Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Toklat, Denali National Park

Dave, Kelly, Wendy and I are fortunate to have friends working at Toklat for the Park Service. So we drove out to visit them.  A mini-McMurdo reunion of sorts, as many of us have worked a season or more in Antarctica.  A great trip and lots of fun catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

The sun and shadows on Mt Fellows.

Dave & Kelly admiring the views.

Igloo mountain and Igloo creek, a favorite of mine.

If you look very carefully you may see a speck of white, a Dall sheep.

Sable Pass, a popular area for grizzly bears.

Amazing views at every turn. This is looking back east from Sable Pass.

The road over Polychrome pass.

Colorful rock formations gave this pass its name.

Sometimes called Poison pass, as one drop will kill you.

Scary, 'cause it's a long way down.

But beautiful, just the same.

Kelly, Dave, Monica and Wendy at Toklat.

Dave, Monica and Wendy
 checking out the bus schedule.

The Toklat river.

Divide Mountain.

Stacey and Bobby checking out the truck.

Dave, Kelly, Marty, Wendy and Anna in the kitchen.

Dave, Kelly, Monica, Marty, Wendy, Georg and Anna.
Georg and Anna are from Austria and awesome folks. 
The rest of us are Antarctica alumni.

Monica and Wendy at Stony Hill.

Luxury accommodations at Toklat.
By that I mean real beds and running water.

The hill to the west of Toklat.



Fireweed along the Park road.

Igloo mountain.

Lunch at Igloo.

Igloo creek.

The trail to Igloo mountain.

The Sanctuary River.

Eielson Visitor's Center, part II

I joined friends, Wendy, Dave & Kelly on a bus trip from Toklat to Eielson last Tuesday.  The mountain was partially out with the north peak most visible. The taller south peak was behind clouds.
We saw a fox on the road, bears eating berries on the hillsides, Dall dots (Dall sheep on the upper slopes of the mountains) and lots of caribou.  A great day and a lot of fun.

The grandeur of Denali from Stony Hill.

A fox on the run.

A grizzly at Eielson, so close they closed the trails.

Denali from Eielson Visitors Center.

Awesome, even in the clouds.
The North Peak is mostly visible but the taller South peak
(to the left) is covered in clouds.

A bus on the way to Wonder Lake.

Dall Sheep on the hillside.

I love the view of Denali from Stony Hill.