Alaska, part one

Location: Fairbanks

When: end of August

Miles traveled in AK: 1706

Price of gas: 4.57

Low point: After many days of rain in Denali, I drove 4+ hours to arrive at a more primitive campground and more days of rain.

One thing learned: Both male and female caribou grow antlers.

Santa recording video with parents for kids

    I started my Alaskan adventures in North Pole, just south of Fairbanks.  North Pole is a normal little town, except it has Santa’s Workshop, a tourist gift store.  More interesting was “The North Pole”, a candy cane stripped pole on display at a nearby park.  It’s twin pole is close to the geographic north pole of the earth.

 

 

    In Fairbanks, I visited the Ice Museum.  I thought the museum experience was mediocre.  It was more an exhibit hall than a museum.  Tour groups watched a film about an ice sculpting competition held each year in Fairbanks, then interacted with some ice sculptures, and afterwards watched a short ice carving demonstration. 

 

Ice slide

    Evening rain in Fairbanks, ended the months long dry weather I’d been experiencing.  The rain continued off and on during my visit in Denali NP and only two days did it not rain.  Temperatures were low 40s to mid 50s.  

 

    August is a good time to visit Denali NP.  The park was not crowded, but not barren of people.  Mosquitoes were not a problem!  Ranger programs and bus tours were still taking place!  I attended a program about dog sledding.  It was not as exciting as riding on a dog sled, but still a good program for anyone who has not experienced a dog sled team.  There was a meet and greet the dogs, but most dogs were not interested in being petted at that time.  The rangers demonstrated how the dogs pull a sled and provided a nice summary of how dog teams have been utilized since the beginning of the park.  They help rangers patrol and move supplies around the park during winter months.

Beaver dam

    I camped in Denali seven nights.  During this time I hiked three trails; Horseshoe, Savage River Loop, and Savage Alpine, I rode the park bus and took a bus tour, and saw many animals; moose, Arctic ground squirrel, caribou, Willow ptarmigan birds, and Dall sheep.  The visitor center had a good video about the park and had footage of a beaver towing a stick.  It got my hopes up that I might see a beaver in the wild, but it was not to be.  The beaver dams and damaged trees near Horseshoe Lake were cool to see, but no beavers were in the area.

Savage River Loop

view from Savage Alpine trail

 

Horseshoe Lake

 

 

 

 

Where the moose was

     I recommend paying for a bus tour when visiting Denali.  A non-narrated tour is only ~$40, and while they take 4 to 5 hours, the excitement of looking for animals and watching the scenery helps the time pass quickly.  Most of the animals I saw were during the bus tour, though I saw moose other places too.  A moose and bear were in the campground.  I never saw the bear, but camping was only allowed in hard sided vehicles, no tents, because of the curious bear.  The moose, I mistook for two small trees in the dusk light.  I was leaving the restroom/laundry building and walking back to my campsite when I heard a misplaced noise and thus paused.  It sounded like people walking or a hoof step, but no one else was visible.  I only realized what made the noise was a moose when it moved.  It seemed huge in the dim light, and it slowly walked into a tree area in the direction I wanted to go!  Not wanting to walk past a moose I could not really see, I took a longer route back to my campsite.  My other close animal encounter was with a fearless ground squirrel during a hike.  It started coming towards me when I paused on the trail and it got too close.  I fought it off with pebbles and won!  I continued on my hike.  The couple hiking towards me overheard my battle and commented on the fierceness of the squirrel.  When they passed, it watched them from a farther off distance. 

Moose

Caribou

White dots between trees are Dall sheep

    After Denali, I visited Anchorage for nine days.  The only time I saw Denali mountain was while in Anchorage.  The mountain was always covered with clouds while I was at the park.  I’ll write about my time in Anchorage next week.  Good night.