more Denali

sled dogs

Denali contains 6 million acres, & 4 million of those are designated as wilderness. This means that no motorized vehicles can go there, no power tools used, etc. These sled dogs take rangers, scientists, & cargo into these wilderness areas in the winter. The movie at the visitors center about them & a program here at the kennels were both great. The training is fantastic, they are extremely well cared for & much loved. When the trainers started to get dogs out of their kennels to line them up to pull the cart, they all got extremely excited, barking & jumping, hoping to be chosen to get hitched up & run - there LOVE to pull a sled.

 





moose

This cow & baby were right beside the road & seemed unconcerned about the cars & people nearby.


dinner with friends

Eight Escape trailers converged on Denali this week, & we all met for dinner this evening. First, we took pictures by the park sign. 



At the 49th State Brewery, there's the recreated Magic Bus used in the movie Into Thin Air... 

...and this cool bench made from moose antlers. 


Denali - The Mountain

Only 37% of visitors here actually see "The Mountain". Though not a full clear view, I saw it from viewpoints in the park this evening. It's the snow-covered mountain in the background. Note: it is 63 miles away. 



more moose

I saw the same pair of moose late in the evening at the same place.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

boat tour to wildlife & glaciers

Image
I can now die a happy woman! The boat trip was fantastic in every way. (Major Marine 8.5 hour tour on Orca Song from Seward to the Northwestern Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park) We saw SO MUCH wildlife, including several rare sightings & behaviors.  Here is the first of 3 sea otters we saw.  This is the sea cave & rocks where we got very close to see sea stars & jelly fish - many, many of each.  A dozen Dall's porpoises swam & played near our boat for a while. They swam so fast that they were hard to photograph, but we saw each one many times. This group of Stellar's sea lions is typical of what one sees in Alaska, that is no babies, just a group of adults hauled up on shore.   Though humpback whales are often seen in this area, they are mostly seen alone or perhaps a mom & baby. Not only did we see a whole pod, we saw them engage in what is called bubble net feeding. Many pods around the world do not engage in this type of feeding. There are...
Read more

Alaska!

Image
Top-of-the-World Highway This road runs from Dawson City in the Yukon into Alaska. The 110-mile drive today was a dirt road with the exception of a 9-mile long paved stretch in the middle - seems odd to have a short paved stretch in the middle of a long dirt highway.  arrived in Alaska! I've wanted to come to Alaska since I was 14. My day trip to Skagway last week was to a small corner of Alaska, but that corner isn't connected to this main part of the state, so this feels like my official arrival.                                         Chicken, Alaska Apparently, the original residents here wanted to name the town after a chicken-like bird called a ptarmigan. However, they couldn't agree on how to spell that, so they compromised on "Chicken". It became a small town when the Pedro Dredge (now a National Historic Site) was set up here to dig for gold. Besides a few crazy tourists who...
Read more

Gros Morne: Trout River area

Image
Exploring this little town, I first walked up a headland to the lighthouse; the old lighthouse was charming, but, like many, it's been replaced by a functional red & white modern little tower.                                    Then, I walked up the headland on the other end of town. A late lunch of pickled herring with onions & sour cream along with a bowl of Newfoundland pea soup (split pea soup pureed with lots of carrots & potatoes) topped off my visit. Adirondack chairs are quite popular here, & many folks have their own version.                                  After returning from my hike yesterday, I was wiped out. The walk was only 4K & not too steep, so I couldn't figure it out. Then, in the evening, I developed a throat tickle that I just couldn't shake - kept me awake for hours. It h...
Read more