Day 18-20 - Jul1-2-3

Days 18-20  - Jul 1-2-3

Mt. McKinley (was originally known as Mt. Denali, until
Pres. McKinley wanted it named after him.
So the park was name Denali.)

As much as we wanted to spend four days at Denali, it was just not to be. 

The two days we spent there were beautiful; the surroundings and the constantly changing climate were fascinating. 

We stayed at Savage River Campground - a rustic site. 

We were surrounded by so many spectacular mountains, a good portion of them snow-capped. And Mt. McKinley, of course, was the pinnacle of them all. At 20K+ it was more than snow-capped; what we could see of it, it was totally snow covered, and the weather overhead changed constantly. The mountain never looked the same from moment to moment.

Tundra Twins - do we look cold!
Those cloud-shrouded mountains in the
background are snow-capped.

Our day trip to Eilson Info Center, 63 miles into the park, was exciting. The entire tour was wonder-filled. To think that we were traveling over arctic tundra was our first wonderment. The pine forests near our campsite gradually thinned to thick grasses and minimal small pine trees. A great open expanse of greenness that faded away to rock as it progressed up the mountains. 

Moose

And somewhere in that great expanse were the animals in the wild which we came to see. Over the day we spotted 10 caribou, 1 moose, 5 Dall sheep, 5 grizzly bears (2 adults were blond - a color indigenous to the park; 1 black; and, the 1 blond mother had 2 black cubs); 1 red fox (primarily grey with red on his back and four beautiful black legs); numerous arctic ground squirrels; and, very few birds (primarily magpies).

Caribou

Red Fox

Black & Blond Grizzlies -
Blonds really do have more fun

So, you ask, why did we leave two days early. The nighttime temps dropped to below 45 degrees. Our camping equipment, sleeping bags in particular, are 40 years old and are no longer rated for that level. So midway during the night when we had to get up to potty, we were so cold that by the time we returned to bed we did not warm up until sometime the next morning. The first night was midnight when we got up, and we remained shivering cold until 5AM when we got up to go on the bus ride to Eilson. The next night we dressed in two the three layers of clothes (depending on the body part) and still we woke midway during the night too cold to go back to a peaceful sleep.

So here we are, now, enjoying the creature comforts of a Best Western in Wasilla, AK, about 45 minutes north of Anchorage. Call us wimps; but, who'd expect such cold temps when the week before it had been unbearably hot with 80 degree daytime temps. We will return to camping tomorrow. However, the Weather Channel is predicting high 50's, low 60's through Monday, 30-50% chance of rain for the rest of the week. Oh, well. That's one of the joys of camping.