Alaska Road Trip: Denali visit, 7/11 to 7/14/2010

Our visit to Denali National Park was pretty exciting. You are only allowed to drive 15 miles into the park, so if you want to go further, you have to take a shuttle, or a guided trip, which we elected to do. We took the Tundra Tour. Needless to say, the weather wasn't very cooperative and we did no see Mt. McKinley, but made the best of it. Saw Dal sheep, which is why this park was made into a national park -- to protect the Dal sheep. We also saw grizzly bear, caribou, and a red fox -- all from quite a distance, but managed to get some photos.

Our campground was about 10 miles north of the park so we drove in. This is truly one of the most spectacular places we have ever visited, despite the bad weather.

We also attended the "Alaska Cabin Nite" dinner theater. It was a most enjoyable show all about how things were during the gold rush days, along with audience participation! The food was great -- and plentiful -- all you can eat salmon and ribs with all of the fixins.

We managed to make a hike along the Savage River, a loop trail which was very scenic.

Our very dirty bus! Everyone would get off the bus and squeegee the windows.

This was the road we took through the park! One of the kind of narrow spots. I think it was Polychrome Pass.

A beautiful hike from the Visitor's Center in Denali Park!

The Dog Sled tour was very fun. The dogs were beautiful and it was a really "hands-on" experience. Sled dogs are used throughout the park in the winter to patrol the park and take provisions into areas which are not accessible by road. They love to run!