Denali National Park

For me, a trip to Alaska would not be complete without a trip to Denali National Park, to see the wildlife, and attempt to see Mt McKinley (or Denali) - and attempt is the right word, as only 30% of people who go to see it, actually do (known as the 30% club), because it is so often covered in cloud. At 20,320 feet, it is quite a bit lower than Everest, but it rises from a lower base. On the day we visited, we were told that there were 300 people climbing it, and that only a week previously, the search for a man on the mountain had been called off as he was presumed dead. It is a pretty serious mountain!



On the way to Denali, we started to get a glimpse of the more, um, red-neck side of Alaska...





But then we got to see the mountain in all its glory!




The three of us, with the mountain in the background

It was a longer day of driving than expected, so I was a bit tired by the end of it!

Making a plan for the next day...

Our visitors on the first night in Denali National Park, a moose and her calf! Super cute!

And super close!

Moose and calf love!

The next day we set off on an 8-hour bus ride (there is no other choice, unless you want to hike it...) to see the Park. We got to a great viewing spot for the mountain, which despite appearances in this photo, we could actually see! No clouds!! We were officially part of the 30% club!!

And there is the mountain again

And some other mountains

And a few more mountains...

Mum, looking tres casual!

So, having seen the mountain, it was time to turn our attention to the wildlife. Unfortnately none of it came particularly close to the bus, but a decent zoom lens can make the world of difference!

A grizzly bear - despite their other name of Brown Bear, they are in fact, not always brown, and can be blonde like this one.

Caribou on the snow

A snowshoe hare

An arctic squirrel

Some gravity-defying Dall Sheep

A soaring golden eagle

A moose calf which has got separated from its mother... hopefully she finds it again before the bears do...

Another moose

After sitting on the bus for 8 hours, mum decided we should head off for a hike... so we did. But it was somewhat short lived thanks to the entire squadrons of mosquitos which made life very unpleasant! But we managed to stand still for long enough, and stop flapping our arms, to have some photos taken!

RVing!! From Anchorage to Talkeetna

After being driven around for weeks, either on ships or trains, planes or helicopters, it was time to be more self-propelled! So it was time to pick up our home for the next 9 days, the RV. At 24 foot, it is a baby amongst the RV community, but big enough for us!

Me and the RV

Making lunch in the RV

The RV in our first campsite, Eagle River

Annie and myself with a well-earned post first day drive beverage!

Mum and me on a rock by Eagle River.

The peace and tranquility was a little interrupted when, during a discussion about why our family never did more camping or outdoorsy stuff when Mike and I were kids, Annie promptly fell and scraped her leg quite badly, and Mum then dropped and nearly broke her glasses... I need wonder no more...

And so we retired to the relative safety of the RV, and I started to practice my overlanding skills by cooking our first meal

Mum at the campsite

Before we had pulled into the campsite though, we had visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre, an animal refuge for native beasts.

A Musk Ox

A scary wolf

A grizzly bear

But he was behind a fence, so we didn't have to practice our "I am going to stand my ground while being eaten by a bear" techiques that they advocate in the "unlikely" event of a bear attack.

But he doesn't look to keen to attack anyone...

Bison

Caribou (actually the same as reindeer, but called Caribou in North America, and Reindeer in Europe)

A bored black bear

Annie and a Moose

Me and the moose

From Eagle River we headed to Talkeetna, described as "most people's vision of what an Alaskan town should look like".

Me and the K2 Flightseeing hut. I went on an hour and a half flight to see Mt McKinley, which was sadly in cloud at the time, and the surrounding area, but unfortunately my memory card corrupted and I have no photos...

Mum and Annie and the river, looking towards Mt McKinley

Looking very pleased with myself, enjoying a glass of wine

Yep, that wine was pretty strong stuff, so this seemed like an excellent idea... Sorry Annie!

The next morning, as we headed to Denali National Park, we came across this beautiful float plane base, and had to take a couple of photos!

Train to Anchorage

It was time to head for Anchorage, so in an effort to use as many different types of transport as possible, we caught the train from Seward to Anchorage.

Just in case you didn't know where we were...



Mum on the train - we went posh class!


Annie and me on the train:

Mum and Annie on the train... unfortunately it was raining outside, so most of our photos seem to be of us!

A very happy looking Annie, admiring the scenery

An equally happy looking Mum!

Mountains, mist and rain...

The train - amazing how much snow was still lying around by the sides of the tracks

The official bird of Alaska, the Ptarmigan

Crazy Alaskans fishing by the highway and train line... that water could only be a couple of degrees warmer than zero!!