Denali RV Park and Motel Denali, Alaska
Mileage: 44,880
The morning began with our ride back to Cantwell, driving west on the Denali Highway. Heading in the opposite direction offers an entirely different view. We saw some snowshoe hare. They are brown now in the summertime but will turn white to be camouflaged by the snow. The hares are low man in the food chain, providing much needed protein for the bigger predators.
We were in a hurry to get back to Cantwell. We unloaded the Jeep and showered and headed north toward Denali. No more oil leaks! The day became grey and overcast and it began to rain. We camped at Denali RV Park and Motel. Kyle read while Tim and I napped.
Awake and refreshed, we decided to head to the Denali National Park.
We stopped to pick up our tickets for Tuesday’s park tour. Only the first 15 miles of the park is accessible by car. If you want to enjoy the rest of the park, you choose which bus ride you want to take. There are lots of options…short rides on air-conditioned buses that include lunch. When wildlife is spotted, they use cameras to zoom in and then they show it to you on a screen on the back of the seat in front of you. Or, there are the no frills ride on a school bus where you bring your own food. You can choose the 4-hour tour or longer…up to 12 hours. If you choose this option, you can get off the bus whenever you want to go hiking or to explore. We are taking the 12-hour bus ride tomorrow.
We were also able to get Tim’s Senior Access Pass – a true right of passage. If you are 62 or older, you can buy a lifetime national park pass that allows free admission to all the parks for the rest of your life as well as up to 50% discounts on camping and other park services. Many state parks also honor this pass. Tim has been looking forward to having this card. We normally like to choose park campgrounds over private commercial sites. This card will afford us significant savings. In fact, Tim said I’m stuck with him because now he is much too valuable!
We wandered around in the Denali Visitor Center taking in all the displays and exhibits while it continued to rain. It was great to learn more about the history of the park, the flora, and the fauna.
We drove the first 15 miles to the Savage River. We saw a she-moose in the edge of the trees. It was still wet and rainy, but we needed to get out and move. Kyle and I got Tim to agree to hike a 2-mile loop around the river despite the gooey weather. We were all glad we walked.
It was 4:30 when we finished our hike. We decided to go to the infamous Salmon Bake for dinner. The building was not built on a foundation and so it is sliding down the hill. Tim and Kyle chose elk burgers and I had an amazing seafood chowder.
We spent the remainder of our evening posting the blog and doing laundry.
The alarm is set for 5:15 am!