Tomorrow, Denali National Park - Montana Owners Club

jrgwdenner · 07-25-2005, 04:54 PM

In the morning, we're heading south to Denali and hoping that the beautiful weather continues so we can see lots of wildlife. Here at Fairbanks we were delighted to be able to visit an international Indian powwow. It was a beautiful event.

Thanks for all the kind comments on our blog. There are new pictures there. http://bamatravelers.blogspot.com Enjoy!

Wordsmith · 07-25-2005, 05:10 PM

Judy, I am EXTREMELY envious of your travels—except for the fresh water tank woes! My father–in–law went to Denali several years ago and absolutely loved it. His pictures were absolutely gorgeous!

I trust you will continue to post many more pics on your web page!

jrgwdenner · 07-25-2005, 06:24 PM

Thanks, Wordsmith. I will do my best. I love taking pictures and sharing them. These digital cameras are the best for a fanatic like me! Hope you get to make the trip some day.

DCP · 07-26-2005, 03:03 AM

I just checked out your pictures and they are stunning. Thanks for sharing with us. I am very interested in the names of the campgrounds you are staying in and how you liked them.

Parrothead · 07-26-2005, 08:13 AM

Judy
We are following your trip with great envy and interest. Hopefully we will be making this trip in the next couple of years. It has been our dream for many, many years. I'm printing all your suggestions to put with the Milepost we buy every other year. Ed has it almost memorized!
Happy trails......................

Wordsmith · 07-26-2005, 11:20 AM

It will most likely be SOME time before Marsha, John, and I make it up that way, so I hope you will take in some of the scenery for us!

jrgwdenner · 07-26-2005, 06:13 PM

Consider it our commitment, J.D., especially here at Denali. It is breathtaking. The mountains are on such a grand scale, which makes it stand apart from other mountaineous areas that we've visited. It is a beautiful area and one that is not spoiled by a lot of commercializations. We are at Denali Rainbow Village which is very close to the Riley entrance. And we have WiFi! We are parked at the far corner of this gravel parking lot so I have to play with it a little, but it works. I can and will move closer to the office if I need to.

Glen and I have signed up for an early eight hour ride into the park, with the hope that we'll get in there before the rain comes. And we signed up for an "old folks" float trip on Thursday. We drove into the park tonight, as far as private vehicles can go, which is only 15 miles one way. Then we drove through the Riley Creek campground. We're glad to be staying out of the park. If we had a truck camper or tent, the campground would be a great place to stay but it would be tight for a 34 or 37 feet fifth wheel. It also happened to be full since they now have a reservation system online, I believe. So we're lined up in the parking lot but we have a great view of the foothills and can easily take a stroll through the business district which is lined up on either side of the main road. We splurged on a Salmon Bake tonight and it was delicious. The weather and the mosquitoes are both cooperating. The only time we've been bothered by mosquitoes was when we walked at dusk. They're mean when they bite, less friendly than the ones in Alabama.

jrgwdenner · 07-27-2005, 01:46 PM

I've worn out the word 'awesome' since leaving on this trip, so I'll try spectacular! Denali was spectacular! We were blessed with a clear day except for a little cloud cover that blocked the peaks of Mt. McKinley for a short time. But it didn't cover the awesomeness (oops, there's a form of that word again!) of the mountain. We hit a home run in the animal viewing category...a moose with her calf, several caribou, a pack of wolves who seranaded us for 5 or 10 minutes, Dall sheep, four grizzly sows with 1, 2, or 3 babies. One mama bear brought her baby down the mountain and walked across the road right in front of us. Amazing! And there were a lot of little critters, too. Our guide and several people on the bus had unusually keen eyes for spotting the wildlife and we reaped the benefit.

Someone had recommended that we take the shuttle bus instead of the tour buses and I believe it was the right decision. We chose to go 62 miles into the park for $27.50 each person and that allowed us to see a lot more animals. The bus driver/guide stopped for every animal sighting and we had to be very quiet while we took pictures. It was an awesome trip,.....oops, there I go again.

Wordsmith · 07-27-2005, 03:22 PM

Sounds like you are having one of the times of your life! All of the scenery and especially the animal sightings sound just…well, awesome!

Based on what you are saying, I would say that is a pretty apt adjective.

Continue to have a wonderful experience!

sreigle · 07-27-2005, 03:55 PM

Oh, wow, we'd love to see that wildlife! So far in Glacier we've seen a black bear (100 feet away), bighorn sheep (15 feet away), mountain goats (less than 3 feet away), deer, etc., but we're still looking for a grizzly! Keep on having a great time and telling us all about it!

jrgwdenner · 07-27-2005, 03:58 PM

We've shared some new pictures of some of the grizzlies we saw today and Mt. McKinley. Check them out http://bamatravelers.blogspot.com

OntMont · 07-27-2005, 04:05 PM

Perhaps this is one of the few times when the use of "Awesome" is truly justified. Thanks for all the info, we really appreciate your posts.

sreigle · 07-28-2005, 04:22 PM

I'm glad to see they were moving AWAY from you, Judy and Glen!

jrgwdenner · 07-28-2005, 05:55 PM

That is the best kind of wildlife, Steve, the one moving away from you. Our river rafting guide today said that the news report of a couple killed by a grizzly bear this month stated that they were experienced rafters and campers. They were found inside their tent, which was still intact, with a loaded pistol at their side. Apparently they never had time to use it before they were mauled. Grizzlies aren't as aggressive as black bears. When a grizzly gets too aggressive, they are destroyed by the rangers to protect hikers and campers. Even on our drive through Denali on the shuttle bus yesterday, one group of hikers came face to face with a sow and her young cubs. That's a dangerous situation.

sreigle · 07-29-2005, 05:58 PM

We saw a black bear in Glacier one evening last week. Really enjoyed watching it eat, then move away. It was across the highway and up a 12 foot ridge from us. Maybe 100 feet max. Probably less.

jrgwdenner · 07-29-2005, 06:03 PM

We've had two black bear sightings, the first was when we were driving north of Banff. The bear just crossed the road in front of us so I was able to get some pictures of him. The second one was a fairly young bear who was just playing in the meadow along the side of the road. He was so cute. I feel really blessed when we have the priviledge of seeing wildlife.

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