Kantishna Experience - Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
Alarm rang at 5:00 am, Oh my gosh it's early even if it is still daylight, heck that happens at 3:30 am and it only get dusk anyway. I so wanted to stay in bed. David being the good one jumped up and forced the dogs to wake up and he took them out while I loaded the cooler. We had gotten feedback from other campers in Fairbanks that there isn't enough to drink or eat with what is provided so I packed a few things and our little cooler with drinks and water. When David got back we had breakfast and the dogs were snoozing as we headed out the door at 6:00 am heading to Denali Park.
Good news it was a beautiful clear sky with bright sunshine so prospects were looking good to see Denali unobstructed by clouds. We arrived early got a great parking spot, yesterday the lot was packed. By 7:15 we met our bus driver Nan, I thought I'll remember that name! She gave us all instructions and a brief here's what to expect and then told us as we found our seat each one would have a brown bag sitting on it for us. My husband couldn't help himself he asked " Are those brown bags like the airplane bags they have for you?"! Nan laughed and said "Ok I've found my trouble maker for the trip! That didn't take long!". She then explained that the brown bag was our snacks for the trip. As David got in the bus Nan smiled and said "I'll keep my eye in you!" It turns out during the winter Nan teaches junior high students science in Amarillo Texas. We would later learn she was raised on a farm and is pretty tough lady but loves her summer job driving bus and giving tours of the park. She had been doing this for 5 years.
By 7:30 we were on the road the start of our tour. Nan said the tour could be as much as 14 hours depending on how many stops and pausing for seeing animals. She said it was really up to us how close to 12 hours it would be. Nan immediately started giving us interesting facts and pointing out historical places as we drove along. As we drove by the end of the public highway she told us what she knew about the closure due to the backpackers and the Bears. It was great. One thing that shocked David and I because those first 11 miles were the same as we drove yesterday and we didn't even realize we could see Denali from that point because it was shrouded in clouds but today there it was! Oh my is all I can say. It was crystal clear and so beautiful, the kind of thing that brings tears to your eyes because you feel so blessed to be here and see this mountain. We were 100 miles away but still it was just an unbelievable sight. Nan stopped the bus for all of us camera people we all got off the bus and just were amazed!
As we drove on within the first hour we saw the Dall Sherp up on the mountain. With the naked eye they were white dots up near the peaks. Nan said they stay up there to protect the babies in the summer from bears and wolves.
Not too long after our first Ptarmigan then a Caribou, then our first Grizzly. Not long after two more grizzly. Not to mention all the while we are getting closer to Denali with full unobstructed view of both the north and taller south peak. It is so white it is hard to outline it at times. By the time we made Eielson Visitor Center, lunch time a few clouds had moved in at the middle of the mountain but both peaks were still clear. At this point Denali is still a good 50 miles away.
In the visitor center there were quilts made by locals that looked like paintings. I've never seen anything like them before. Entire scenes done to look like stones with animals they were incredible. If you like quilts you must see these amazing small quilts hanging in the visitors center at Eielson. At the center we also got great shots of Denali but clouds were forming. The mountain is so white that it is really hard to distinguish the mountain versus the cloud. According to Nan we have been incredibly lucky today. She said she had only seen the mountain this clear a few times. She said an unobstructed view like we had today was only happens about 10% of the time. At one point we were able to see the Muldrow Glacier that is formed on Denali and flows 33 miles into the valley just beyond the visitor center at Eielson. I could hardly believe the last half of it was really glacier it was green and looked just like the surrounding tundra except very bumpy. Every so often you could see where the white ice was showing through. Then it ends and the McKinley river begins fed from the glacier. It is so hard to believe with the distance and color it is really a glacier from Denali.
As we went on to our closes point of all, 25 miles the mountain began to hide from us but the whole range remainded awe inspiring. We made it to Wonder lake about 2 pm. We picked up Ranger Pete who rode with us to the end of the road and we had two walks with him. One he talked about the history of mining and a woman named Fannie Quigley. Fannie lived in the valley most of her life and died at the age of 74 here in the valley in her retirement home. The retirement home had no running water or indoor plumbing of any kind, wood cook stove for heat. She had a Perma Frost Cave for refrigeration. She could hunt bear, moose and caribou better than most men and used a dog sled for her once a year trip to town, Nenana 100 miles away. She and her husband survived by mining gold. He was nearly buried alive as he dug for gold and was hurt very badly but survived. Joe Quigley divorced Fanny and moved to Seattle. Fanny stayed in Kantishna until her death.
Ranger Pete also told us about all the wildflowers and plants. Those that were poisonous like Monks Hood and those that had medicinal properties like Eskimo tea. It did get very warm in the bright sun. The bus did not have air conditioning just lots of open windows and on a dusty road boy was that fun! We all had our pictures taken at the End of the road sign which was fun. We saw Fannie's retirement cabin and were told about her recipe for blueberry pie, including the bear fat lard for the pie crust.
At that point all of us were really hot and tired as we loaded on the bus to head the 92 miles back. Shortly after we started back the sky darken and it began to rain. Denali was gone completely covered by thick clouds.
On the way back we saw numerous Caribou that had come out from their shady spots with the cool rainy weather. We saw another Grizzly with her cubs and more Dall Sheep. The big event came however near the end when high above we saw a lone wolf traveling across the mountain. It looked like it might have been heading to where the Dall sheep and babies were. In the binoculars you could see it had a tracking collar on it. It was almost all light gray to white. It was so terrific to see all these animals in their natural habitat. Thank God and the USA for preserving these wonderful places and these animals so that we are still able to experience this amazing park.
We finished our bus ride complete thrilled 12.5 hours later. Nan was great and we gave her a hug as we gave her our appreciation for her expertise today. It was an amazing day and worth every penny and even getting up early!
We headed back to the camper and we talked about the day. We hadn't seen Moose today which some were disappointed by. David made a comment about seeing Moose st Cantwell and we laughed. You guess it, there she was in the same place stopping traffic and enjoying the attention. This Moose just loved the area I guess.
Arriving back at the camper the dogs were very glad to see us as it was now 8:30 pm. Boy had it been a long day. We walked the dogs and went to check in with Ilene to make sure all was good with her and pay her. She said she had the best day with Budd and Kelly including taking Budd to see a 9 year old boy in the park who was thrilled to meet Budd. She said Budd and Kelly seemed to like the boy too. We got back to the camper and I fed the dogs and made us a quick dinner too and then David and I collapsed in bed. We weren't very good company for the dogs but they seemed glad just to have us home.
Today was just one of the most memorable days of our whole trip. The animals today were great to see but the mountain, oh that mountain was just unbelievable and a memory I will cherish forever! God really out did himself when he made Denali!