We rose very early this morning, in the car by 6:30am and on the tour bus by 6:50am, a bit of a shock to the system after our late starts lately.
The bus was absolutely full and Bert sat all day with the wheel arch – crunched up.
We saw Denali Peak in all her glory very early this morning – Mount McKinley or Denali – same mountain and only recently renamed officially as Denali the traditional name for this mountain. The highest mountain in North America at 20,000+ feet and is climbed with and without success every year.
The bus ride was for 8 hours and we saw loads of animals, caribou with their big antlers, willow ptarmigan (the native bird of Alaska), Dall Sheep (native to this area), ground squirrels and a large male grizzly.
Met a lovely family from Chicago on the bus who have been travelling for 10 weeks across to visit the area and are in the Riley Campground also.
The bus went to Mile 62 on the road, the road only only goes to Mile 92. You can take your own car as far as Mile 15 on the sealed road, then it turns to dirt and you must be on a bus – either a guided tour or the green bus that is a shuttle bus of sorts.
We had a wonderful but tiring day and are so please to have seen the mountain in full as only 30% of all visitors have this privilege and we are counting our blessings.
More to follow as we spend our next 5 days here……..
Wander and Move 