Fairbanks to Denali National Park

Fairbanks to Denali-Mt McKinley Nat’l Park
July 11, 2010

Happy 40th Anniversary to my sister, Diane McDaniel and her wonderful husband, Rob.. She & I married in the same year. She is one of my many blessings!!

Well, as luck would have it, Gene and I awoke to rain and rode in it for several hours on our way South on Alaska 3 to Denali Natl Park, This little berg has a lot of hills in it and we were hard pressed to find a room we felt we could afford.. Finally, someone told us to check at the Denali Salmon Bake. They did have one little economy cabin left for $69 + tax. It has heat, electric and two beds.. looks like a little cabin with a tarp over it.. but it was cute and rustic and DRY! Much better than the little place Carole and I had in Okoboji:0)

I know we passed some beautiful scenery and missed seeing the pipeline but that’s what happens when it rains :( We had a salmon BLT at the Salmon Bake and watched a movie on the computer cause we had no TV (like camping only it was dry). I have made reservations for a 7:00am bus trip into Denali Park.. 63 miles in to Eilson Station to hopefully see Mt Mckinley and some animals. The Salmon Bake will have a driver take us to the Wilderness Access Center in the Park. I have a lunch packed with water, cameras and binoculars.. Now..lets see what we can see.


July 12, 2010,

Thank goodness I just happened to wake up at 10 minutes til six am..as I had set the clock but on am/not pm so although the alarm was set for 5:45am.. It didn’t go off until just a little while ago….at 5:45pm!! But that’s Judy for you!..We woke to a beautiful sunny sky, few clouds and were on our way to meet the bus at 6:30. Although ours was not a regular tour bus where the driver is required to point out every detail to you.. we were so fortunate to have an Alaskan woman who drives school buses in her regular job..so therefore had a lot of patience and also had a a lot of knowledge she was willing to share with us.. She’s done this job for several years and knows and loves Denali.. So she showed us the park with enthusiasm …stopped whenever we thought we saw or really did see an animal and also pointed them out to us.

The sheep were very far away..up in the mountains they looked like white dots until you trained your binoculars on them.. We saw grizzlies twice, but they, too, were pretty far away. We had Caribou walk across the road in front of us.. saw a female moose..AND ..WE SAW MT MCKINLEY. I say this with exclamation as it is said that only 25% to 30% of the people ever see the Mountain..It is usually shrouded in clouds but we saw it clearly..Huge!! Looked like some of the photographs I’ve seen.. so they say we saw all Five our our trip. The Four large mammals and the Mountain!.. Our driver, Wendy , remarked that she usually only sees it about 10 times during the whole summer she drives her bus out there. So we were happy.

Then back to our “little cabin in the woods” for our afternoon nap and up to journal and then probably some dinner and a movie before bed..

I called my sister, Diane, to wish her a Happy 40th and she told me her husband had planned a surprise plane trip back home to Maryville Mo where they met in college in 1968 and then married in 1970. They went to all their old hangouts they went to as kids, having dinner with my brother, Frank, In KC, Kansas and then returning to their home in Olympia, Wa today,.. isn’t that wonderful?? Ahhhhh. Love that lasts!! It just doesn’t get any better than this :) :)Love to all!