Scenic Turnout Denali Highway Cantwell, Alaska

Mileage:  45,639

A late start for us today after sleeping in.  It is very quiet here this morning…just us.  Kyle landed safely in Baltimore at around 4 pm.  His schedule is sure to be a little messed up with the 4-hour time difference.  The last thing that Kyle said as he got out of the car at the airport was “keep having fun.”  So that is what we are going to do.

As we were checking out at the campground this morning, the camp staff told us that 4 bears were shot in the campground last Wednesday.  A sow ripped into a tent.  Alaska Fish and Game were called and they shot the mama bear and then all three of her cubs.  The tenters had been irresponsible with their food and supplies.  Everywhere we go the campground hosts reinforce the importance of storing all of your food and hygiene supplies in a hard-sided vehicle.  Bears are attracted to smells.  “A fed bear is a dead bear.”  Once bears are accustomed to people food, they become dangerous and aggressive as they forage for meals.  The rangers had tried to deter the female bear in other ways but she just became more aggressive.  Fish and Game have a policy to destroy the cubs as well.  I was deeply saddened but also mad.  I am not sure if the cubs were too young to survive without their mother or because they were exposed to the campground and they could also be a danger.  They couldn’t find a zoo or preserve that could take the cubs.  It is apparently very costly to care for and relocate cubs.  There are stiff fines for people who disregard the food storage rules.  I hope that the tenters at least have to pay the fines.

Four bears shot dead at Anchorage campground after bear rips into tent

We are headed north on Park Highway toward Fairbanks.  We stopped at the Susitna River to walk around.  This river supposedly has “tremendous” salmon runs.  There was no one fishing as we made our way to the water’s edge and we could see no salmon.  A ranger told us that this year the salmon runs have been much less than usual.  Experts believe that this is due to dipnetting and overfishing.  Dipnetting is a practice by native Alaskans. They have been granted the right to continue fishing in keeping with their tradition.  Dipnetting happens at the mouth of the river using large round nets to harvest the salmon coming from the ocean.  This reduces the salmon runs in the rivers.  We haven’t seen salmon running yet…but we won’t stop looking!

As we drove north we saw Denali in the distance.  This is the 4^th different day that we have seen the mountain.  Since most people don’t see her at all, that is pretty awesome.  Most people probably don’t hang around for a week either!  It makes us feel almost sorry for the people who only get a couple of hours on a bus tour

Today we could see the whole mountain.  If you didn’t know what you were looking for – you might mistake the snow-covered peaks for clouds.  At first you can just make out the faint outline.   As you get closer the view is unbelievable.

This is our view from Denali State Park Viewpoint South on Saturday July 14^th and then our view from today.  At this place we are 41.5 miles from the 20,320-foot south peak and 43 miles from the 19,470-foot north peak.

July 14, 2018

Today.

A couple of ground squirrels ran out in front of the RV as we were driving on the highway.  As the Denali bus driver said “You do not swerve to avoid ground squirrels.”  It is just too dangerous.  She called them “grizzly granola bars.”  And then said “hey, we recycle here.”  Today, I am happy to report that the two ground squirrels made is safely off the asphalt.

We decided to drive the short distance down Denali Highway with the RV and stay at the same lake that we stayed at with Kyle.  “Our spot” was taken by another RV so we are at the opposite end of the lake.  We napped and we sat in the warm sunshine and enjoyed the view.

Our campfire.