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| Alaska, The Great Land Into the Wild - My great Alaskan Railroad Adventure |
Our bus traversed a harrowing one lane gravel road 800 feet up the mountain
side – YIKES! That white peak off in the distance is Mt McKinley.
side – YIKES! That white peak off in the distance is Mt McKinley.
| It’s a beautiful clear sunny day. It started off a bit chilly and breezy but warmed up to a perfect summer day. The view from 800 feet up – beautiful vista, plain with braided river, mountain range in the distance – but the height is a bit disconcerting. |
| Mt McKinley viewing was excellent, very clear. We stopped a number of places along our trek to get pictures just in case it clouded over before we got close. Clouds roll in very quickly here. Closest point we got was within 35 miles of Mt McKinley (Mt Denali). Saw Caribous and Dall sheep along the way but they were so far away it was hard to get decent picture even at full zoom. |
| Mount McKinley is commonly referred to by its Athabaskan name Denali (meaning 'The High One'), which is the name currently recognized by the state of Alaska. However the U.S. Board on Geographic Names maintains the name McKinley, ostensibly to help visitors avoid confusion between the mountain and the park. Use of the name "McKinley" remains common, particularly in the Lower 48 - however, Alaskans and mountaineers generally use the name "Denali". |
| Moose& caribou antlers at the reststop – people had fun trying them on. I picked them up – they’re heavy! |
| Managed to grab a couple pix of the arctic ground squirrel. They look just like miniature prairie dogs. They don't seem particularly skittish and aren’t really afraid of people. Part of the bus tour is 700 - 800 feet up in the mountains along these one lane dirt roads with no guardrails. Incredibly scary on the way back as our bus had to pull way over by the edge to let other tour buses pass. I could definitely done without the fear. I couldn't even look as we balanced near the precipice. We did see a few grizzly’s way off by a river but they were so far away they were nothing but little dots. You could only see them by the movement. I didn't even try to get a picture. |
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