After a smooth RV pickup today, we headed north toward Denali.  First, we stopped at the Super Walmart in Wasilla to load up on supplies.  We did not see Sarah Palin there, but you could feel her presence there.  (In fact, ironically she announced today that she'd step down as governor - speculation is that it is to prepare for a run at The White House in 2012).

We'd created a list of items before the trip so we could stock up quickly, but it still took us a full 2 hours to get all we needed and get back on the road again!  The total bill to stock the RV with enough food for our next 10 days was a small fortune!  We've surely never spent that much on groceries and sundries before in a single trip -- but we rationalized it given what we usually spend to eat out multiple meals per day while vacationing. 

We headed north toward Denali with Mark behind the wheel!  It took several hours to get to Denali National Park, where we had reservations in one of the park's campsites for the next 3 nights!   We saw multiple signs indicating moose along the highway on our way up and we constantly focused on the roadside to try to catch a glimpse of one.  When we reached the turnoff for Talkeetna, we we able to get a bird's eye view of Mt. McKinley. Mt. McKinley is the tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 ft.  It is also the only mountain in the arctic region (all other "super-mountains" are near the equator) making McKinley the most dangerous mountain to climb, even more so than Mt. Everest!  It was a stunning view and we were so fortunate to see it, since only about 30% of folks who visit Denali National Park actually see the mountain due to extreme cloud cover. McKinley is said to make its own weather, and it's often very severe and "socked in" with clouds.

Before we reached the entrance to the park, Jonna spotted a moose with a calf.   We were so excited to see a moose before we even got into the park.  After snapping a few shots, we plowed onward.  It was still extremely light outside despite being past 10 PM as we drove the 13 miles down the Denali Park Road to the entrance of Savage River Campground where we would spend the next three nights.   There are three campgrounds inside of Denali for camping, but Jonna picked this one because there are only 34 sparse, secluded campsites here, which affords a more peaceful stay.   Backing the RV into the spot and setting up the slide-out wall was a first time adventure for us, but before you knew it - we were all set up.  Jonna had gotten us lasagna to eat -- we popped that in the oven not realizing how late it was!  We soon realized the entree wouldn't be ready to eat until midnight (it's so easy to lose track of the time with no sunset and no schedule to keep) so we decided to live on the edge and eat our dessert first while the meal cooked.  We started with appetizers, then roasted marshmallows for some s'mores, then ate a salad while awaiting the lasagna!  It is so light outside that it is impossible to know what time it is unless you look at your watch.   The lasagna was finally done at midnight and we enjoyed it outside by the fire with daylight still hanging on all around us!  It was a long and busy day and we were excited to be here!

Happy Independence Day!  We got a late start this morning after yesterday's late arrival.  We finally stirred around 10 am and were ready to see what the day held for us.   We made one rookie mistake sleeping in the RV last night by leaving all the screened windows open.  It had been so beautiful when we went to bed after dinner (at 1 AM!) that we didn't think about it!  By 4 AM we were literally freezing as the temp had quickly dropped into the low 30s!   It was hard to get out of bed, but we finally all got moving.

First, there was some RV maintenance to attend to.  After one day, we found ourselves almost out of fresh water.  We couldn't figure that out since Darby was the only one who had showered (only for a few minutes as the hot water runs out quickly) since we had picked the RV up yesterday.   Who knew that most national parks don't have water and electricity hook-ups ... We are such "city slickers"!  So we took the RV to the entrance of the park, Riley Campground, to dump the "gray" water and refill with fresh.  If anyone has seen the movie RV with Robin Williams, you can imagine our concern with performing these tasks.  Luckily, we had no trouble at all and we were soon finished. 

Mark had a few work things he needed to follow-up on (yes, all but he knew it was a HOLIDAY!) as there was spotty Internet access at Riley, so Jonna and the kids decided to take a hike.  As it was, the hike led through a beautiful evergreen forest, down Parks Highway, and across the Nenana River.  It was a beautiful view.  Seeing the Nenana Rafting Company across the street, Jonna and the kids headed over to see what was happening.  Jonna had previously called rafting companies in Denali and had been told that kids must be 14 to paddle raft.  Grayson and Darby had no interest in oar rafting since they had already paddle rafted in Colorado a few years ago, so we had written rafting out of our agenda. As it turned out, the raft owners looked at our kids and determined that they were hardy enough to hit the rapids.  And as luck would have it the 2 pm trip was running behind due to the guides on an earlier trip that morning running behind.  So at 2:45 we were able to slip in with the group!  Jonna frantically called Mark to get him down and outfitted ... so by 3:15 pm we were loading rafts at the Nenana River.  Our guide Gabe was a "cool dude"!  The river contained class III and IV rapids and after Gabe tested the skill of our 9 person raft, he said we were skilled enough to hit the rapids hard!  We had a blast!  Several times the raft was completely covered with water! We were dressed in dry-suits with our clothes underneath.  Technically, these suits should keep your clothing completely dry.  It is important to be dressed warmly underneath as the river temperature is about 34 degrees. Glacier water feeds into the river keeping it icy!  About 1/3 of the way into the trip we hit a rapid head on called "2 Rocks" and Darby and Jonna were completely sucked out of the boat.  After being dragged and swirled for a minute, both of them surfaced and luckily Jonna was right next to Darby to remind her to point her nose and toes toward the raft (that's the one thing you must always remember when you fall out).  Jonna and Darby were back in the boat in no time with Gabe apologizing all over himself.  Apparently it is rare to have "swimmers" on a rafting trip and Gabe told us nobody has fallen out in the past year!  Jonna and Darby felt "special" and were officially inducted into the Nenana Swim Team at the conclusion of the trip!  The water was pretty chilly, but it made for great excitement!  We had the BEST time!

Although we thought the excitement for the day was over, on our drive back to the campsite we saw a few people gathering along side the road.  We were so lucky to see a lynx near the side of the road hunched by a tree and awaiting his dinner - the Arctic Ground Squirrel - to come down.  We got some great photographs of it.  Lynx are usually hard to catch a glimpse of because they are nocturnal, very quiet and so fast; so we felt very fortunate!

In the spirit of July 4th, we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill back at our site and enjoyed a campfire.  When we finished at 10 pm we felt we needed to get a bit of exercise before bed - rafting wasn't enough - so we headed down the back of the campground to Jenny Creek - a tributary for the Nenana River.  Mark, Darby, and Grayson enjoyed skipping stones while Jonna followed a Snowshoe Hare to get his photograph.  We finally turned in late and exhausted, ready for our early adventure tomorrow to venture well into the park.

This morning was our day to travel deep into the park.  To preserve the park and maintain the ecosystem as naturally as possible, Denali does not allow private vehicles to enter the park past the Savage River Camp Ground.  Anyone who wants to travel into the park must purchase a pass and travel "school-bus style" into the park.   This allows lots of people to enjoy the park, but leaves a minimal human footprint behind.  The one road into the park is 90 miles long and visitors determine how far they want to go.  We purchased tickets to travel to the Eielson Visitors Center at mile 66.  We were picked up at mile 13 by the 7:30 am shuttle and headed west.  The bus driver stopped at any wildlife sighting and offered lots of interesting information along the way.  The road is unpaved and the trip took over 3 hours!  In terms of wildlife, it was relatively uneventful for the first several hours and we were becoming disappointed.  There is a large forest fire burning about 150 miles north of the park and there was some smoke evident in the park which we were told might have caused some of the animals to seek shelter. 

Our first sighting was Alaska's state bird, the Ptarmagin.  But finally, we spotted our first bear along with three adorable bear cubs, albeit quite a long way away.  Mark had purchased a nice Canon SLR camera with a good zoom lens before the trip and we were so glad to have it so we could see wildlife that was at a safe distance away.  We were warned to stay at least 300 feet away from bears (even further when with cubs) and at least 25 feet away from moose and caribou.   While in the bus you are required to stay onboard so it isn't a problem. We finally arrived at the Eielson Visitors Center and were happy to be out in the fresh air.   The Visitor Center has a film about climbing Mt. McKinley that we watched to learn more about the history of the great mountain.   Mt. McKinley was originally called Denali by the Athabascan tribe that lived in the region.  Denali in the Athabascan language means "High One".  The center also had great displays about the animals indigenous to the region. 

We attended a ranger-led Tundra hike and learned more about the various flowers and plants that survive in Denali's harsh climate.  Because the growing season is only about 100 days and there is permafrost below the surface and high winds are constantly present on the tundra, the plants grow close to the ground and are hearty.  While on the hike, we spotted a bear on a ridge nearby.  The grizzlies in Denali are almost blond so it is sometimes difficult to spot them on the tundra.  The Tundra hike was concluding so Mark and Darby decided to take a closer look at the bear while Grayson and Jonna opted to hike up the Alpine Trail. Amazingly, while Jonna and Grayson hiked, the bear came walking down the road towards where Mark and Darby were, which resulted in some amazing photos (before the park rangers scurried to get everyone a safe distance away).  Meanwhile, the trail that Jonna and Grayson hiked was only about 1.5 miles starting from the visitor center, but is ascended rapidly to the summit - 1,000 feet from start to summit.  Starting at 3,700 feet at the visitors center and ending at the summit with an amazing view at 4,700 feet , it was definitely a workout. On the descent Jonna discovered just how steep the climb was as she noticed the sheer drop offs at the trail edge.  It took about 1.5 hours to make the round trip and everyone met up at the center to board the bus for the 66 mile journey back.

Our bus driver on the return, Gloria, has been driving the bus every summer in Denali for 15 years and was a wealth of information.  We were so fortunate to have better luck with wildlife sightings on the return.  We saw a caribou just wandering his way down the road toward us.  Gloria said that the caribou often do that because the bugs that get in their noses on the tundra are a bit better when they are on the road.  After heading down the road toward us, the caribous took a turn and headed to an ice patch to put his nose on it!  We later spotted a bunch of Dall Sheep up on the mountainside - both on the left and right sides for a great view.  Lots of Snowshoe Hares were about with tons of baby hares and the Arctic Ground Squirrels were plentiful!  Later on the trip back we saw a bear in the road!   Given his disheveled looks and unkempt nature, Gloria estimated that it was probably a 3-year old in the first season without his mom learning to take care of himself.  We were so fortunate to get a close-up look at him. 

We returned to our site exhausted after a full day!  Deciding that spaghetti was the way to go, Jonna prepared that with garlic bread and we enjoyed our last night at Denali quietly enjoying the peace and serenity.  Tomorrow we'll head south again for adventures unknown...

It is time to leave our wonderful campsite at the Savage River in Denali National Park.  It was so peaceful (i.e. not Internet, cell, TV, news) and beautiful here that we hate to go.  I am sure many more adventures still lay ahead of us so off we go.  This morning we headed over to Riley Campground right inside the entrance of Denali.  We needed to get rid of trash and  take on fresh water, etc and it is a much bigger campground with about 150 sites as compared to the 34 at Savage River.  The kids were still sleeping when we pulled out and drove the 13 miles to the front of the park.  A beautiful Raven flew right overhead and we were lucky enough to have the camera poised for a shot just as he went over our heads!  That was exciting.  When we were at Mount Rainier last week we learned a lot about the Raven, including facts and folklore about its role in native Alaskan creation stories.  It was fun to see one after learning about them. 

Once we arrived at Riley, we began doing all the necessary things before heading out of the park.  Jonna had the garbage in her hand and was heading toward the dumpster behind the RV when she looked up to a rustling sound - it was a HUGE moose and her calf.  Jonna cautiously backed away while calling to Mark who came out and was equally surprised!  The moose was not bothered at all by our presence and went about her business of grazing with the calf while Mark snapped dozens of pictures!  We learned from Park rangers to stay 25 feet away from a moose and to run if it charged, but to stay 300 feet away from a bear and to stand still and slowly back away talking to it and waving our hands if it charged.  Luckily, we were a safe distance away and she didn't mind being photographed so there was no charging involved!   It was so exciting to see the beautiful creature and her baby up close!  After a while she changed course and headed down the road and back into the forest with the baby following close behind.

Afterwards, we headed to the main visitors center for the kids to turn in their Junior Ranger books and be inducted into the Junior Ranger program for Denali National Park. Both kids think they are too old and cool to participate in this program despite the fact it is for kids up to 14 years of age, but we make them do it anyway!  It gets them to learn more about the park and we think they secretly enjoy it!  We watched a short film about the history of climbing Mt. McKinley and finally said goodbye to Denali around 12:30 pm.

Once in the RV everyone quickly fell asleep, leaving Mark to navigate the roads alone.  We stopped after while for lunch at Denali State Park and let him get a little nap in the RV while we explored the trails.  Finally, we were on our way back to the Wasilla/Palmer area. Follow our July 6th adventure here.