Denali National Park, AK - June, 2004 (Re-run)

 Denali National Park encompasses more than 6 million acres, compared to Yellowstone National Park at 2.2 million acres.  The park's main feature is Mt. McKinley, which was named Denali (the great one) by natives.  Some still like to call it Denali, while others use McKinley.  Whatever you call it, it is the highest mountain in North America at slightly more than 20,000 feet.  An interesting fact is that the portion that is visible above the surrounding land (referred to as prominence) is almost the entire elevation.  By this measure, it is the highest in the world.

The park has many spectacular mountains, rivers, lakes and tons of wildlife.  Since visitors are allowed to drive only a short distance into the park, most people ride the bus that goes some sixty miles into the park with multiple stops along the way.  One may depart the bus at any stop and catch any departing bus on the way out.  We chose to stay with the bus for the entire trip, which takes the full day.

Most of the wildlife we saw was too far away for photos, but this wolf trotted right past our bus, never seeming to even notice it was there.

Since Mt. McKinley makes its own weather, it is surrounded by cloud cover much of the time.  We were told the mountain is visible only one day out of four, on average, but we were fortunate to see it on three of our four days there.  

Not satisfied with views from the ground, we wanted to see the park from the air.  The quirky little village of Talkeetna is where flights leave to give tours of the mountains and glaciers in the park.  

 Our flight was supposed to go over Mt. McKinley but, due to excessive turbulence, we only circled the mountain.  However, what we were able to see was plenty scenic, and most of us staggered off the plane after landing.  It was the only time I've been close to airsick.

Fairbanks, AK -June, 2004

 Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska with a population of just over 30,000, but is much smaller than Anchorage.  Still, it's the transportation hub of interior Alaska and a major supply point for people who live in, or visit, the great Alaskan wilderness.  A "must stop" for tourists, we spent a week there enjoying a variety of activities.

North Pole, AK is a small village that took its name as a way to attract tourists.  Almost everything in town is geared toward Christmas and Santa Claus.  When young children write to Santa at the North Pole, this is where the USPS delivers their letters.  The largest statue of Santa in the world is found here, along with reindeer and many other items associated with Christmas.

One of the more popular attractions in Fairbanks is a tour on the riverboat Discovery, a steam driven paddle wheel boat that can carry up to 900 passengers.  The tour up the Chena river includes several demonstrations of life in this remote region.  For example, the most common form of travel in the wild was demonstrated by a bush plane taking off and landing on a very small strip along the river.

 

The boat stopped and gave us the opportunity to "meet" Susan Butcher, the famed dog sledder who was the second woman to win the Iditarod and the first to win it four times.  The race is more than 1100 miles long across the most challenging course one could imagine.  She even drove her dog sled to the summit of Mount McKinley.  It was a thrill to hear her describe life as a "musher" and see her operation.  Unfortunately, Susan had leukemia and passed away a couple years later.

We saw a fish wheel in operation and an Athabascan woman demonstrated how to filet a salmon and smoke it for preservation.

 At a native village, we explored their typical housing and several young women showed off hand-made winter clothing.

Later, while touring the Fairbanks area by car, we were introduced to local wildlife, such as caribou and musk ox.

 

At Chena Hot Springs, we visited the very popular spa and saw the last stages of an ice auditorium, a traditional structure that must be replaced every winter.

We seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit a place called Coldfoot, north of the Arctic Circle.  The name is said to stem from many miners in search of gold who got that far north, but got "cold feet" and turned back.  The camp served to house workers building the Dalton Highway to the Prudhoe Bay oil field and the Alaska Pipeline.  Our flight over the mountains was very scenic, and our return to Fairbanks in a van included a stop at a wilderness trading post.  The family that runs the store has done so for more than thirty years and still have no electricity.