June 19 cont.
Turns out the campground got their water repaired in time so we are where we are supposed to be today. It rained most of the way here and was raining when we got onto the bus at 6AM to enter Denali Park. Folks were a little depressed that they probably won’t see the mountain or the animals in the rain? Our bus driver and guide was a 17 year veteran at doing this tour. She was very knowledgeable and explained every thing about the park. She has backpacked a lot of it over the years. Much to everyone’s surprise the animals were out and we saw quite a few. Most of them were at a distance but we did see a couple bull moose close up. We saw a couple bald eagles which see said is rare in the park. Some folks in the front of the bus saw a lynx run across the road into some bushes. I took a picture of a grizzly that was quite close to a small herd of caribou. I also took a picture of what I thought was a young bald eagle nose to nose with a raven. The driver wasn’t sure what the bird was but thought the raven was protecting a nest from the predator. The park is over-run with snowshoe hare and dall sheep but the sheep where not where we were when we were there. It turned out to be a good trip through to park for animals but we only saw where the mountain was suppose to be had it been a little more clear.
June 20, DAY 40
We arrived in Anchorage with rain most of the way. We passed by Sarah’s house but she wasn’t home at the time and we probably won’t have time to get back here to say hi before we leave for Seward on Monday. We arrived at the camp ground and I’m hanging over on both ends as is the guy with th 42 footer. It was quite tight getting into the spot with a tree on one side and a bolder on the other. I had -1 inch of clearance. That was the tail pipe that made contact with the boulder. No damage but close.
June 21, DAY 41
It’s overcast today but no rain. Did sprinkle a couple time but we still enjoyed the Alaska Heritage Center. We than took a tour of the town and hit the big Mall downtown. Four floors with just about every store you could thing of. We went to Wild Berry Theater and restaurant for supper. It was pretty good and a person showed up with an eagle to let us see one close up and ask questions. More technical problems prevented me from posting anything so I’m still trying to catch up.
June 22, DAY 42
It’s raining again and we are leaving for Seward. On the way we stop to visit Portage Glacier National Park and visitor Center. When we arrived it was raining hard and 60 mile an hour winds so the rain was moving sideways. Couldn’t possibly use an umbrella in the wind so we got soaked trying to get to the Visitor Center. We left our National pass in the rig so we had to pay because we certainly were not going to make that trip again to get it. It was quite interesting but unfortunately we had to trudge back out in the weather to get back to the rig. Once we got into the campground we went to the Alaska Sea Life Center which was established post Valdez oil spill to treat sea life and monitor effects over the years. After that we went to dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant. Yes I know it sounds strange that we chose that in the land of the salmon.
June 23, DAY 43
We went to Exit Glacier today and hiked up to the glacier. It was very interesting even with the clouded condition; at least it didn’t rain while we were there. Did I mention that it hit 70 degrees last summer only 4 times here? It is measurably colder that Fairbanks. I guess that is why they still have the glaciers. I did tack a picture of a couple eagles at the campground.
June 24, DAY 44
Well it is hard to believe the sun is up and it is so bright at 5AM. The sun does set a little earlier here but it is still very bright at 1130 PM. We are off to ride the dog sled today but it may be a wet ride based upon the looks of the clouds in the sky?