Monday, August 13, 2012
This morning we went to breakfast with Dave at a great
‘lil spot near the airport.
The weather turned out to be nice for our flight out of
Juneau to Anchorage.
Once we landed we quickly secured the rental car and
drove to REI to pick up some fuel and bug spray. We also stopped for a few
groceries for the week (crackers, lunch meat, cheese, fruit, etc) and 2 Subway
submarine sandwiches. We then began the drive north to Denali National Park. We
had reservations to camp at Teklanika Campground about 1 hour drive into the
park, but we wanted to make sure we got there to set up camp before dark.
Once we were out of Wasilla, the beauty of the interior
of Alaska became apparent.
Watch out Joe, it’s a moose crossing!
Our first view of Mt McKinley, or better known as Denali,
the High One.
More beautiful mountains, which I think are part of the
Alaskan Range.
We made it to Denali National Park!
We checked in for our campground and picked up our permit
pass to drive through restricted area to Teklanika.
More gorgeous scenery within the park limits.
Here is the final rest stop normal cars can drive to
without the permit pass.
The Savage River bed.
Just beautiful.
As soon as we arrived at our campsite, our neighbors
warned us about not keeping anything in our tent with us at night because bears
have been wandering through the campground the last few days. The rules are the
obvious to keep all food in the car, but here this also includes toothpaste,
clothes, kids toys; basically anything with a scent. In the parks 95 year
history, they have never had a bad incident with a bear and go through great
efforts to keep it that way.
Our campsite was setup with only hints of pink in the
sky.
We made a campfire and settled into what we expect to be
the highlight of our trip.
There was still light in the sky close to 11pm when we
went to bed.
