Alaska trip, day nine
Day Nine--Denali
Here I am at the McKinley Princess Lodge, in the Denali State Park, enjoying more free wifi. I arrived about an hour ago and had dinner--an excellent salmon chowder. I haven't even been to my room yet, because it's in a separate building, and I don't want to have to come back up to the main lodge tonight.
After a leisurely morning at Denali Princess Lodge and the park visitor center, I went on a three-hour nature tour of Denali National Park. It was a good day for it--sunny, with some intermittent clouds and a breeze to keep the mosquitoes off. I was glad of both my fleece jacket and my windbreaker. We drove into the park--on the one road--for about 15 miles, then took a one-mile, hour-and-a-half nature walk. On the way in, we passed a pair of moose, mother and yearling calf, and stopped to watch them for several minutes. We saw no animals on the walk itself, but the park naturalist made it very interesting nonetheless. And we did see some three-week-old bear scat. Would you believe willow trees less than two feet tall? More brush than trees. Partly the moose keep them short by grazing, but it's also because of the harsh winters. Lots more scrubby little spruce, too. Besides the permafrost, the limited--three month--growing season keeps them short.
We ended the tour at the visitor center, where our coach down here to McKinley Lodge picked us up. It was a two-hour drive through more interesting scenery. And we saw a bear! A black bear loped across the road not far in front of our coach. I was sitting up front and had an excellent view through the front window. As soon as it cleared the road it almost disappeared into the brush. The vegetation hadn't looked that tall, but it obviously was.
I got up quite early this morning, and tomorrow will be worse, so I'll probably be going to bed soon. Tomorrow I'm going on a jet boat river tour, leaving from the nearby town of Talkeetna, then going to Anchorage by coach. The weather forecast is for possible/probable rain both places, so I hope I don't get too soaked.
Here I am at the McKinley Princess Lodge, in the Denali State Park, enjoying more free wifi. I arrived about an hour ago and had dinner--an excellent salmon chowder. I haven't even been to my room yet, because it's in a separate building, and I don't want to have to come back up to the main lodge tonight.
After a leisurely morning at Denali Princess Lodge and the park visitor center, I went on a three-hour nature tour of Denali National Park. It was a good day for it--sunny, with some intermittent clouds and a breeze to keep the mosquitoes off. I was glad of both my fleece jacket and my windbreaker. We drove into the park--on the one road--for about 15 miles, then took a one-mile, hour-and-a-half nature walk. On the way in, we passed a pair of moose, mother and yearling calf, and stopped to watch them for several minutes. We saw no animals on the walk itself, but the park naturalist made it very interesting nonetheless. And we did see some three-week-old bear scat. Would you believe willow trees less than two feet tall? More brush than trees. Partly the moose keep them short by grazing, but it's also because of the harsh winters. Lots more scrubby little spruce, too. Besides the permafrost, the limited--three month--growing season keeps them short.
We ended the tour at the visitor center, where our coach down here to McKinley Lodge picked us up. It was a two-hour drive through more interesting scenery. And we saw a bear! A black bear loped across the road not far in front of our coach. I was sitting up front and had an excellent view through the front window. As soon as it cleared the road it almost disappeared into the brush. The vegetation hadn't looked that tall, but it obviously was.
I got up quite early this morning, and tomorrow will be worse, so I'll probably be going to bed soon. Tomorrow I'm going on a jet boat river tour, leaving from the nearby town of Talkeetna, then going to Anchorage by coach. The weather forecast is for possible/probable rain both places, so I hope I don't get too soaked.