Denali Park - First Trip of the Season
On Saturday, my friend Lori and I took a drive to Denali Park after hearing that the road was open to Savage River. We didn’t get on the road as early as I would have liked to, but it worked out OK anyway. Lori met me at my house at 10:30am and off we went.
The sun was shining as we left Fairbanks on the Parks Highway. Generally, if you can see Denali from the scenic overlook just outside of town (mile 344.4), there’s a very good chance that the mountain will be out when you get to the park. We could see the base of Denali, but the top of it was obscured with clouds. That wasn’t a good sign. If the top is already obscured when you get there, chances are the clouds will come in and totally wrap around the mountain before you get to the park. Regardless, we were both looking forward to the drive, even if the mountain wasn’t out.
Several years ago, a friend of mine who lived in Nenana (Carol - who is now deceased unfortunately) told me about a cemetery in Nenana that was for the non-native population. If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you may recall that my friend Lisa and I visited the Native Cemetery, which is in a gorgeous location, on the side of Toghotthele Hill, overlooking the Tanana River. (Toghotthele means “mountain which parallels the river”.) While visiting Nenana, Lisa and I asked a resident where the other cemetery was, but we weren’t able to find it.
I used Google Earth to look at the area around Nenana, hoping to find the other cemetery. While I wasn’t able to see any grave markers (I LOVE Google Earth!), I did see a dirt road named “Cemetery Road”! What are the chances of a road being named “Cemetery Road” if it doesn’t lead to a cemetery? Armed with a general location, Lori and I kept our eyes open just after we passed through Nenana. Unfortunately there are several roads without street signs. We had a general idea of where it was, but decided we’d look for it on our way back from the park.
The drive into the park, while gorgeous, was not fruitful for wildlife sightings. I saw one (dead!) hare, and that’s it. No ptarmigan, no moose, no lynx, nothing! What a disappointment in that respect, but still a lovely day for a drive. My favorite thing about the Denali early spring landscape is the deep russet color of the willow brush against the bright white of the snow.
