Back to explore Denali National Park
Day 1 to Denali National Park
After our stop in Fairbanks we head back toward Anchorage . However we have a couple of stops along the way.
With the weather quite a bit better today, we looked forward to seeing a bit more scenery on the way back than we had seen on the way up.
We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks where the views are just so vast that you just cannot capture the awesomeness of what you are looking at in a photo – but here you go
Again the weather changed dramatically- one minute we were in bright sunshine than thick fog and temperatures of about 2 degrees Celsius.
We came to the town of Nenana (pronounced Ne- nana, like your grandmother) which has a very unique claim to fame. Whilst they don’t have casinos in Alaska, this is probably the closest thing.
Back in the early 1900’s a group of engineers on the Alaska Railroad placed bets as to when the ice on the Tanana River would break. By 1917, news of this lottery had spread and tickets began to be sold around the state to guess the time. ( Yes, it gets cold and lonely in the winter in Alaska!)
So the “Nenana Ice Classic” was born – the “Nenana Tripod” is basically placed on the iced river and attached to a clock. When the “ice cracks” a mechanism stops the clock and the person with the closest time wins the lottery! In 2014 the jackpot was a record $363,000 💰 – Only in America 😂
The extra claim to fame for Nenana is that just over the river is the spot where President Warren Harding in 1923 drove the final golden spike in the Alaska Railroad Mears Bridge construction – the longest truss bridge in the US – over the Tanana River which then linked it by rail with Seward & Anchorage.
A bit further on we came across 49th State Brewing which unfortunately was not yet open. However we did see the bus made famous by the film “Into the Wild”. The bus in the film, due to its location, had resulted in 2 deaths & 15 rescues from people making a pilgrimage trying to get to it. Eventually authorities decided to airlift the bus out & it can now be reached by a much easier pilgrimage to 49th State Brewing 🍻
We reached Denali National Park about the middle of the day and started off at the visitor centre. We then drove out to a part of the park called Savage River but the car park was full.
Unfortunately due to a landslide, the road to the outer reaches of the park is closed – and has been for a few years- so we came back to an area called Mountain Vista and we did a walk through a valley area surrounded by stunning mountain views.
We then drove back to the bus depot to pick up tickets for tomorrow for one of the park shuttles which drives further into the park – the only way to get there at present – and had a quick sandwich for lunch before heading off on another walk around Horseshoe Lake .
This was just stunning as the weather was great and the scenery spectacular. Despite another encounter with some moose poo, no elusive moose but a few other small creatures – a few squirrels & a curious stoat – a ferret like creature we’d never seen before.
The colours & reflections of the lake were incredible & there was a massive beaver dam across one section of the lake. We spent at least a couple of hours around the trail and once complete headed for our hotel.
We are staying at another Princess Cruise lodge called Denali Princess. It was washing day again but Fannie Q’s Saloon has been strategically located in the next building so we decided to while away our time at the bar.
While at the bar we had to partake in sampling the Alaskan National shot – a Duck Fart – which was a bit of fun, then after collecting our washing it was off to dinner at the King Salmon restaurant on site.
We both had a delicious Salmon Chowder for starters & tasty chicken dish for main.
Whilst the weather hasn’t been clear enough to see Denali it was cold but fine and mainly sunny today so we are hoping for more of the same tomorrow.
Denali National Park – Day 2
We had a fairly early start as our bus tour from the bus depot in Denali National Park left at 8.00am and we had to be there 15 minutes prior.
We had planned to pick up a quick breakfast at one of the cafe’s in the main lodge on the way to the car however when we got there it was absolutely packed with others heading out on bus and train tours with the same idea. So we went back to the room to have some fruit and fruit bars we had and brewed some coffee in the room. Needless to say, by the time we walked back to the main lodge the cafe was empty as they were all now in queues at the front of the resort boarding buses !
We made our way to the bus depot in the park and boarded our bus at 8.00am. The weather was cool but some patches of sun as we set off. As I have already said, the park is vast and the weather is constantly changing and sure enough it wasn’t long before we had some light rain. We arrived at Savage River – the limit we reached ourselves yesterday – and the park ranger boarded the bus to indicate conditions were potentially good for us to see some wildlife as the bus headed out to East Fork – the general limit for access in the park.
Again the scenery changes as quickly as the weather before suddenly there was a shout in the bus that wildlife had been sighted – a group of caribou out in the distance. The bus jerked to a halt and we managed to get a couple of distant photos.
The bus continued on and made a couple of stops before reaching our turnaround pint at East Fork. We did manage to see some Dahl sheep – again at a distance – but otherwise no significant wildlife sightings. One disadvantage with the bus and the changing weather is that mist and rain mixes with the dusty unsealed roads beyond Savage River so the windows became grubby making viewing and photos a bit difficult. We had chosen the shuttle bus option which isn’t really a tour and relies on the driver to potentially provide some commentary and/or stops to accommodate any wildlife sighting. (There is a “tundra” tour which is a bit more of a “sightseeing” option).
On the way back we did manage a stop to see a couple more lone caribou – unfortunately however no bears and no moose. We arrived back at the bus depot about 12.30.
Unfortunately the buses are a bit “aged” – essentially old school buses – and Adrienne caught her puffer jacket on a sharp window ledge in the bus which ripped her jacket so we decided to go back to the hotel so she could try sewing the hole and stem the flow of down feathers billowing from the hole. Repairs done, we then stopped at the cafe for a quick lunch of tasty wraps from the cafe. We decided to go for a walk around the hotel area which had other resorts – one a Holland America resort – and other “tourist” shops nearby. The rain settled in a bit but we carried on regardless, again it didn’t last too long and the sun was back a while later.
We stopped for a coffee in the resort and given the changing weather decided to stick to the resort again for an early dinner – this turned out to be a good choice as while we ate, there were a couple of quite heavy showers of rain. We settled on an easy dinner at the Grizzly Bar and had tasty burgers .
Tomorrow we head back for one more night on the road before our final night in Anchorage and jetting off the next day to Seattle and the next stage of our tour.