Yesterday was a day that was completely dedicated to exploring Denali National Park. We wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity to drive deeper into the park while it was allowed (see previous blog for details). Visiting Denali at anytime is great, but having the opportunity to take our own car and go at our pace was something we really enjoyed.
As has been the case every morning while we've been in Alaska, we were up early. The Denali Bluffs Hotel has excellent black out curtains that make the room very dark, but we're early to bed, early to rise people.
Although we rise early, we tend to pace ourselves in the morning, so we didn't start the first of our two planned drives until around 8:30. Like our previous days drive, there were only a few other cars on the park road, which made it seem like we had the 4,740,911 acre park (bigger than the state of New Hampshire) practically to ourselves.
As large as Denali is, it is only the third largest national park in the state of Alaska. With over 7.5 million acres, Gates of the Artic checks in at number 2. The largest national park, not only in Alaska but in the entire national park system is Wrangell-St. Elias, which has a whopping 8,322,146 acres! If Wrangell-St. Elias was a state it would be larger than nine other states.
Even though we could see for miles and miles, we know that we saw only a small fraction of the park. What we were able to see along the drive had not only spectacular scenery, but some great wildlife viewing as well. The highlight of the morning drive was at the thirty mile turn around point. There is a small viewing platform that overlooks a river that is still partially covered by snow and ice. On the opposite shore there were three grizzly bears enjoying a beautiful Alaska morning. Two of them were playing peacefully with each other while the other one was a few hundred yards away. As the single bear got closer to the other two they suddenly headed into the tree line, followed closely behind by what was clearly the "boss bear" in hot pursuit. Before the chase we enjoyed about five minutes of watching these huge creatures in their natural environment.
As we got close to the end of the 60 mile (round trip) drive we stopped for a picnic at the Mountain Vista Trail Head. We were going to hike a portion of the Mountain Vista Trail but a warning sign of "bears frequenting the area", and visions of the large bear chasing the two smaller bears, changed our mind. We did get our hike in on the more traveled, closer to civilization and less likely to encounter a grizzly bear, Roadside Bike Trail.
After a bit of rest time and an early dinner we enjoyed a repeat drive into the park. It was around 5:00 when we left the hotel. We laughed because we called it our "dusk drive" although given the long daylight hours, it was actually more like a mid-afternoon drive. Again, it was spectacular, with the highlights being one more grizzly, tons of caribou, a porcupine in a tree (we didn't realize they were climbers) and breathtaking views around every corner.
In the wild he's called a caribou. If it was domesticated it would be known as a reindeer.
In a couple of hours we'll pack it up, say goodbye to Denali and head to our next destination, the Sheep Mountain Lodge in Glacier View. It'll be about a five hour drive that is certain to offer plenty of adventure along the way.
As we say goodbye to Denali National Park, here's a few more national park facts that you can use to dazzle your friends:
There are over 85 million acres in the national park system.
One national park is located south of the equator in America Samoa.
California has the most national parks (10), Alaska has the second most with 7.
Nearly 60% of all national park land is in Alaska!
