July 19-20, 2008 -- Anchorage and Denali

We drove to Anchorage from Soldotna that night.  We arrived in time for happy hour, but after visiting with the bears all day, people weren't of much interest to us.

The next morning we saw some of the highlights of the city (train station, Eisenhower memorial, and a street fair for some), and then headed towards Denali. We stopped in Wasilla to see the Iditarod Dog Sledding Museum; and, got to take a ride on a dog sled. Although there wasn't any snow, they set up a trail for the dogs to give you "a feel" of being on the run. Outside of Denali, we stopped at the town of Talkeetna. This is where the climbers depart for their climb on Mt. McKinley. As always, the drive everywhere was beautiful.

Talkeetna Airstrip

 Arrival at Denali National Park -- we stayed in cabins with the bathrooms in a separate building. 

The following morning we took the bus into the interior of the park (12 hours; 90 miles).  We got to see what our guide called a Denali Royal Flush -- caribou, grizzly bear, Dall sheep (mainly from a distance), gray wolf (ran across the road), and a bull moose (grazing in the willows by the road).  Ed was worried that we wouldn't see a moose, and it was within the last 1/2 hour of the trip that we saw it.