Aug 23 - 30 - Glennallen to Anchorage, AK via Faribanks and Denali
Aug 23 (Wed) – Glennallen to Palmer, AK
The next morning we took a short but interesting hike in the forest near our camp site. The forest was growing over permafrost causing the roots of the trees to be very shallow and spread out on the surface. The result is a web of interlocking roots that easy to trip over. The vegetation was sparse and the growth of the trees had been stunted. The ground ended up being mushy and swampy so we turned back without seeing the mud volcanoes we set out to see.
We left the camp on the Glenn Hwy twards Palmer (130 miles) is with spectacular views of snow capped mountains and glaciers. We stopped at an overlook near the huge Matuska Glacier and could see white Dall sheep high on the mountain cliffs. Since the terminus of this glacier was accessible by car we turned off down a dirt road and parked almost at the face of the Glacier. Heading for a hike over the base of the glacier we followed a trail marked with orange cones on what looked like dark basalt gravel, but we soon realized the dirt was covering a heavy layer of very dense glacier ice. The further we walked the more ice and less dirt we saw, and the bluer the ice looked. There were rivers of water coming from under the glacier and ice caves with water dripping from the ice. The base of the glacier must have been about two miles and larger than any glaciers we had seen so far.
We pressed on towards Palmer on beautiful Glenn Hwy passing more steep gorges and hugging rushing rivers carrying silt and rubble from the glaciers. The land began to flatten out near Palmer were we camped for the night.
Aug 24 (Thurs) – Palmer to Denali National Park, AK
Thursday morning was overcast, but no rain, so we decided to headed north on the Parks Highway for Denali National Park. The previous week of heavy rains caused severe flooding and closure of the Parks hwy in several places. It appeared though that one lane of traffic was opened today to traffic so we decided to go for it. Indeed there was an escort car leading vehicles in alternating directions down the open lane of traffic. From an overlook soon after a place called Trapper Creek, we got a great view of the snow capped mountains of Denali Park, but the top of Denali itself, (previously known as Mt. McKinley) was obscured by clouds. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America at over 20,000 feet (we learned that it is only the 17th tallest in the world, however, and is only about two-thirds the height of Mt. Everest). We got back on the road and about 20 miles before the Park entrance we saw a fuzzy thing ahead by the side of the road which turned out to be a mother Grizzly Bear with her cub. We pulled over to the side of the road and the cub ran back into the woods. The cub eventually came out and the two of them crossed the highway behind our motor home. We drove into to the Park and toured the Visitor Center (http://www.nps.gov/dena), that again had a wonderful museum and film about the Park and it wildlife and history. That night we camped in the Riley Creek Campground right in the park which has very nice sites with plenty of forest around each site and a small food store. There are shuttle busses through the part that get you around without a car.
Aug 25 (Fri) – Denali National Park, AK
On Friday morning we got up at 6:00 am to catch a bus tour of the park starting at 7:40 am. Since the sun goes down so late it is hard to get to bed early, so getting up at 6:00 am was difficult. The tour was on a school bus and went about 55 miles into the park on mostly dirt road. The bus went through these huge valleys of tundra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra) surrounded by very high snow capped mountains. The weather was only fair with low overcast that obscured the tops of the mountains and there was occasional drizzle. The scenery was wonderful, however, since fall was just beginning and there were red and yellow bushes and trees in many places. Along the way we saw a gigantic moose, some small herds of caribou and more Dall sheep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall_sheep), looking more like white specks on the mountain. We were somewhat disappointed; however, that we didn’t see any more bears.
Aug 26 (Sat) – Denali to Fairbanks, AK
Because of the cloudy and rainy conditions and our location we were not able to see the top of Denali, which had become one of our goals. The weather forecast said Monday and Tuesday would be partly cloudy and we thought we might have a chance to see the top of the mountain. We decided to go further north to Fairbanks. We left mid morning and got to Fairbanks in the middle of the afternoon. Our first stop, after checking into our RV park, was the University of Alaska Large Animal Research Station, where we were able to see musk ox, reindeer and caribou and a Red Fox in one of the fields. We then went to the University of Alaska Museum of the North (http://www.uaf.edu/museum/) a beautiful new museum that has some wonderful displays on the history of Alaska, wildlife and culture of the native people (they are not all Eskimos). That night we got up at 2:00 am and we think we saw the Aurora Borealis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_borealis), but it was faint and partially covered with clouds.
Aug 27 (Sun) – Fairbanks to Denali, AK
The next morning we went to a wildlife sanctuary where there were hundreds of Canadian geese and Sandhill cranes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandhill_crane) preparing for their winter migration to the south. We then drove to a suburb of Fairbanks to a town called North Pole, Alaska, (not even close to the actual North Pole!) that had a kitschy Christmas shop complete with Santa and Mrs. Claus and a couple of live reindeer and lots of Christmas ornaments and t-shirts. We headed back Denali on news that the weather was clearing in the Park and arrived to stay at the Riley Creek Campgrounds again.
Aug 28 (Mon) – Denali National Park, AK
We got up early again to get another bus to take us through the Park, this time to Wonder Lake, about an eleven hour round trip near the base of Denali. This time there was a noticeable change the color of the foliage since a cold spell had come in and Autumn was reaching the higher elevations of the Park. There were beautiful red and yellows in the trees and bushes. The fireweed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireweed) was red and turning to fluffy seed pods. Along the way we saw more wildlife including another moose, several caribou and a number of Dall sheep (still white specs way up on the mountain). As we approached Wonder Lake we kept looking for Mt. McKinley until the bus driver said “There it is!” We looked but couldn’t see it, but we were expecting it to be near the other mountains, finally someone pointed out the tip of it jutting fare above the clouds much higher than we could have possibly expected. As we continued the clouds cleared away more and more and soon we could see almost the whole, huge mountain. It was really awe inspiring. We hung around Wonder Lake for a little while and headed back and this time we go to see more caribou, sheep and this time four Grizzly bears, including a mother and thee cubs! It was a real thrill!
Aug 29 (Tues) – Denali to Palmer, AK
The next day we headed back south toward Anchorage on the Parks Highway so that we would be able to ready to return the motor home and prepare for our cruise. The skies were among the clearest we had had during our entire time in Alaska and this gave us some more incredible views of Denali as we drove south. Although it was about 75 miles away it looked huge and dwarfed all the other mountains around it. We took lots and lots of pictures since many people told us this was a rare sight. We sent the night in Palmer, about 35 miles north of Anchorage and went to the Alaska State Fair that is not to much different from most other State or County Fairs.
Aug 30 (Wed) – Palmer to Anchorage, AK
On Wednesday we drove to Anchorage and decided to drive further south on the Seward Highway to see the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (http://www.alaskawildlife.org/) which is basically a zoo for Alaskan wildlife. We got to see caribou, moose, Grizzly bears, musk ox, bison and a Bald Eagle up close. On the drive down we saw a number of white beluga whales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beluga_Whale) swimming the ocean near the highway. We didn’t know what they were at first and because of their white colors they almost looked like white caps. We understand that they come to eat the salmon and that the Orcas, or Killer Whales, then come eat them but we did not see any Orcas. That night we pulled into a campground on the outskirts of Anchorage a pack up our stuff and prepare to return the motor home.
The next morning we took a short but interesting hike in the forest near our camp site. The forest was growing over permafrost causing the roots of the trees to be very shallow and spread out on the surface. The result is a web of interlocking roots that easy to trip over. The vegetation was sparse and the growth of the trees had been stunted. The ground ended up being mushy and swampy so we turned back without seeing the mud volcanoes we set out to see.
We left the camp on the Glenn Hwy twards Palmer (130 miles) is with spectacular views of snow capped mountains and glaciers. We stopped at an overlook near the huge Matuska Glacier and could see white Dall sheep high on the mountain cliffs. Since the terminus of this glacier was accessible by car we turned off down a dirt road and parked almost at the face of the Glacier. Heading for a hike over the base of the glacier we followed a trail marked with orange cones on what looked like dark basalt gravel, but we soon realized the dirt was covering a heavy layer of very dense glacier ice. The further we walked the more ice and less dirt we saw, and the bluer the ice looked. There were rivers of water coming from under the glacier and ice caves with water dripping from the ice. The base of the glacier must have been about two miles and larger than any glaciers we had seen so far.
We pressed on towards Palmer on beautiful Glenn Hwy passing more steep gorges and hugging rushing rivers carrying silt and rubble from the glaciers. The land began to flatten out near Palmer were we camped for the night.
Aug 24 (Thurs) – Palmer to Denali National Park, AK
Thursday morning was overcast, but no rain, so we decided to headed north on the Parks Highway for Denali National Park. The previous week of heavy rains caused severe flooding and closure of the Parks hwy in several places. It appeared though that one lane of traffic was opened today to traffic so we decided to go for it. Indeed there was an escort car leading vehicles in alternating directions down the open lane of traffic. From an overlook soon after a place called Trapper Creek, we got a great view of the snow capped mountains of Denali Park, but the top of Denali itself, (previously known as Mt. McKinley) was obscured by clouds. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America at over 20,000 feet (we learned that it is only the 17th tallest in the world, however, and is only about two-thirds the height of Mt. Everest). We got back on the road and about 20 miles before the Park entrance we saw a fuzzy thing ahead by the side of the road which turned out to be a mother Grizzly Bear with her cub. We pulled over to the side of the road and the cub ran back into the woods. The cub eventually came out and the two of them crossed the highway behind our motor home. We drove into to the Park and toured the Visitor Center (http://www.nps.gov/dena), that again had a wonderful museum and film about the Park and it wildlife and history. That night we camped in the Riley Creek Campground right in the park which has very nice sites with plenty of forest around each site and a small food store. There are shuttle busses through the part that get you around without a car.
Aug 25 (Fri) – Denali National Park, AK
On Friday morning we got up at 6:00 am to catch a bus tour of the park starting at 7:40 am. Since the sun goes down so late it is hard to get to bed early, so getting up at 6:00 am was difficult. The tour was on a school bus and went about 55 miles into the park on mostly dirt road. The bus went through these huge valleys of tundra (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra) surrounded by very high snow capped mountains. The weather was only fair with low overcast that obscured the tops of the mountains and there was occasional drizzle. The scenery was wonderful, however, since fall was just beginning and there were red and yellow bushes and trees in many places. Along the way we saw a gigantic moose, some small herds of caribou and more Dall sheep (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall_sheep), looking more like white specks on the mountain. We were somewhat disappointed; however, that we didn’t see any more bears.
Aug 26 (Sat) – Denali to Fairbanks, AK
Because of the cloudy and rainy conditions and our location we were not able to see the top of Denali, which had become one of our goals. The weather forecast said Monday and Tuesday would be partly cloudy and we thought we might have a chance to see the top of the mountain. We decided to go further north to Fairbanks. We left mid morning and got to Fairbanks in the middle of the afternoon. Our first stop, after checking into our RV park, was the University of Alaska Large Animal Research Station, where we were able to see musk ox, reindeer and caribou and a Red Fox in one of the fields. We then went to the University of Alaska Museum of the North (http://www.uaf.edu/museum/) a beautiful new museum that has some wonderful displays on the history of Alaska, wildlife and culture of the native people (they are not all Eskimos). That night we got up at 2:00 am and we think we saw the Aurora Borealis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_borealis), but it was faint and partially covered with clouds.
Aug 27 (Sun) – Fairbanks to Denali, AK
The next morning we went to a wildlife sanctuary where there were hundreds of Canadian geese and Sandhill cranes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandhill_crane) preparing for their winter migration to the south. We then drove to a suburb of Fairbanks to a town called North Pole, Alaska, (not even close to the actual North Pole!) that had a kitschy Christmas shop complete with Santa and Mrs. Claus and a couple of live reindeer and lots of Christmas ornaments and t-shirts. We headed back Denali on news that the weather was clearing in the Park and arrived to stay at the Riley Creek Campgrounds again.
Aug 28 (Mon) – Denali National Park, AK
We got up early again to get another bus to take us through the Park, this time to Wonder Lake, about an eleven hour round trip near the base of Denali. This time there was a noticeable change the color of the foliage since a cold spell had come in and Autumn was reaching the higher elevations of the Park. There were beautiful red and yellows in the trees and bushes. The fireweed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireweed) was red and turning to fluffy seed pods. Along the way we saw more wildlife including another moose, several caribou and a number of Dall sheep (still white specs way up on the mountain). As we approached Wonder Lake we kept looking for Mt. McKinley until the bus driver said “There it is!” We looked but couldn’t see it, but we were expecting it to be near the other mountains, finally someone pointed out the tip of it jutting fare above the clouds much higher than we could have possibly expected. As we continued the clouds cleared away more and more and soon we could see almost the whole, huge mountain. It was really awe inspiring. We hung around Wonder Lake for a little while and headed back and this time we go to see more caribou, sheep and this time four Grizzly bears, including a mother and thee cubs! It was a real thrill!
Aug 29 (Tues) – Denali to Palmer, AK
The next day we headed back south toward Anchorage on the Parks Highway so that we would be able to ready to return the motor home and prepare for our cruise. The skies were among the clearest we had had during our entire time in Alaska and this gave us some more incredible views of Denali as we drove south. Although it was about 75 miles away it looked huge and dwarfed all the other mountains around it. We took lots and lots of pictures since many people told us this was a rare sight. We sent the night in Palmer, about 35 miles north of Anchorage and went to the Alaska State Fair that is not to much different from most other State or County Fairs.
Aug 30 (Wed) – Palmer to Anchorage, AK
On Wednesday we drove to Anchorage and decided to drive further south on the Seward Highway to see the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (http://www.alaskawildlife.org/) which is basically a zoo for Alaskan wildlife. We got to see caribou, moose, Grizzly bears, musk ox, bison and a Bald Eagle up close. On the drive down we saw a number of white beluga whales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beluga_Whale) swimming the ocean near the highway. We didn’t know what they were at first and because of their white colors they almost looked like white caps. We understand that they come to eat the salmon and that the Orcas, or Killer Whales, then come eat them but we did not see any Orcas. That night we pulled into a campground on the outskirts of Anchorage a pack up our stuff and prepare to return the motor home.
posted by Dahlia and Lance Riley @ 8:46 AM
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