After delivering Matt to the airport on Sunday, we started to get ready for Michael and Ally to arrive on Monday night. Laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning the trailer were all a high priority. Fixing the daytime running light was also a priority. Sue had to tryout her new camera. The old one developed a problem of not opening the lens fully.
Luckily, their plane was on time and we spent another night at "The Nugget" planning an early morning departure for Denali. Enjoying their company and the beautiful scenery along the way, we arrived at Riley Campground in Denali National Park around noon. After selecting a camping site where we did not have to unhitch, we quickly boarded the shuttle bus so we could take in the sled dog program at 2 pm. We were able to tour the dog kennels and pet many of the dogs and the three puppies.
Steaks on the grill made for an easy dinner and we were all ready to retire early. The next morning we were off to Teklanika campground to spend the next four nights. TEK Campground is located 30 miles into the park.The scenery driving to TEK was spectacular, but we were disappointed that we did not see any wildlife.
After settling in our campsite at TEK we rode the shuttle bus to Eielson Visitor Center which is located 66 miles inside the park. On the way we were rewarded with a bear sighting and some caribou. At Eielson we signed up for Discovery Hike on Friday that began at TEK Campground. On the bus ride back to TEK we saw bears, moose, ptarmigan and caribou.
On Thursday Michael and Ally went hiking to Stony Ridge. They saw a marmot, ground squirrels, a golden eagle and caribou during their hike. On their bus ride they saw bear. With GPS in hand, they did not have any problems hiking in Denali where there are no designated trails.
On Friday Michael, Ally and Sue did the Discovery Hike out of TEK campground. Ranger Allysa was our guide for the day and she was good at helping us to identify the flowers and various tracks and scat that we encountered on our hike. We started the hike along the Teklanika River with several stream crossings that resulted in wet feet for some people due to the rain we had during the night before. After climbing a cliff that jutted out into the riverbed we watched for any wildlife, but did not see any. Heading through the forest we walked on the spongy tundra and discovered many native plants and flowers. As always, hiking with a park ranger you learn a lot.
Despite the cloudy skies Saturday morning, Michael, Ally and Sue took off to hike in the Polychrome area while Terry took the bus in search of wildlife. We got off the bus at the Polychrome rest area to begin our hike. The wind and rain were persistent as we worked our way up the ridge line. Two caribou with huge racks posed on top of the ridge, but weather prevented us from digging out our cameras.Trudging through willows and following a faint trail that traversed across scree, we were glad that we were prepared for the weather with rain pants, rain jacket and gloves. However, after a morning of hiking in the unrelenting rain and wind we decided to turn around and head back. On the way down we took time to pick some of the blueberries that were abundant on the mountainside while dreaming about eating blueberry pancakes in the warm and dry trailer. In spite of the weather, we had a great time hiking in such beautiful country.
Sunday morning we left our campsite at TEK and headed for Willow to camp for the night at Willow Creek Resort. We parked right on the creek and watched as people fished in the creek. The water was so clear you could see tons of fish--good size fish--but we did not see anyone catch anything. We were all glad to finally have hot showers. Glimpses of the peaks of Denali on the way to Anchorage were awesome.
Monday we returned to "The Nugget" in Anchorage. The week went by too fast and it was time for Michael and Ally to return home. The trailer is too quiet and it no longer looks like we are having a giant slumber party.
Tomorrow we head for Homer.
See all the pictures here.
No comments:
Post a Comment