We left our Talkeetna campground at 6am to check and see if the cloud conditions over Denali may have improved. We drove just up the road at a rest stop where the view is about the best. Norm and I had breakfast in the parking lot waiting for the mountain to clear. After about an hour or so the Little's joined us, but we all gave up in order to get to
Denali National Park and Preserve while stopping at any turnouts that promised a good view.
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June 20th - 26th
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We nearly got into trouble as we turned our large, cumbersome RV's down a dirt road labeled "view point". The further we went, the worse the road got, and we began to doubt if we could get out at all. Well, there certainly was no view but for the worried sweat on our brows, but when the GPS said "turn left in 300 feet for the Richardson Highway" we were very relieved. We won't do that again! Not in these rigs!
This 6 million acres of wilderness is called Denali National Park and Preserve; Denali means "The High One" for the Athabascan Indians north of the Alaska Range and is Alaska's most visited attraction. Lying 120 miles south of Fairbanks and 240 miles north of Anchorage on the George Parks Highway the park has so much to see and do. The most obvious geological attraction of the park is the Alaska Range, a 600 mile crescent of mountains that separates Southcentral Alaska with it's Interior. We are going for the hiking.
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A quiet moment at the Visitor's Center in Denali National Park and Preserve.
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We drove straight to the Visitor's Center to get the lay of the land. Norm and I went to do the campground registration and get the bus tickets for the ride to the Eielson Visitors Center, at mile 66 on Denali Park Road, the day after. We seriously considered changing the date due to the weather predicitions, but we were told the mountain, over 60 miles away makes its own weather, and not to ever bother trying to guess it. We decided to keep things simple and leave dates as they were.
We went across the street to a full service campground, Denali Rainbow Village RV Park and Motel. All the RV's were jammed in there, but it didn't really matter. Norm dumped our tanks, filled water, and we all went out to dinner at the Prospectors Pizzeria and Alehouse which boasted a huge selection of locally drafted beers and incredible pizza ( plus gluten free ). Well, the beer was great, but they were out of gluten free, and other than the reindeer sausage pizza, no one liked theirs. Oh well, we browsed the many gift shops ( which were about the best I had seen, but still didn't buy anything ). Got back about 10pm. Still very light out.
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Nearly 10PM and it looks like the middle of the day!
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