Denali National Park

Denali National Park can be described in the following words; wondrous, resplendent, contagious, and defining.

Standing on the roadside overlooking a valley we gazed at the largest peak in North America: Denali Mountain more commonly known as Mount McKinley standing 20,320' tall. Technically the world's largest mountain (in bulk) McKinley gives Mount Everest a run for its money. Denali, on a clear day, which is only three days out of the month, can be seen from more than 80 miles outside of the park. We got to witness Denali with barely any clouds and saw its full beauty of peaceful snow covered peaks filling the horizon.

There is no other place to see North American Wildlife as abundant as Denalil. This is mainly because the parks strict rules of prohibiting private vehicles past mile 15, and into the heartland of the preserve. The first 15 miles offer moose which are hidden by eight to ten feet of brush in the tundra and in the autumn time, in a sea of reds and golds. Occasionally you will see their heads pop up to take a look around, or a bulls horns stark white standing out amongst the fauna.

On our second day in the park we took an 11 hour shuttle bus which takes you to Wonder Lake, a photographer's dream -  a mirror lake reflecting Denali in its entirety. Unfortunately for us it was cloudy by the time we arrived at Mile 86 and a strong wind created waves on the lake. But thats okay because we got to see a rare sight....in one day we saw most of the parks major animals! Arctic Wolves, a separated pack with the males on the horizon laying in the grass while the female and her cubs used the road as a short cut to get to the nearby river. A grizzly bear with her year and a half old cubs stocking up on blueberries for the winter season not more than twenty five feet from our window. The state bird the Ptarmigan, a small fat bird resembling a Pheasant, and in the air circling -  a Golden Eagle, which has a larger wing span than the Bald Eagle. Squinting our eyes at the mountain passes we noticed that what we thought were clumps of snow were actually packs of Dall Sheep eating grass on the vertical plains. And in the valleys with their gorgeous white and brown fur slept a pack of Caribou, the only mammal in which both the male and female sport antlers. The shuttle bus trip was exhausting and well worth the $42/person for the trip. It is extremely rare to see all of these animals on any given day let alone all in one day and we felt we were truly honored to have seen them. Absolutely famished from the long day we headed to the Salmon Bake and got some grubs, local beers and pie before calling it a night.

On our third day in the park we went for a hike to Horseshoe Lake near the river and came across a huge beaver dam, swan, and ground squirrels collecting nuts for winter. In the afternoon we headed to the dog kennel where we got to meet the Denali sled dog team (all 30 of dogs) and see a demonstration on how mushing works. Mushing is used throughout the winter months to get to different cabin posts and secure the park from hunters. It is the only form of travel that is safe for the wild animals, environmentally friendly, and practical. The dogs can each pull 150 pounds easily and we watched five of them pull 300 pounds with no effort whatsoever. Since the dogs are used to colder temperatures we learned that 60 degrees for them is sweltering, 20 degrees is comfortable, but -20 degrees is when they are at their finest. It's great to see these dogs in action, you can see how much they love their jobs as its in their blood and so ingrained within them.

It's already autumn in Denali and winter is but a short two weeks away. Temperatures did not peak past the upper 50's and the nights were around the freezing point but that did not stop us from taking in the sights and big breaths of fresh air. Denali is an incredible rare place and although a bit out of the way, it is well worth the investment and energy, for the return of seeing these animals in their natural habitat and Mt. McKinley in all its glory is one that is invaluable.

Full set of pictures here!