The first day was mostly taken up with a bus trip into the park, which allows private vehicles only a limited distance along the only road. We rode through some incredible scenery, such as appropriately named Polychrome Pass.
But we were especially keen to see the wildlife. In our time at Denali, on the tour and otherwise, we saw many, including ptarmigan, golden eagles, caribou, coyote and some grizzly bears, such as this one that crossed the road right behind our bus.
At the Toklat Interpretive Center, we had a great visual aid dealing with the question of whether or not bears could deal with canned food.
On our way out of Denali, we stopped at the park kennels to see the dogs that work all winter on the dogsled patrols. We listened as a ranger gave a talk about the sled dog program, watched a demonstration, and had a chance to meet the dogs in person.
After Denali, we were planning to stay at an RV park in Nenana, but nearby wildfires made the air so smoky that we continued on to our next destination: Fairbanks. Here is downtown Nenana, with the air, sky and early evening sun blocked by wildfire smoke.
We found a great site at an RV park right in Fairbanks, right on the Chena River.
One of the attractions in downtown Fairbanks is the Ice Museum, a showcase for the international ice sculpture competition that takes place here every March. There we saw a slide presentation, and then had a tour of the ice sculptures, in coolers set at -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Here’s Christa posing as an ice musher.
We also watched a demonstration of ice carving technique, through the glass so we could warm up again.
Monday morning we went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. While the others ate breakfast, I went to the art gallery and saw a number of beautiful and interesting pieces, like this Cup’ik interpretation of the Statue of Liberty.
In the natural history section, we met Blue Babe, a steppe bison that was killed by lions some 36,000 years ago. It was found in the permafrost a few years ago, and restored through specialized taxidermy. They did such a good job that the teeth marks of the lions are clearly visible.
That afternoon we took a riverboat tour on the Chena River. The family that owns this business has been here running riverboats since the Klondike gold rush of 1898.
We stopped off at a recreated Athabaskan village, where we were introduced to different aspects of traditional native life by native guides (college students at their summer jobs). It was very informative. Here a guide shows the traditional women’s parka, and told us the reason for each of the parts. For instance, that darker fur around the inside of the parka around her face is wolverine. Wolverine fur has an oily texture that prevents it from freezing to your face when your breath condenses in the air at -50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Finally, we got back to our campsite for dinner. There the kids discovered that the ducks in the river were so tame that they could feed them by putting bread crumb on their bellies as they laid in the grass. Somehow, this had not occurred to us earlier.
Off and on throughout the first day, we kept getting partial glimpses of Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. Finally, late in the day, we rounded the corner on the way to our campsite and there it was in all its 20,320 feet of glory. 
We camped three nights at Teklanika campground, as far in the park as we could go. We had a great time hiking and playing among its many meandering, icy branches. This shot with Laura gives you a good idea of what the river is like.
We camped three nights at Teklanika campground, as far in the park as we could go. We had a great time hiking and playing among its many meandering, icy branches. This shot with Laura gives you a good idea of what the river is like.
On a ridge above the river, I got new wallpaper for my laptop.
Together we built an Inukshook. This is a kind of stone monument in human shape that Inuit and Inuk hunters would built on the open tundra, to remind others who followed that they are not as alone as they might feel out in the barren open.
Together we built an Inukshook. This is a kind of stone monument in human shape that Inuit and Inuk hunters would built on the open tundra, to remind others who followed that they are not as alone as they might feel out in the barren open.
On our way out of Denali, we stopped at the park kennels to see the dogs that work all winter on the dogsled patrols. We listened as a ranger gave a talk about the sled dog program, watched a demonstration, and had a chance to meet the dogs in person.
After Denali, we were planning to stay at an RV park in Nenana, but nearby wildfires made the air so smoky that we continued on to our next destination: Fairbanks. Here is downtown Nenana, with the air, sky and early evening sun blocked by wildfire smoke.We found a great site at an RV park right in Fairbanks, right on the Chena River.
One of the attractions in downtown Fairbanks is the Ice Museum, a showcase for the international ice sculpture competition that takes place here every March. There we saw a slide presentation, and then had a tour of the ice sculptures, in coolers set at -20 degrees Fahrenheit. Here’s Christa posing as an ice musher.We also watched a demonstration of ice carving technique, through the glass so we could warm up again.
Monday morning we went to the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. While the others ate breakfast, I went to the art gallery and saw a number of beautiful and interesting pieces, like this Cup’ik interpretation of the Statue of Liberty.
In the natural history section, we met Blue Babe, a steppe bison that was killed by lions some 36,000 years ago. It was found in the permafrost a few years ago, and restored through specialized taxidermy. They did such a good job that the teeth marks of the lions are clearly visible.That afternoon we took a riverboat tour on the Chena River. The family that owns this business has been here running riverboats since the Klondike gold rush of 1898.
We stopped off at a recreated Athabaskan village, where we were introduced to different aspects of traditional native life by native guides (college students at their summer jobs). It was very informative. Here a guide shows the traditional women’s parka, and told us the reason for each of the parts. For instance, that darker fur around the inside of the parka around her face is wolverine. Wolverine fur has an oily texture that prevents it from freezing to your face when your breath condenses in the air at -50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Finally, we got back to our campsite for dinner. There the kids discovered that the ducks in the river were so tame that they could feed them by putting bread crumb on their bellies as they laid in the grass. Somehow, this had not occurred to us earlier.
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