Denali and trip to Anchorage

6-12-06 DenaliWe left Fairbanks today at 6:08 headed south toward Denali National Park. About 40 miles south of Fairbanks we ran into the smoke from the forest fire which has now reached 33,000 acres. Some of the trees were still smoking. We drove through that for almost 20 miles sometimes with the visibility down to 100 yards. There was red fire retardent on the blacktop. Some homes were still standing and looked untouched while the area all around them was burned black. You could tell where the swamps were as they were still green with grass. It will take years for this area to recover. Got to Denali at 8:50 s made good time even with the slow driving speed. This fire was cause by a man dumping the ashes from his burn barrel into a wooded area!!!We visited the vistors centers and got our camping and tour bus tickets. Then we caught a bus to the Denali Dog Kennels where they keep the sled dogs. We got to walk up and pet them then they harnessed up five dogs and they pulled a sled at high speed around a short track. Very exciting for them and for us. We had seen this on TV, but so much better in person. We had sun most of the morning but now it is a little cloudy and we had about 5 minutes of sprinkles. They say the mornings are better weather wise so we are hopeful for tomorrow. Our bus leaves a 6 am and we hope there are lots of animals along the way.We were told there is a grizzly and a cow moose with her calf wondering around our camp area. There will be no long walks with Sheila. Tonight the ranger is giving a talk about the footprints of the animals in the park. Should be interesting. Will be the first time we have gone to a ranger talk and not had to take a flashlight to find our way back to camp!


6-13-06Woke up at 4:30, ate, packed a lunch, walked Sheila and was at the bus station at 5:30 for the 6 am bus. What a beautiful day. There were only about 21 people on the bus so each of us got a window seat the whole day. We saw wolves first - they were so much bigger than any I had seen in museums, etc. Before the day was over we saw Dall Sheep and Caribou, ground squirrels, ptarmigan, snowshoe rabbits, golden eagles, moose, grizzly bears, marmets, and one fox. Most of them were pretty far away (except for the rabbits and squirrels). Mt. McKinley (Denali) was totaly covered in clouds, but we didn't expect to see that anyway so were not too disappointed. The day was beautiful and the group was very friendly and talkative so we had a great time. The bus went 65 miles into the park (no cars allowed except for researchers and park personnel). We made about 4 potty stops each way and stopped on the road when we saw wild life and took our pictures from inside the bus. It took about 8 1/2 hours to complete. I was tired and can only imagine how the bus driver felt. The road is gravel and one way in most places. The drivers have to look ahead for another bus and then one of them stops as far over as they can and the other bus drives past slowly. No guard rails and on the way back we were sitting on the downhill side and it was straight down in a lot of places. I tried to look across the tundra and on the hills for wild life and not look down too often!!We came back to the trailer and took Sheila for a walk and I took a short nap then we drove back up the highway outside the park and hit a couple of more gift shops. You are going to be seeing me in Alaska T-shirts for some time. Saw a movie about the northern lights (aurora borealis) which was very well done. We have seen the lights a few times from Lopez Island, Table Mt. near Ellensburg and Whidbey Island, but nothing like the ones you can see from Fairbanks. We noticed last night around midnight that it is a little darker here than in Fairbanks, but you can still see plenty well without other light.We were scheduled to be here for four nights, but saw a lot yesterday then the trip today and the movie this evening so are ready to head on down the road. There are some places I want to visit in Anchorage and one place is only open Tuesday through Saturday and we will only be there Thursday and Friday. Don't know where we will be Wednesday night - perhaps at the Chugach State Park near Anchorage or perhaps somewhere north of there????


6-14-06We made it to Anchorage. I wanted to go down the "Old" Glenallen Highway and took a wrong turn. We were going north instead of south so had a rather long detour, but finally got back on the right road. By then it was 4 pm I was hot and tired and didn't know where the state park was and we never did see a sign for the it. So we went to and RV park that is almost right in downtown. It is near the railroad tracks, but we shall see whether we sleep through the trains or not. One comes through between midnight and 2 am and another between 4 and 6 am. Tomorrow we shall tour around Anchorage and do laundry. Friday - who knows??? Meeting David, Wendi, Travis and Tracey for dinner then will drive out to the place for the dog trial after dinner. Hope we don't get lost again!!We have wi-fi at this trailer, but I cannot get it working on my computer. Will try again tomorrow as I am tired tonight.