Question: Why would anyone get up early to get on a bus at about 8 am and spend all day to drive 182 miles only to get back to the same spot twelve hours later?

Answer: To visit Denali – the National Park; the Mountain; the wildlife: And see them we did. Wow!

Judy and I were commenting that in 2004 we visited Zion Park in the middle of a torrential rain storm and saw waterfalls they had not seen for eight years. (See our blog for October 25, 2004, (under construction, check back later) Then in 2005 we went to Death Valley and were privileged to see the 100 year wildflower bloom. (See our blog for March 6, 2004, (under construction, check back later) This year we spent almost a week in Denali National Park and Preserve looking at banks of clouds. Finally, June 28th arrived and our Shuttle Bus reservations gave us one last chance to see Mt. Denali. By the luck of the draw we did get to see Mt. Denali from top to toe. In addition we made a grand slam on the five large mammals in Denali Park, Moose, Caribou, Grisly bear, Wolf and Doll Sheep. Now I admit the Wolf and the Sheep were small specks that you had to view through the binoculars, but the Moose, both a cow and a bull were close up, and I got great photos of the cow. One of five Grisly bears was also very close to the bus and I got several close up photos. One of the Caribou, a big buck, lead us down the road for probably a quarter mile before he finally decided to exit into the tundra. This fellow had a fine set of antlers still in the velvet. The photos are all stern on, but they are all clear and close up.

Lee, our wild Irishman bus driver, told us that only about ten percent of the visitors to Denali Park get to see “The Mountain.” Many of you in the “Lower 48” probably know “The Mountain,” as we did, by its other name, Mt. McKinley. Up here in Alaska it is officially known by its original name, Mt. Denali. This is from the native Athabaskans’ word for “Great One.” We saw this “Great One” for over half of our twelve hour trip. It grew and grew until at about 30 miles away, it was simply awe inspiring. It just totally dominates the landscape and the air is so clear you could almost see the 200 some climbers on the mountain. (Actually they probably are all on the other side of the mountain.) Many of you also know that it is the highest mountain on the North American Continent at 20,320 ft. What surprised me was that Mt. Denali is not a volcano like our favorite mountains in Washington, Oregon and California. Mt. Denali is made up of granite and slate.

As usual our web site will have some of our best photos, (see below.)

We are now headed for the southern part of Alaska. We did get another peek at Mt. Denali today from 75 miles away, but the clouds came back to shroud the mountain once again.

Good bye from Alaska, Gary, Judy, Sonja and Jack.