Denali NP

Last day in Denali and homeward bound

Posted by Jason on July 1, 2012 - 6:09pm in Our Travels.
When: 
June 16, 2012 to June 17, 2012

I'm writing this entry as we fly back to Seattle. Penelope is asleep in Katie's lap, so it is a good time to write. Yesterday was too busy.

Denali National Park - Day 2

Posted by Jason on July 1, 2012 - 2:08am in Our Travels.
When: 
June 15, 2012

Today we ventured farther into Denali National Park. We caught a mid-morning shuttle bus for a 5.5 hour round-trip into the park. Some buses go even farther in, but we were already concerned that this bus ride would be long for Penelope.


Denali National Park - Day 1

Posted by Jason on July 1, 2012 - 1:32am in Our Travels.
When: 
June 14, 2012

We woke up this morning, got our RV in order, and then did a 5-mile hike around Byers Lake at the campground we were staying at. It was a pretty good hike, but the mosquitoes were out in force and made some sections miserable. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of the mountains reflected in the lake, but the clouds did not cooperate. However, other than cloudy mountains, the weather was great, which was a welcome change. Along our hike we spotted some loons and a beaver in the lake. We also saw signs of moose and bears along the trail, but luckily we had no encounters.

Our first views of Denali

Posted by Jason on July 1, 2012 - 12:48am in Our Travels.
When: 
June 13, 2012

Today we finally saw the sun, but we had to drive a long way to see it. It rained all night at our campground last night, and when we woke up it was raining, overcast, and foggy. Our first stop was 10 min away at Matanuska Glacier. This is a glacier that you can easily access and walk on with a guide service, but given the weather we just stopped at a viewpoint and walked the 1 mile loop trail. The glacier was nice, but not as impressive as some of the other glaciers we had seen.