Wednesday, May 3rd 2006

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story. ~ Linda Hogan

I welcomed the month of May by going for a drive to Denali with my friends Gip and Carmen. There is no better way to celebrate the arrival of a new month, and the onset of more spring-like weather, than to surround yourself with Mother Nature's glory. The road into the park is now open to mile 29.5 (Teklanika) and we got an early start on Monday morning to better our odds of seeing "The Great One".

If it's a clear day, you can see Denali on the horizon about 20 miles southwest of Fairbanks, at the first scenic overlook. Dwarfing the Alaska Range, it appears as a mirage on the horizon; a faint grayish white. Sometimes it even gets lost in the blueness of the sky or the billow of a cloud and you have to concentrate a little harder to see it. The photo at left was taken from that overlook just after we left Fairbanks proper behind. In the foreground are the rolling hills of the Tanana Valley leading into the valley itself. You can also see the Alaska Range in front of the massive snow-covered Mt. McKinley (Denali).

Another great view of Denali can be seen from the town of Nenana. In the picture at left, you can not only see the mountain, but you can see another regular fixture on Alaska roads during the spring/summer season - the tour bus. While the tourism season doesn't officially start until Memorial Day, we're starting to see RVs on the roads and in campgrounds now. Princess Tour Lines seems to get an early start too. I saw some of their buses at Chena Hot Springs in March and April. Of course a soak in the hot springs is a great way to spend a cold day, so I can understand the draw in winter.

Not long after we entered the park, a mama moose and her bull yearling came walking down the center of the road toward us. We stopped the truck, and she continued to approach. When she got about 15-20 feet from the truck, she veered off into the bushes at the side of the road. It wasn't until I looked at my photos that I noticed the smaller moose had the beginning nubs of antlers.

At the first scenic turn-out, Denali stood tall on the horizon. The photo at the beginning of this entry was taken from one of the turn-outs. There is still quite a bit of snow covering the ground, but it's melting quickly. I fully expect that it will be just about gone by this time next week, unless we get more snow in the interim.

We saw a few ptarmigan on our drive. They are funny birds, the way they just stop in the middle of the road and look at you as you drive by. Their white feathers are turning brown now - another sign of spring.

One of the highlights of the trip was coming upon a herd of caribou! It was my first time seeing caribou in the park, and I was thrilled. One lone caribou came down to the road from the field, as if to look left and right for traffic. The others soon followed. There were about 15-20 animals in the herd. They looked beautiful with the tall mountains in the background.

When we got to Teklanika (the end of the road), we stopped to take a few photos of the surrounding scenery, before beginning our trip home. As is *mandatory* (at least to us), we stopped at the Monderosa for a burger.

It was a lovely drive, and the weather was perfect. I plan to go back again - maybe two or three more times if possible, to enjoy the majesty which is Denali National Park. Here are some more photos from the day, to include the glorious sunset later on that evening.

Moose cow	Bull moose yearling	Caribou	Caribou
Carmen and Gip	Magpie	Frozen Teklanika River
	Sunset after 10pm