29 July 2006
Day 13: Denali National Park
Today was the second trip into the park. The 9:15 AM shuttle traveled all the way to Wonder Lake and back (Wonder Lake is the lake in the foreground of every distant shot of Denali). Weather was forecast to be sunny today (as of two days ago). Actually, it was overcast and raining all day (mostly drizzle). Visibility ranged from poor to abysmal. Denali was never visible today.
Nevertheless, spotted:
• Dall sheep (including two that were sparring)
• hoary marmot
• caribou (too far away to really see/photograph)
• grizzly bears: two different moms with cubs, plus one solo bear
Hopefully I have at least one good bear shot now. I will have to check those photos later.
Upon return (8:15 PM), packed up the car and drove to Fairbanks, arriving very late.
Tomorrow, I need to do laundry and get the car’s oil changed. I cannot get the 5,000 mile service done as it will be Sunday.
Still trying to decide whether I will travel the Dalton highway (north). The weather forecast is for overcast skies and rain here, with partly cloudy skies in Prudhoe Bay. As the scenery is the whole point of the trip, I’m not sure I want to bother with this (very rough) road if the weather is bad.
After Fairbanks (with possible sidetrip toward Prudhoe Bay), I head SE to Tok, then NE to Dalton City. An alternative to the Dalton highway would be to head futher NNE from Dalton City.
Departed Denali National Park at 8:10 PM AKDTArrived Fairbanks, Alaska (64°50'N, 147°46'W) about 10:30 PM AKDT
Sun: 4:37 AM - 11:17 PM
Distance to Seattle: 1,520 miles
Distance to the arctic circle: 131 miles
Distance to the north pole: 1,743 miles
view routeDistance driven: 133 miles
Total driven: 4,354 miles
29 July 11:30 PM AKDT