Denali

We arrived at Denali National Park! It is a wildlife sanctuary. The only way to view the park by motor vehicle is by taking a bus tour along a dirt road called the “Park’s Road” It is so massive and quiet. Linda had Doug turn off the diesel engine on the truck and listen to the silence. Fun...

On our bus tour of the park, we were only able to get a glimpse of Mt McKinley. Our tour guide says it is a mountain that has its own personality. It creates its own weather. We tried to get a picture of it from 75 miles away. As you can see, it is way in the distance, barely noticeable. You'll have to click into these pictures so you get a bigger image and look at the clouds. You'll see a faint outline of the mountain. Linda wants to keep trying for a better picture.

We saw a mother bear and her cubs on this trip. Grizzlies are very beautiful animals but they can sure have an attitude problem. Linda hopes to stay a long distance away from them. Doug isn’t bothered.

Last night we went to a Log Cabin Dinner Theatre performance. Linda now has another recipe for cooking salmon she’ll try when she gets back home. It was an enjoyable evening as they reviewed the history of Alaska in a Cabaret style performance.

At our table we met two ladies who are guest conductors at the University of Fairbanks. They’ll be putting on a performance on Wednesday and Sunday. Since we’ll be in Fairbanks then we will plan to attend the Summer Music Festival going on at the campus.

Tomorrow we’ll be rafting the Nanana River. We’re taking the mild run . . . no fast rapids for us.

We can’t get over the massive expanse of this country. The air quality her is so clear, neither of us have been bothered by allergies. It feels good to take in a fresh, clean breath of air. Where we are staying is somewhat in the valley of the Nanana River. It is very windy. It really shakes the trailer.

The flowers in front of this picture are Fireweed. They grow wild all over Alaska. Aren’t they beautiful? In the fall they’ll turn bright red. That’s how they got their name. The Natives thought that it looked like the ground was on fire. While on a mountain trail, Linda noticed some Fireweed that had turned red. Up in these higher elevations, summer is coming to a close.

Time seems short now with only one more month to go in Alaska. Seeing the Fireweed red was a reminder of this. Someone said that when the Fireweed turns red, there will be only five more weeks until winter.

I guess that will be true up here in the mountains at Denali National Park.