't think there is any connection! So we'll move on Friday to either get closer to Denali or to find a faster internet.

We did have lunch at a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives recommended place called Big Daddy's BBQ. It was really good, maybe the best baked beans we ever had at a BBQ joint!!!

Tok to Fairbanks

We awoke to rain! So much for a clean car. We are also on Alaska daylight time which is one hour earlier than Pacific daylight time. The reason I tell you that is because our atomic alarm clock doesn't know that. It went off at 5 AM and we got up thinking it was 6 AM. Fifteen minutes later we realized what had happened and went back to bed for another hour.

Shortly after we got on the road we watched a mother moose and her calf cross the highway! And not 100 yards later we saw a huge, beautiful porcupine on the shoulder. We actually saw 3 more moose as we drove towards Fairbanks this morning. Our first stop after Tok was at Delta Junction which is the end of the Alaskan Highway. We can say we drove the whole thing.

We toured Rika's Roadhouse which was built at the turn of the century and was a major trading post and Tanana River crossing until the Richardson Highway and bridge was completed. It rendered the ferry and roadhouse obsolete so it was closed shortly after that. At lunch, we stopped near the Tanana River Bridge where the Alaskan Pipeline also crosses the river. The rain moved out of the area and we could see the Alaskan Range Mountains. Some peaks are 12,000 - 13,000 feet tall.

The day has warmed up to a point that we actually got to put on shorts this afternoon. One more day of rain tomorrow and then it should start clearing up around here, we hope.

Top of the World

We got up Monday morning to start our trip to the most northern border crossing in North America and, of course, it was raining! We had really hoped to able to enjoy the fantastic views of the mountains and valley as we crossed the "Top of the World" highway but most of what we saw was clouds caressing the tops of the mountains and then sliding down onto the top of the road. This road is all gravel and dirt with some chip seal surface on the Canadian side and only dirt on the Alaska side. The RV is a rough riding vehicle anyway and add to that holes, rocks, mud, and ruts and the ride gets even worse. Then, there was the rain and fog to contend with. This was NOT a good day. By the time we got to Tok, Alaska the Jeep and bikes were one big dirt ball and the RV was half brown with a white top. It was not a pretty sight! We saw one truck and a large RV in the ditch. If you got too close to the ditch the soft mud would pull you right in and over.

We did get to see a few sights along the way as the clouds would periodically lift so we could enjoy the view. We stopped in Chicken, Alaska -- a town of 23 people (in the summer) and 3 businesses. They say the name came from miners who couldn't say or spell ptarmigan so they just called the town Chicken. Tok (rhymes with poke) is a small town that you have to go thru both coming into and going out of Alaska.

One gas station had a deal that if you filled up with gas, you could use their car wash for free. It took us 45 minutes to clean both vehicles and the bicycles. There was still dirt on them but they look sooo much better.

We dry camped next to a pond about 10 miles west of Tok. Other than some kids thinking it might be a good place to party, it was a nice, quiet place to camp. Us and a gazillion huge mosquitos.

Inuvik and Back Again, Con't.

This morning dawned bright and sunny -- we don't EVEN want to know what the weather is like in Inuvik! At least this leg of the drive is more interesting with more mountains and valleys. As we rounded a curve we saw an RV in the ditch. There was no one around and the message scratched in the mud on the RV said they were waiting for a tow so we drove on. It looked like they got too close to the edge and the soft, wet mud just pulled them into the ditch. John has said often, "I am so glad we did not drive the RV on this road!" Now that the rain has stopped, the road is even worse -- rutted and bumpy, washboard in places and slick in others.

We finally got to see some wildlife! A group of 9 Dall Sheep were grazing on the slope of a small mountain while the ram was at the very top watching out for them. He was so high we could only see him with the binoculars. And that's it! No other signs of life.

Once we got back to the RV, John washed down the Jeep but didn't even come close to getting it clean. We hitched the Jeep to the RV and drove into Dawson to get a couple of groceries and then crossed the Yukon River on a ferry. Next to the ferry landing is a nice provincial campground where we are spending the night in . . . . RAIN! At least the temperature warmed up for once as it got al the way up to 74° before the rain started.

Inuvik and Back Again

It was raining when we arrived in Inuvik on Friday afternoon and still raining when we left Saturday.

It was around 4:30 when we got to the motel and the young man who runs Up North Tours was still at the desk since they couldn't fly out for the evening tour due to the weather. In fact, the weather had canceled a lot of his tours. He indicated that the weather was supposed to clear on Saturday afternoon but if it didn't he wouldn't run our charge so we signed up for the flight to Tuktoyaktuk which is on the Arctic Ocean. Whales, musk ox, caribou and Inuits are just some of the things we might have seen as well as riding in a small plane over the ocean. We had a nice dinner at the only sit-down restaurant in town. It's still raining.

And it was still raining when we got up! We walked in the pouring rain to the visitor center next door to the motel and learned a lot about the region and native peoples. Even the attendant at the center couldn't tell us of much anything else to do after that. When we checked on our tour at 2 PM, we were told that the weather was moving back in and that the tour was canceled. I was really disappointed! Considering we had done all there was to do in Inuvik, we loaded up the Jeep and headed back toward Dawson. We got to Eagle Plains around 8 PM having taken another big rock hit in the windshield, in the same part of the road as on the way up. It is already spreading.

Dempster Highway

We headed out yesterday for Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. This small town is above the Arctic Circle, the largest town in northern Canada. The Dempster Highway, which goes from just outside Dawson City to Inuvik, was completed around 1978. It is almost 460 miles of gravel and dirt except for the 5 miles of paved road at the junction of Hwy 2 and 10 miles into Inuvik. We were supposed to see lots of wildlife like moose and bear but since we started mid morning and stopped early evening, the animals were not out and about. We saw one moose, several ducks and rabbits. Whoo Hoo!

The weather in this region has been poor! Lots of clouds, off and on rain, some hail and cool (50's & low 60's). It was that way almost all the way on the Dempster. The road was fairly smooth, considering it is not paved, but very muddy. The land scape is mountainous on the lower half of the drive. We crossed the Ogilvie and Richardson Mountains which were mostly obscured by clouds. The highest we were was just over 4000 feet, most of the plateaus were around 2300 feet and Inuvik is near sea level. Some of the mountains are near 7000 ft. The valleys were tundra in places and forest of stunted spruce in most others. There are lots of rivers and lakes. We crossed the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers on ferries which would have been virtually impossible in the RV without damaging something so we are glad we didn't drive it up.

There are lots of interpretive centers and displays, provincial campgrounds and day use areas where we can stop and stretch our legs. Otherwise it would have been a long and endless drive. At one point we stopped and walked out on the tundra. It feels like walking on a soft mattress. Each step sinks down then bounces up and is very uneven even though from a distance it looks like a cow field in Missouri. When we reached the summit of the Richardson Mtns. the view was of vast and never ending tundra! Then as we went down in elevation, the trees started growing up and it became marsh and water. The Caribou and elk have all moved north from here so we probably won't see them. Supposedly there are grizzly bears but we haven't seen them either.

We spent the night at Eagle Plains half way up the Dempster and 20 miles short of the Arctic Circle. The hotel and restaurant was built on bedrock so that they didn't have to build it above the permafrost. The permafrost is a layer of frozen sand, dirt and silt that lies just below the surface. If the road or a building were built on the permafrost layer, they would cause it to thaw and then it would shift whatever was on top of it. So the roadbed is very thick and all of the buildings in Inuvik are elevated above the ground so they won't warm up the earth. Even though Inuvik is small, it has several several modern hotels, one all inclusive shopping center, mostly new elevated homes, and one stoplight blinking yellow. 10 minutes of driving around town and we have seen it all!

We may never get all the mud cleaned off the Jeep and we have the whole trip back. We went almost 350 miles before we got two big rock cracks in the windshield.

Midnight Photo Opportunity

After visiting with a local photographer, she convinced us that going to the top of Dome Mtn. and taking pictures at sunset would give us the best photos of this area. Well, sunset is now at 12:45 AM!! Sunrise is about 3:30AM! Neither one of us can stay up that late so what did we do? We went back to Diamond Gerties to watch the show again which was surprisingly a different show. Then we went to Bombay Peggy's bar and had martinis. As you might imagine none of this helped us to stay up late so we went up on the Dome at midnight, as late as we could go and still keep our eyes open, and took some really pretty neat photos. It actually wasn't the best night for it since there were still lots of clouds from the evening rain, but we think they came out pretty well. We date stamped them to prove we were up at midnight and the sun had not set! The river is the Yukon and the town of Dawson City.

Today was a lazy day, sleeping late, wandering around town and packing for our next adventure which is a Jeep drive north on the Dempster Highway. We will go past the Arctic Circle, thru the continental divide(again), and to the farthest north town of Canada called Inuvik. In all over 400 miles of gravel road.