to Denali

Today's drive from Fairbanks to Denali took us through the remnant of the still smoldering Bear Creek fire; yesterday, it was the largest wildfire burning in AK, about 26,000 acres. Folks who drove through 2 days ago had flames on both sides & smoke so thick that they couldn't see the lights of the car in front of them; after a 4 hour wait, a pilot car led them through the fire. My pics were taken through the windshield. 



The scenery near the park was a preview of coming attractions. 

Once in Denali (the park), we set up camp & then drove the 30 miles round trip on the part of the road open to cars. Later in the evening, we went again as far as the viewpoint for Denali. 



Though it's all beautiful, the highlight was a glimpse of Denali (the mountain). Only 30% of the visitors here actually see the maintain as it's usually cloaked in clouds. We kind of sort of saw it - some snowy mountain visible through the clouds. 



 




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