Denali Wilderness

Yesterday I was really excited to get into some hiking gear and see some National Park glory but I was a little disappointed. We took a shuttle from the lodge and after a quick trip to the visitor center we were off...into the wilderness. We just spent a couple hours walking through trees with no real Alaska views, in my opinion.

Well, that all changed today! From the entrance to the park I was in awe and this was the Alaska I pictured. We saw a mama moose feeding right by the road with her 2 sweet babies laying down in the tree line. Our driver told us facts and stories for almost the whole 7 hour tour and the one thing that stuck out was that this is a "wilderness park" and how it was different than the other national parks we have been to. If you hike out there you really are on your own. No trails, no cars after mile 14 on Park Road and wildlife that is everywhere.

We had an absolutely beautiful day. Leaving at 6 am was a little chilly but cloudless and that made seeing Denali possible from several views. After hearing only 30% of visitors get to see the peak due to cloud cover we felt super lucky and soaked it all in.

While stopping multiple times to see caribou, grizzly bears, Dall sheep, moose, ground squirrels and ptarmigan (the Alaska state bird), the views were breathtaking. This time of year there is still snow around and the green is just beginning on the trees. Our driver said this is the most animals she has seen since the season started 3 weeks ago.

That's our tour bus for the day.

We went 53 miles to the Toklat River where we dipped our fingers in the freezing, clear water. The return trip went a little quicker since after 5 hours most of us were a little tired.

Tonight is some local dinner theater about history and Ryan is really looking forward to it! (Editor's Note: The show was really dumb and I think everyone agreed on that.) Tomorrow is a train ride and Talkeetna. This is only day 3 and I can't believe how amazing this trip has been so far.