There are various shuttles available to take you into the park. The shuttle to Eielson Visitor Center takes about 8 hours round trip.  If you don’t have time to go all the way to Wonder Lake (12 hours RT), at least go as far as Eielson Center. You’ll see the most stunning beauty, and (in our experience) the wildlife is much more abundant between the entrance and Eielson Center, than it is on the stretch between Eielson and Wonder Lake.

You don’t have to take a shuttle bus ride to enjoy Denali Park, if time or funds are limited.  You can drive your personal vehicle to mile 15, hike the Savage River trail, see a sled dog demonstration, and enjoy the Visitor Center - all for free. If you’ve got children, ask the ranger at the Visitor Center for a Ranger Pack. These backpacks have all sorts of interesting things in them to help keep children entertained: books, a compass, thermometer, litmus paper to test the water in the park, measuring tape, plant and animal identification guides, plaster of paris and a wolf print mold, and so much more. I was amazed at just what came with the backpack. And it’s also free, but you’ll have to sign for it and turn it back in at the end of the day.

We left North Pole under dark skies and drizzle. We pretty much knew there would be no sighting of Denali on our drive, but the rain didn’t bother us. In my experience, wildlife is much more active when it rains. Perhaps because it’s cooler. And overcast skies are perfect for photography; the colors just POP!

We made a pit stop at Sunrise Bagel for breakfast sandwiches, as this is a mandatory stop before any roadtrip! Their ham, egg, and cheese on a bagel is yummy, and their breakfast burrito gets two thumbs up too.

With the rain and the limited visibility caused by fog, the drive to the park took a little longer than usual. We only had about 30 minutes to spare before we had to be in line for our bus. The bus wasn’t full, so we were able to each have our own seat.  TIP: If the bus isn’t full, or if you’re traveling with more than two people, make sure that you grab seats on opposite sides of the bus. This way, no matter what side the wildlife is on, you can get a look out the window without having to climb over someone you don’t know!

We were thrilled to see that Autumn has definitely arrived in the park. Large swathes of scarlet tundra goes off into the distance, while pockets of brilliant yellow and gold stand in the midst of still-green birch and aspen. It won’t be long before all the trees are cloaked in gold. While the foliage is not at peak, it’s getting there quickly. I predict we’ll be well past peak by Road Lottery weekend.  It wouldn’t surprise me if snow came before then too.

And now on with the photos - and there are plenty!

The wildlife was quite active. We were thrilled to see moose, bears, wolves, caribou, sheep, and a fox.  The wolves were quite close to the road, if not directly on the road. And a couple of the bears were close enough to capture with my zoom lens, but still a little too far off to really appreciate with the naked eye.  The fox ran right across the road in front of us, but the dall sheep were mostly white specks high up on hillsides.

This grizzly bear was grazing on willow and birch bushes, and then sat down to take a break:

We watched this wolf run along the low ridge, just above our bus. Above him, on the hill, were sheep. He seemed to be stalking them. He soon disappeared over the hill. What a thrill!

After leaving Eielson Visitor Center, we came upon two bears (siblings) wrestling and playing with each other. One bear had something in his mouth, and when I looked at the image on my camera, we saw that he was playing with a “CLOSED AREA” sign. So funny!

Bear Behinds *grin*:

You can make out the letters in CLOSED in this photo:

While one bear stretches out in the wet grass, the other walked around peeing!

Fun wrestling:

The one sitting looks fat and happy!

A little further down the road, we watched a wolf chase a rabbit. The rabbit got away.

This wolf was running right up the road in front of our bus:

My friend Kerry has the uncanny ability to spot wildlife through muddy bus windows as we’re going 30mph. I told her that I am taking her to Denali anytime I go because she doesn’t miss a thing. *grin* She spotted this handsome bull moose grazing down in a valley:

You can see that he’s just recently rubbed the velvet off his antlers, as they are still tinged pink with blood:

It was a very long and exhausting day - but so worth it! I love Denali Park, and I love living only 2 hours from the park.

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DENALI ROAD LOTTERY

The road lottery is coming up on the weekend of the 17th - 20th. As you know, Steve and I didn’t win a pass this year. I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to drive into the park this year. I was very disappointed.

A couple of days ago, my friend Sherry sent me a message telling me that a friend of hers won the lottery, but couldn’t use the pass as she had to go out of town. She told Sherry she could have the pass. Sherry asked me if I wanted to go with her! Well, you know what my answer was!

Sherry and I, and her two daughters, will be driving in on Saturday the 18th.  We are all so excited. Sherry has never been past the Toklat rest stop (mile 53), so she is super excited about going all the way to Wonder Lake. I think we’ll go all the way to Reflection Pond, where Ansel Adams took his famous photograph of Denali - especially if the mountain is out. Of course you know there will be tons of photos from that adventure!

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IN MY YARD

It has rained quite a bit this summer. At least we haven’t had the constant rain that Anchorage has had, but nevertheless we’ve had a moist summer. Our yard is full of mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. Some are really tiny (about an inch across and 2-3″ tall), so I had to get down on my belly to shoot them:

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It’s hard to believe that September is just about here. Where did the summer go? I feel like the past three months have just flown by.

While overnight temps haven’t dropped below freezing yet, there have been several frost warnings. Steve and I have been covering the tomato plants and the sunflowers. One of my sunflowers is showing some yellow and I hope that it will bloom soon, so I can enjoy it before it dies. We’ve been able to harvest three nice red tomatoes, but the other 25+ tomatoes are still green and firm.  Hopefully covering them at night will buy us some more time, as our afternoon temps are still in the 50s and low 60s.

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Please keep my brother and his family in your thoughts and prayers. They have been having a very difficult time since Sean’s passing, and I am so worried about them - individually, and as a family unit. I sent them information for their local Compassionate Friends Group (a group specifically for those who have lost a child), but they’re not ready to participate in a support group at this time.  I don’t know what to do for them, except listen. I wish I could take their pain away.

Steve and I spent a week in Valdez from the 12th to the 18th. We were in Valdez when we received the sad news about Sean. When I think back to that trip, it feels a little surreal. I believe the heavens were mourning with us, as sunshine and blue skies became overcast. When the rain began to fall, it seemed to time itself to my tears.

At one point, my thoughts turned to memories of another trip to Valdez: September, 2006. We were there when the news came that my mother had passed.  I remembered that I was walking the Dock Point Trail with Sedona at about the same moment my mother left this world.  It’s a beautiful walk and a great place to find peace and the opportunity for introspection.

So I leashed up Sedona and we took that walk again… alone.  And I did a lot of thinking about Sean, and my mom, and sadness, and family. But at the same time I couldn’t help but notice the immense beauty around me. Mountains, and glaciers. Lushness. Blue skies. Mist and fog.  What a juxtaposition of emotions. How is it possible to feel immense sorrow, and then joy, within seconds of each other?

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FAIRBANKS - VALDEZ

These photos were taken along the way, mostly shooting out the windshield:

Horsetail Falls, Keystone Canyon outside of Valdez:

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IN VALDEZ

After setting up camp, Steve and I relaxed a little, made dinner, and then drove over to Allison Point in search of fishing bears. When the salmon come back to spawn, the bears know they can have an easy meal if they come down to the weir. Eyewitnesses told us there was both a black bear sow and cubs, and a grizzly sow and cubs, coming down to fish every evening.  We never saw the grizzly, but we did see several black bears.

These tourists kept getting closer and closer to the bear, despite warnings that this was Alaska and not Disneyland. I’m happy I didn’t photograph a mauling.

The next morning, we woke to heavy fog rolling between the mountains and drifting over the water. This is pretty typical in Valdez and just adds to the beauty of the area.  Steve and I have explored just about the entire town and surrounding area during our many visits to Valdez. I don’t know how Robe Lake escaped us.

There’s a state-owned seaplane base on Robe Lake, and several were tied up at the dock. The fog, the stillness of the morning, and the lake reflection made for a beautiful and quiet morning.

The fog drifting over the Valdez Glacial Stream was spectacular, so we parked and took a walk along the bike path. The bike path starts in downtown Valdez and goes out past the duck marsh. There are beautiful views all along the trail.

I loved the layers in this photo, and the colors:

Steve and I decided to check out the military campground near Valdez Glacier. Although there was a campground host RV, with a phone number posted on the door, no one answered the phone when Steve called to inquire as to setting up a silver salmon fishing charter. Here’s the brochure for the campground. There are quite a few sites - both tent and primitive RV camping, but I’m sure the 21 RV sites that have electric book up quickly.  You can also book fishing charters through the campground and save a few dollars over local charter companies.

This is the waterfall next to a picnic pavilion, that was quite pretty. However, the standing water at the base of the waterfall (stream overflow), was a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

As the sun moved higher in the sky, the fog melted off - moving quickly from the water to the shore, and then further out of town.  I was so happy to see blue skies. I believe the temperature was in the mid to high 60s later in the day. A perfect day in Valdez.

There’s a pretty pond with a picnic area a couple of miles outside of town. I remembered it from our last visit and wanted to see how the reflections were. It was perfect! Across the pond, at the tree swing, was a little girl playing. I liked the way she was reflected in the water:

I love this old boat laying on its side with the mountains in the background:

Since the sun was out, we decided to go back to the camper and then take a walk around town.  The Women’s Silver Salmon Fishing Derby was going on, and Valdez was crowded with women who were participating.  Deck hands hauled harbor carts, nearly overflowing with fish, to the fish cleaning stations. Women milled around, showing off their catch, having their photos taken, and bragging about the one that got away. The air buzzed with happy chatter and laughter. Steve once again asked me if I’d please get a license next summer so I can catch some fish for our freezer (even though I don’t eat it).  Little by little, he’s wearing me down. *grin*

We walked along the slips in the marina, checking out boats, watching folks come and go, and just enjoying the sunshine.  As we neared the far end of the marina, we noticed a sea otter taking a leisurely bath only a few feet from the dock.

I was worried that my presence would scare him off, but he seemed quite at ease even as several more folks approached to watch and photograph him.

He (or she) was so methodical with the way he washed every inch of his fur. Sea otters have to keep their fur impeccably clean or it will lose its ability to keep them warm while floating and swimming in frigid water.  He started on his belly, worked up to his head, and then finally cleaned his webbed feet.

This is the view from our camper of the duck marsh:

It was quite the busy weekend in Valdez, and we ran into several people that we knew. Alaska is truly a small community spread out over a really big state. I enjoyed a beer and some chit-chat with my friends Sue and Bridget on Saturday, and then saw my musher friend Jan, as she was staying in the same campground we were. Across the road, my friend Kim and her boyfriend were tent camping, and we met up with them at Allison Point.  On Tuesday evening, Steve and I met up with army friends, Bruce and Maria. I haven’t seen Maria since Steve retired from the army. Her husband just retired himself, and they are staying in Alaska.  It just so happens that the photograph I took of the red-haired “fisherwoman” above, is a friend of a friend and he saw the photo and identified her. Small world indeed.

The next day (Sunday), Steve went out early on a shark fishing charter. Weather wise, it was a beautiful day - with morning fog that soon melted away leaving sunshine and blue skies.  At first I was going to just stay in the camper, as I was so sad about Sean and couldn’t stop crying. I felt particularly alone without Steve there.

Then Sedona came over to me and lay at my feet, looking up at me with her sweet brown eyes. “Do you want to go for a walk?”. She jumped up and ran to her leash. I grabbed my camera and a light jacket, and we took off walking for the Dock Point Trail.

The Dock Point Trail is an easy walk, although if you walk counter-clockwise around the loop, there’s a really steep climb at the beginning. I prefer to do it the opposite way and come down the hill at the end.  There are two overlooks along the way, and there is a path that connects the two within the trees, but it can be muddy with all the rain.  Best to go back to the boardwalk and follow the established trail, unless you don’t care about messing up your shoes.

There’s a small park with a picnic pavilion at the trail head. There’s also a beach of sorts, where I’ve seen kids wading out into the (very cold) water. I’ve also seen people fishing from that beach, so footwear is a good idea to avoid stepping on a lost hook.

Everything was so blue in the morning sunlight:

I took these along the trail:

After a quick lunch at the camper, I went for a drive around town. You don’t have to drive to get around; the entire downtown area is accessible on foot. But I wanted to drive out to the Mineral Creek Trail area.

I walked a short distance on a trail paralleling Mineral Creek. The fireweed blooming along the way was so pretty:

I came back into town, and stopped at the Convention Center for a climb to the overlook. A set of stairs up the side of the steep hill, leads to a beautiful covered viewing area. There’s a picnic table up there too. From this vantage point, the town of Valdez is even more beautiful, where it nestles at the base of the mountains. I’m glad I made the climb, but it reminded me that I need to exercise more.

Here’s a view of Valdez, looking toward Mineral Creek Canyon:

This is looking toward the duck marsh and the small boat harbor:

Later that evening, Steve returned from his shark fishing expedition empty handed. He was not a happy fisherman. We stayed in all night, listening to the rain roll in. Both exhausted, we were fast asleep before 10pm.

We woke to chilly rain on Monday morning. I also woke up feeling very sad. I didn’t want to do anything but stay in warm lounge clothes and watch movies all day.  So that’s what we did.

After dinner, we decided to brave the rain and drive over to Allison Point for high tide. Steve fished, while I went looking for bears. It was very foggy over at the point. You could barely see the mountains across the bay.

It didn’t take long for a black bear to come down the hill, run across the road, and then climb down the rocks to the water. Three fishermen scattered quickly.  The bear had a fish in his mouth within seconds of getting to the water.

The bear continued down the shoreline, running at times in the water, as fish jumped around him. And then I noticed a couple of guys further down the shore, well past the trails that lead up to the road.

The bear made his way closer and closer to them. I was really worried that the bear would be aggressive with them. When the bear was within about 40 feet of them, the man standing closest to the hill threw his hands up in the air (making himself big) and yelled “Go away bear!” Fortunately, the bear listened. He stopped, looked at the men, and then turned and ran up the hill into the bushes and trees.

This is a little too close for comfort:

The next morning, Steve left early for a silver salmon fishing charter, and I slept in. The rain was still falling, and there wasn’t any sign of it stopping. I took Sedona out for a short walk along the marsh, and then retreated to the camper where it was warm and dry.

Steve got back early, as he had caught his limit (six). Finally, fish! He was quite happy with his haul, and busied himself with his food saver machine and salmon fillets.  We BBQ’d for dinner (fillet Mignon, which melted in my mouth), Steve re-packed the truck, and we settled in for our last night in Valdez. I was ready to go home.

Wouldn’t you know that we left Valdez under sunny skies? Oh well… at least we had an enjoyable drive home.

We stopped at Thompson Pass since we could actually see the gorgeous landscape. It’s not unusual to find heavy fog or clouds at such a high elevation, and I just had to shoot a pano:

I took this information about Thompson Pass from Wikipedia:

Thompson Pass is a 2,805 foot-high (855 meter-high) gap in the Chugach Mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska. It is the snowiest place in Alaska, recording 551.5 inches (1,401 cm) of snow per year on average. In the winter of 1952–1953, 974.5 inches (2,475 cm) of snow fell—the most ever recorded in one season at one location in Alaska. The pass also holds the Alaska record for the most snow in a single day: 62 inches (160 cm) fell on December 29, 1955.

I can’t even imagine that amount of snow!

We saw several patches of tundra that are already turning red, and quite a few pockets of birch and aspen are wearing their autumn colors already. It’s a little depressing that summer is coming to an end already, but I do love the autumn colors and how they transform the landscape. Here are a few more photos I took on the way home:

Gulkana Glacier:

Driving the Richardson Highway:

I love driving the Richardson. The landscape is incredible:

It is so good to get home!

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EARLY MORNING SUNRISE

This morning, Steve woke me when he came home from work. He didn’t do it on purpose, and I did try to fall back to sleep, to no avail. So there I was, before 6am, getting the coffee started and rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

All the blinds were closed, but I saw an orange glow coming through them. What a pleasant surprise to be greeted by this:

The morning is very chilly, and they just started issuing frost warnings. Looks like it’s time to cover the tomato plants if we want to salvage the green tomatoes hanging on them. And my sunflowers haven’t bloomed yet, and I don’t want them to die when they’re so close to opening!

Fortunately, the afternoon still warms up into the 60s, and even 70s. Summer’s not over yet, but autumn is creeping in and taking over the morning and evening hours.  This makes for some glorious sleeping. There’s nothing like 40F night air coming in an open window, while you snuggle down under a warm blanket. I love it.

“My sorrow, when she’s here with me,
thinks these dark days of autumn rain
are beautiful as days can be;
she loves the bare, the withered tree;
she walks the sodden pasture lane.”
~ Robert Frost ~

Until next time…

It has been a week since the fatal accident which took the life of my nephew and his friend. A third young man is recovering from extensive surgery to correct internal injuries. The driver  - who is responsible for this horrific crash - suffered a broken leg.

Initial reports painted these kids as irresponsible and intoxicated, but the DA has recanted his statement that beer bottles and a controlled substance were found at the scene.  However, this doesn’t excuse the actions of the driver - a 20 year old man, who “put the pedal to the metal” when he saw police lights flashing in the rear view mirror after racing through a speed trap. The vehicle was going nearly 100mph when it crashed into the building, killing Sean and his friend TJ.

My brother Steve and sister-in-law Diane received the phone call that Sean had been involved in an accident, in the early morning hours on Saturday. They rushed to the hospital to find out that Sean had a traumatic head injury, and had very little brain activity. The doctors were not hopeful at all; if Sean survived, he’d be in a vegetative state.

Sean carried an organ donor card, and my brother and his family were counseled by the folks who run the organ donor and transplant program. When it was determined that Sean was officially gone, they honored his wishes, and donated his organs so that other lives could be saved.

From what I understand, his heart went to a man in his 40s who has a wife and children, and has been waiting for a long time for a new heart.  There is some degree of comfort in knowing that a part of Sean is still alive. I’m not sure what other organs were also gifted to those in need.

It has been a very hard week for all of us. I can’t even imagine the soul-wrenching agony that Steve, Diane, and niece Rachel are going through. I know for me, it’s been a week of never-ending tears, sad dreams, and a desire to gather up my children and lock them safely away from the dangers in this world.

I am thankful for the friends and family who have shared tearful conversations with me. I am also thankful to all of you, who commented or sent private messages of sympathy.  Grief, not only for the loss of Sean, but for the rest of his family, is so heavy on my heart. I feel like I’ve lost one of my own children.

I feel sad that I didn’t know Sean the way that the rest of my family did. We moved away from Philly in 1993, when Sean was only a baby.  I kept up with what was going on in his life through conversations with Diane, but that’s not the same as seeing him on a regular basis and spending time with him. Now that he’s gone, his friends have been posting videos and photos on Facebook, and I’ve found myself smiling at his sense of humor and typical teenage antics. I would have loved to have spent time with him over the years.

I want to believe that Sean is now in the loving embrace of my parents - his grandparents - and that we will all be together again when our time on this earth comes to an end. It’s what comforts me.

Sean touched the lives of so many people, and was loved by everyone who knew him.  The world has lost a wonderful young man who had a great future ahead of him. I hope he’s building motorcycles for the angels now.

Rest peacefully, Sean.