Denali Day Three & Four

Wow! It's the 4th of July! This morning was dedicated to catching up on uploading photos and upgrading the blog. We have come to terms with the bad attitude of the owner of Denali Riverside RV Park. He makes his two German employees work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our choice to move to the end site at the park has proved to be a good one. It is quiet and has fantastic views of the Nenana River. Since the park has no Internet access I have been going to the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge to read my e-mails.

We are excited today as our good friends Jon & Dottie Pichelman are arriving on their Princess Tour.

Jon & Dottie

After a lunch with Jon, Dottie and two of the Pennsylvania friends they are traveling with we decided to take a drive to Savage River, as far as you can drive into the park without a permit. Our first wildlife sighting is a family of Ptarmigan on the side of the road.

Once at Savage River we chose to walk the two mile loop trail along Savage River. As we approached the bridge crossing the river another hiker informs us that a Dall Sheep Ram has been sighted on the other side of the saddle. Jon and I decided to take a look and as we crested the saddle we were rewarded with the sight of the ram feeding not fifty feet away from us.

Dall Sheep Ram

Dall Sheep Ram Close Up

On our drive back to the park entrance we spotted a somewhat lethargic Caribou in a wash.

Caribou

Back at the Winnebago we enjoyed a dinner of barbecued Russian River Salmon and finished the evening relaxing by a campfire on the edge of the Nenana River. I put my 4th of July cap away for another year and hit the sack for a nice nights rest.

On Saturday morning Mary and I went to the Wilderness Access Center and were able to get reservations to camp with our Winnebago 29 miles into the park on 10, 11 & 12 July. Our plan is to go to Fairbanks for a few days to tour that area and restock, then head back to Denali for the inside the park experience.

Our reservations made we headed for the town of Healy to explore the Stampede Road. The main character of the movie "Into the Wild" made a choice to live off the land in an abandoned Fairbanks bus 27 miles past the end of the Stampede and ended up dying as the result of eating poisonous berries. On the eight mile stretch of maintained road we had great views of the Alaska Range.

Alaska Range from the Stampede Trail

Not content with this much of the road, Mary and I continued beyond the maintained road for a few miles. After passing through several water hazards discretion told us to turn back.

Water Crossing on Stampede Road

A short way back we had a great view of the top of Mt McKinley which we determined was the place to stop for lunch.

Picnic with McKinley View

This was the 5th out of 6 that we had a clear view of Mt McKinley. How lucky are we?

McKinley from Stampede Road

The only wildlife we saw on our adventure was another family of Ptarmigan. This time I was able to get a good photo of dad.

Male Ptarmigan

We were also rewarded with our first good view of the Alaska State Flower, Fireweed.

Fireweed

We ended the day by attending the musical dinner theater at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge with Jon and Dottie and their friends.

Today, Sunday, we moved our Alaska home to Fairbanks and spent the afternoon touring the very well done Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.

Once again we have a great campsite on the banks of the Chena River. We have just finished a dinner of Mary's Shrimp Pesto and are ready for a good nights sleep in preparation for another day of experiencing what Fairbanks has to offer.