Denali National Park

Any hope of seeing “The Great One” was greatly diminished by a violent rainstorm that began as we left Fairbanks on our way to Denali National Park. The rain had ended by the time we reached the park, but the clouds were there to stay. We checked in and proceeded to our Savage River campsite for the evening.

Our visit to Denali marked the low point of our entire Alaskan adventure for one reason: their miserable shuttle bus system. Understand that Denali is different than the great national parks of the lower 48 states. There is a single road into Denali which runs 91 miles to the heart of the park. Visitors can drive the first 14 miles of this road; the rest of the park – the best part of the park – lies farther in, accessible only by shuttle.

This may not sound like a big deal. After all, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Zion are three great national parks that effectively employ a shuttle system to reduce congestion and enhance the visitor experience. These shuttles are either free or modestly priced, and all of them are implemented in such a way that they are available whenever they are needed. No reservations are required. This stands in stark contrast to Denali’s shuttle system, which employs school buses in lieu of the more comfortable vehicles found in other parks. A ride on a Denali shuttle in July requires advance reservations or a two day wait and can cost hundreds of dollars for one family to take one trip. It’s anything but visitor-friendly.

Denali also lacks any kind of trail system. The Park Service spins this as a plus, arguing that visitors to Denali can hike anywhere they want, freeing them from the oppressive limitations of trails. What they seem happy to ignore is that trails tend to lead visitors to the highlights of the park. Without them, visitors are left to just wander around.

I have to confess that I haven’t shared anything so far that I didn’t know in advance. I knew we’d be forced to take the shuttle; I knew there was no trail system; and I knew that I would have to commit months in advance to every shuttle trip we would take because one cannot, in the month of July, walk up to the ticket counter and expect to purchase tickets for a same day ride. Still, this was Denali. We couldn’t skip it. I set aside three full days, reserving five seats each day on the shuttle.

Today would be our longest shuttle bus ride – 85 miles into the park; 11 hours roundtrip. Back in April when I made these reservations I had no way of knowing if the weather would be good or bad. In fact, the weather in Denali is so variable that there is no way to reliably predict the weather even two days in advance. This highlights another aspect of the shuttle reservation system which benefits the shuttle operator rather than park visitors: riders are forced to commit before they know what the weather will be like. This way, the buses stay full. Today the weather was cold and wet. The bus was full.

Shortly after boarding our shuttle, our driver, Mike, cleared up the one misconception I had about how the shuttle system worked. Online and on the phone, the system is promoted thus: “You can get on and off the shuttle at any time. Just flag down the next shuttle when you’re ready to continue down the road.” Sounds pretty good, right? You can create your own itinerary. Well, not exactly… Once we boarded the shuttle we got the real story from Mike, who had been driving this road for 15 years.

First, a group of five cannot get off a bus and expect there to be five free seats on any bus that follows. The group will have to split up. If we wanted to stay together for the day, we could not get out and hike. Period.

Second, on a cold and wet day like this one, almost no one gets off the bus to hike. If you decide to disembark for a short walk to stretch your legs or take a photograph, plan to be stuck in the elements for a long time because most of the buses that drive by will be full.

Third, if you think you’re going to stay on the bus and get great shots of wildlife, think again. It is unusual to come upon wildlife near the road. The majority of the wildlife is going to look like little specks with legs – even through binoculars.

I found the bus driver’s last point to be particularly telling given that the apologists for this shuttle system defend its cost by comparing it to the cost of an African safari and claiming it is a relative bargain. My problem with this argument is that the analogy doesn’t work. If safari companies took visitors out in school buses to areas where the wildlife was so far away that the predominant discussion would be a series of debates over whether what everyone was seeing through their binoculars was a rock or a bear, the companies would go out of business in short order.

This is the third in a series of three images featuring a pair of wolf cubs that were playing near the road. The images were taken with a 400mm telephoto lens and then heavily cropped, hence the crunchy low resolution image. This was our only close encounter with wildlife on the entire 11 hour ride – and we were lucky to have it. Mike explained that seeing wolf cubs was a rare event. We were on the first shuttle of the day, the one that left at 5:30am, and the only shuttle to see these cubs at all.

Over the course of the day, we caught glimpses of a couple foxes and the back end of a wolf as it wandered out onto the road after our shuttle had driven by. We saw a few small groups of caribou too; none very close. The rest of our wildlife sightings required binoculars and most went something like this: “If you look at that hillside through your binoculars you will see some white specks. Those are Dall sheep.”

Mom snapped this picture of the new Eielson visitors center. Located 66 miles into the park, it had been closed for several years while it was rebuilt from the ground up. It is said to offer a grand view of Mt. McKinley on a clear day.

Note the person in the center of the image examining the moose antlers. If you look closely, you will see that there are two sets of interlocking antlers. The antlers became entangled as two bull moose sparred with each other. They were never able to get themselves untangled and died as a result.

Mom shot this image of two caribou on the edge of a snowfield as our driver explained that caribou often hung out on or near snowfields to minimize the number of insects that harass them. He went on to make another point which really surprised me. He said that Denali really didn’t have that much wildlife – at least relative to its massive size. This explained why the vast herds of caribou I had been picturing in my mind never materialized. Of course, the wildlife Denali did have could be spectacular.

Our first day in Denali ended on a high note as we gathered around the campfire and roasted marshmallows. This was one of The Boy’s favorite activities even though he was not the least bit interested in eating marshmallows after they’d been impaled and suspended over a campfire. He preferred them right out of the bag.

Our second day in Denali was absolutely beautiful. It was sunny and clear – the perfect day to take a shuttle into Denali. Unfortunately, this was the day I set aside for our shortest shuttle ride. It didn’t leave until late afternoon and only went a short distance into the park. This was extremely frustrating as there was simply no way of getting into the park earlier or going into the park farther than dictated by our original reservation. This does not describe a well run shuttle bus system to me. In fact, I’m not sure it describes a shuttle bus system at all. The solution seemed simple enough: add more buses. Of course, I don’t expect this solution to appeal to the private contractor who manages the system and whose primary goal is to maximize profit. Full buses maximize profit.

I stayed back at the camper while the rest of the group elected to explore the main visitors center and attend a sled dog demonstration. That is where Mom got this shot of the action.

Darla captured this image as The Boy checked out a pile of puppies.

Darla’s dad, who has made several trips to Alaska, warned us that these dogs really stink. Upon her return to the camper, Darla informed me that he was not exaggerating.

After dinner we decided to hike a short trail that runs along the nearby Savage River. This was one of a small handful of trails along the first 14 miles of the road into Denali. The weather was still beautiful making it a very enjoyable walk. We ended up a little ahead of Dad and Mom, who took this photo from the other side of the river with a telephoto lens.

The view from this bridge is better than any along the trail so I wandered ahead to take a couple shots. Darla captured this image of me setting up.

This bridge marks the point beyond which private vehicles cannot pass unless one is staying at a private lodge in Kantishna, a community at the very end of the road, or at the Teklanika River campground. I haven’t talked about the “Tek” but it is a very attractive option for RVers who are camping in the park for at least three nights. If so, staying at the Tek gives campers the option to buy a Tek Pass which allows them to get on and off any shuttle that has free space when it arrives at the campground. Although there wasn’t going to be five free spots on any one bus, this would have at least given us a shot at getting farther into the park today. Staying at the Tek also shortens shuttle rides by at least an hour each way since the campground is already 29 miles into the park.

The Tek is not without a downside. Visitors are permitted to drive to the campground when they arrive and drive out when they leave. No other trips are permitted: not to dump waste tanks or to fill with water; not to go to the visitor center or the dog kennels. Campers at the Tek are not even allowed to ride the shuttle to the VC or kennels. And getting a large RV into the Tek can be a real challenge.

For this trip we elected to stay at the Savage River campground at Mile 13. Savage River campground had larger sites, allowed access to the VC and kennels, and would allow me to drive around late at night if I wanted to take some night shots. We were also able to walk the few trails that existed along the first 14 miles of asphalt road. As it turned out, none of these positives outweighed the benefit of having a Tek Pass. Were I to ever go back, I would stay at the Tek.

The Boy was attracted to the bridge not for the view but for its great height above the river. It was obvious to him that the bridge’s whole purpose was to facilitate the tossing of rocks over the edge.

After walking the trail, Darla, Lewis, and I continued past the bridge along the edge of the Savage River. There was no trail so we would get to take advantage of Denali’s “walk anywhere” policy. The ranger at the checkpoint on the bridge alerted us to the fact that bears were active this area but we didn’t see any. What we did see were more rocks – and The Boy knew just what to do with them.

Once Mimi and Papa T arrived at the bridge, we reversed course. Lewis needed to show them what happened when rocks were dropped off the side of it.

We ended up blowing off the short shuttle bus ride that we had reserved in order to drive ourselves up and down the 14 miles of unrestricted road. That is where we came across this view of Mt. McKinley rising above a Taiga forest.

Meanwhile, my parents, who were driving separately, absconded with The Boy and drove ahead to discover this bull moose enjoying a late snack. Mom took this shot at full telephoto (432mm). I’m glad she got it; the moose was gone when we arrived.

Although female moose sightings are relatively common in Alaska, bull moose sightings are much less so. On the previous day’s shuttle bus trip we sat in front of a person who grew up on the Kenai Peninsula and shared that she’d only seen two bull moose in her life.

These snowshoe hares, or, as Lewis would say, bunnies, were everywhere. Mike (yesterday’s outstanding bus driver) explained that there had been a population explosion of these hares in the last few years. He also pointed out the extensive damage they were doing; all of the willows along the banks of the rivers had been stripped of their bark. Soon, he said, there would be an explosion in the Lynx population because the snowshoe hare is a staple of their diet. The cycle would end when the hares had killed off the willows leaving them with no food supply.

The snowshoe hare gets its name from its extremely large feet which make hopping through the snow easier. They turn completely white in the winter, except for the black tips of their ears.

I must have acquired some type of appealing scent while taking the previous two photographs because this baby hare couldn’t get enough of me. I hadn’t realized he was even there until he climbed up onto my shoe. Darla photographed my new friend while I was taking a shot of Mt. McKinley.

Our third day in Denali featured a shuttle bus trip that was shorter than the first day’s but longer than yesterday’s aborted trip. It was once again cold and wet. Mimi and Papa T had no desire to repeat the experience of two days earlier so they blew off this trip too. The Boy, however, was good to go!

The Boy took this picture of The Mom. He may need a little work on his focusing technique.

There is a fine line between ugly weather and beautiful weather. As we approached the aptly named Polychrome Pass, we were greeted by beautiful weather. Understand that when I say beautiful I don’t mean sunny or comfortable. In this case, it was cold and windy but the day’s rain had resulted in very saturated colors along the road, and the clouds added some nice drama to the scene. This would be a far better image if I could have captured a shuttle bus rounding the corner but, in truth, I was lucky to get something I liked at all out the window of our bus.

The view from Polychrome Pass itself was even more beautiful with the blue sky peeking through the clouds. The break in the weather didn’t last long though, as demonstrated by the next image taken nine minutes later…

The shuttles take one of their longer breaks at Polychrome Pass to give passengers a little bit of time to stretch their legs. It was a welcome respite but I was happy to head back to the bus as this storm arrived on the scene.

The Boy was not happy to be back on the shuttle bus. We headed all the way up to Eielson only to encounter the same view (or lack thereof) we had seen two days earlier. Yesterday, we were told, was an ideal day.

No kidding.

On our way back, the shuttle stopped along the Toklat River for an extended break. It was even colder now and really blustery, but there was a big river and lots of rocks so there was little question as to whether or not we would be getting off the bus.

This is another quick snap I got out an open bus window. The shuttle had stopped because someone with binoculars claimed to have seen a bear on the distant hillside. It turned out to be a rock. We’d seen far less wildlife on this trip than our first one. I think a big part of this was the fact that our first bus driver was awesome. Our second bus driver was…what’s the opposite of awesome, Karen?

Back on the subject of beautiful weather, it’s worth noting that this scene would have been far less appealing had the day been sunny and clear. I doubt I would have even taken the photograph. The clouds provide the drama. (Just when you thought I couldn’t find a silver lining if it bit me in the…nevermind.)

Mom took this shot as we headed south on the Parks Highway. Rainy gray skies once again ruined any chance of enjoying the stunning views of the Alaska Range and Mt. McKinley that are visible from this highway. The weather was worse than ever on this, our last day to take in the largest, tallest mountain in North America.

Having driven over 2,900 miles just to get to this point, I was feeling very discouraged. Even though we’d seen some beautiful views and some impressive animals, Denali felt like a complete bust. We had one truly nice day and we were not able to take advantage of it.

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