Friday, August 30, 2019
Denali National Park
We had leftover Reuben sandwich for breakfast, drove back to Denali National Park, and caught the 9:00 bus to Eielson Visitor Center, located at mile 66 of the Park Road, an eight-hour round trip. There's nowhere to buy food or beverages inside the park, so you've got to pack what you'll need for the day. With lunch, water, and all the different clothing layers Alaska requires, our day packs were stuffed.
Our bus driver's name was Klis, and though we'd signed up for a transit bus as opposed to a narrated tour bus, she never stopped talking. Everyone on board was straining to spot wildlife, but it was almost two hours before we saw our first animals, two ptarmagin sitting alongside the road. They looked delicious.
Alaskan road chickens (a/k/a ptarmagin)
The transit bus makes two comfort stops on the way to Eielson. The first is at the Teklanika River Rest Area, at mile 30, about an hour and a half into the trip, and the second is at the Toklat River Rest Area, at mile 53, an hour and a half later, both along broad braided rivers.
Jackalope are bigger in Alaska
After three and a half hours of nice scenery but little wildlife, finally a bear! Klis stopped the bus so we could get photos and have a better look, and she even stopped talking for a few minutes and made everyone else stay quiet too. Yay!
Grizzly!
At last we'd seen a bear, and the views of Denali were getting better the further we got into the park. Finally, we reached Eielson Visitor Center, at mile 66, at 1:00 p.m. We'd hoped to do some hiking here and then catch a later bus back, but the trails around Eielson were closed today due to bear activity, so we spent about 30 minutes here and got back on the same bus for the return. The views of Denali from Eielson were the best we saw.
Denali from Eielson
Jana and Denali
Cute little beggar
Wildlife-wise, the return trip on the bus was way more eventful. We saw a lot of Dall sheep high on the mountainsides, two moose, several bears, and even caught a couple of quick peeks of caribou!
Dall sheep, very far away
Caribou
Hello, Bear
After a long day of sitting, we got back to the bus depot at 5:30, drove back to Healy, and got some delicious take-out from Healy Thai Food food truck. For some reason, Thai food is very popular in Alaska. For $35, we got pad Thai with pork, cashew beef, and an order of spring rolls. It seemed kind of high until we saw the gargantuan portions! Delicious, and there was plenty left over.
Tom
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