A drive into 6.2 million acres of almost untouched land.
Above – Our nice motel in the town of Denali. That sign is heavy, those guys could ‘bearly’ hold it up. (This caption writing is not improving with experience.)
Above – Employment opportunities, hope they pay well, check out the price of gas (below). It was the highest we saw, the norm was around $4 a gallon.
Above – Our Denali limousine, the only vehicles allowed in much of the park.
Above and Below – We immediately spotted the Alaska State bird, a couple of Willow Ptarmigans. Well, the park guide and driver spotted it, we weren’t on a first name basis with the State Bird yet, and we couldn’t pronounce his last name.
Above – ‘Threaded’ rivers formed by tons of ground up rock from the glaciers being constantly reshaped by winter ice and spring floods. The silt has the texture of flour.
Above and Below – Kodachrome Pass. I pains me that I don’t have the ability to capture even 2% of the grandeur of a place like this. It was a ‘wish you were here’ moment. If you are interested, HERE is a much larger version of the picture above.
Above – Campers are allowed to drive into some of the park campgrounds, but once there, they have to park the car and hike everywhere; one entrance, one exit, no driving out to get a pizza.
Above – Some large mammals were spotted. Caribou! This picture above is the way we saw them. Remember that they become reindeer if you domesticate them. They also, apparently, learn to fly.
Above – The guide had a video camera tied to the bus monitors. He could use his powerful telephoto lens to get close-up shots. They were not always from the best angle, ‘butt’ you could sure see the details.
Above – A really great picture on the monitor.
Above and Below – Were the roads narrow? Did the windows get dirty? Yes and yes. Our driver/guide spent time at every stop tackling the second problem.
Above – A close-up of another ‘threaded glacial runoff river’.
Above – Perfect ending to a terrific day.