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.

Sled Dog Demo at Denali National Park

At Denali National Park there are a lot of dogs, 36 Alaskan Huskies, to be exact.  The only National Park with a working sled dog yard, these dogs earn their keep by patrolling the back country wilderness in the winter and act as ambassadors in the summer spending time with visitors. The Park Service gives Sled Dog demonstrations so we can learn more about these amazing animals and the critical job they do to help protect this Park. Here are a couple photos of the Dog Demo I attended last week. It was informative and fun!

Lucor is on top of his kennel for a better view of the crowd.

These dogs are huskier than the Iditarod racing dogs.

The comparison used was these are more like football players,

and the Iditarod dogs are more like marathon runners.

Julie and Aliqsi.

Gathering the lucky few.

Hooking up the dogs to the sled.

The dogs are so anxious to get to work and run.

Kind of like the opposite of me.

Julie getting ready to release the dogs.

After the run, they swing by the fascinated crowd.

The Ranger gives an excellent talk on the history

and current work these dogs do for the Park.

Relaxed but ready for more.

Beautiful dogs.

Done. And now for a nap...

 

The Roadside Trail

A long, long time ago, in a magical place far, far away I worked on a trail crew building the roadside trail from Denali National Park's Headquarters to the Entrance area where the visitors services were located.  I worked with an amazing, hard working and fun crew.  Joyce was our trail boss and Jim was the R&T (Roads & Trails) boss, the man in charge.  It was great summer work, being outside, working hard and getting paid well.  And after almost 25 years, the trail still stands, a beautiful reality of one man's vision and our mission.  A 3.5 mile ribbon of compacted gravel used daily by visitors and employees alike.  Wish I had construction photos to share, but if I do, they are packed away in storage somewhere.  So here it is, as it looks today.

Park Service buildings at Headquarters.

The Roadside Trail.

The retaining wall.

A beautiful walk in the woods.

A bench to relax on and rest.

What we called the "Rock Garden".

A rock fall from a hillside to the left.

One of my favorite spots.