Untamed Splendor

Sunny and warm as we head north up Parks Highway (Rte 3). The sky is really clear this morning and the highway is a good road as we leave Fairbanks. The George Parks Highway covers 362 miles from Fairbanks to Anchorage through some of the grandest scenery in Alaska. About 5 miles later we pass the turn of for Ester, a tent camp in 1906 for miners, today is a beautiful small town with an appealing combination of history and contemporary Alaskan artists. It’s a perfect place for a picnic, but its too early for lunch.

Further on through forests and past little ponds we find ourselves on what the locals call Skyline Drive. There are expansive views of the Tanana River with a backdrop of the snow covered Alaska Range. The road winds it’s way across the top of a ridge and we pull into a viewpoint looking out over bogs and small lakes with names like Fortune and Hard Luck. After stretching our legs we’re back on the highway and cross Little Goldstream Creek, and soon amble into and through Nenana. This is a small community nestled at the confluence of the Tanana and Nenana Rivers, and serves as a service stop for travelers. Coming out of Nenana we see a caution sign “Danger - Watch for Moose” next 22 miles! We pass through a few more communities, mainly Post Offices and gas stations, and were discussing how clear the sky was with no clouds -- suddenly this vision rose before us in the distance--Mt. McKinley. Wow! Usually this mountain is obscured by clouds, we can see just a little of it through the sun’s haze.

Time for lunch so we pulled up to a little log building called the Clear Sky Café - aptly named as we are in Clear Alaska. We had a really good sandwich and talked with the lady who owns the place for quite a while. Back on the road we passed over Bear Creek and there was still snow on the ground. If you’ve read the book “Into The Wild” about Christopher McCandless who left a privileged life after graduating from college and walked into the wild world of nature near Clear. What happened to him along the way transformed him. He lived in the wilderness in an old school bus and unfortunately his story ends tragically in the bus. Close by is a long and strenuous hiking path leading to the ‘memorial bus’ where Christopher lived. We weren't prepared to take the hike so we move on. The book is a great read.

The Alaskan Mountain Range is in front of us as we continue down the Parks Highway and it’s awesome. We cross a number of creeks and have gorgeous views as we enter the town limits of Healy. Healy has the states only commercial coal mine - started in 1943 it now supplies coal to 3 military power plants and 3 non military plants.

Leaving Healy we began to see campgrounds and Outdoor Tour companies as we approach the outskirts of the Denali community. The wind has picked up a lot and we see a sign warning of high winds area. We started to wind our way through a river canyon and crossed Bison Gulch. The gulch is a trail head on the edge of Denali National Park and leads to a group of four rock spires on Mount Healy’s ridgeline known as the “Castle”. The rugged views are spectacular. This valley, south of Healy, is known as ‘Windy Valley’ and our next sign cautioned us to watch the wind sock at the mid span of the bridge looming in front us. We stopped and pumped up the air ride in the coach and headed over the Moody Bridge while the wind whistled through the canyon. The Nenana River flowed 174 feet below at the bottom of the rugged canyon. Further on, rocks were scattered across the road as we passed through a rock slide area and navigated the sharp curves which led us to our last bridge expanding Iceworm Gulch.

We rolled through the Denali "Front Country" lined with cruise line buses, hotels, and gift shops and found our way to the Denali National Park entrance. We checked into the Riley Creek campground and found our campsite in the ‘Bear’ section surrounded by low bush and pines. We were really lucky to get this as we reserved it only a few days ago in Fairbanks. After settling in we were off to the tour desk to get the logistics for our tour tomorrow morning. After some chasing around we drove a few miles down the road to Denali Cabins to pick up the vouchers for our 6am departure.

Back in the park we turned onto Park Road. This road allows private vehicles to drive 14.8 miles into the pristine wilderness until you reach the Savage River Bridge. Established in 1917 as Mount McKinley National Park it grew from the original 2 million acres to 6 million in 1980. The name was also changed in 1980 to Denali National Park and Preserve. "Denali" means "the high one" in the native Athabaskan language.

The Alaskan Range stretches across the parks entire southern section with Mt. McKinley (referred to as Denali by the locals) as it's centerpiece. We came to a rise and in the distance we caught a glimpse of the mountain but it was very hazy. We were thrilled as most of the time the mountain is hidden. Hope we have a clear day tomorrow for our tour.

The mountains, tundra, and valleys inside the park presents a true primordal wilderness that is hard to fathom. Driving down the road we marveled at the varied terrain including crystal clear rivers, mountain lakes, expansive tundra, and sweeping vistas. Reaching the Savage River we stopped in a viewing area. Taking the footpath leading to the river we saw Mew Gulls nesting along the sandbars in the middle of the river. We sat on a rock just taking in the beauty and silence .

Its late afternoon and on the way back down Park Road we drove the jeep up onto a rocky bank of a brook and sat for a while hoping to see wildlife. One Snowshoe Hare accommodated us as he ran between the bushes.

Back at home we had dinner and got ready for our tour tomorrow.

Pictures: Denali Views (2), Along Park Rd, Varied landscape, Mew Gulls on Savage River, View from our perch on the river bank