The worlds last few wild places

In this world of ever growing populations and humanities need to tame everything I can appreciate Alaska and its true wilderness areas. Alaska is so much bigger then I ever gave it credit for. The top 4 largest national parks in this nation are here. Denali is #3 on the list at 6 million acres, and just to give some perspective, that's larger then the state of Massachusetts! That's just one park!
The one word that keeps coming to mind when I drive around or visit different areas here is rugged. The buildings, the roads, the plants, the animals, the mountains, the rivers, and even the people sometimes are all just rugged. They have to withstand whatever mother nature decides to throw at them and they continue to survive.
Denali was no different, although, I have to admit, it has been tamed a bit by humans. In the 6 million acres of land or about 7,370 square miles there is a 90 mile long road that will take you in for a peek at a little corner of the park (and we only went to mile 66). It's a little presumptuous for me to say I have seen Denali National Park when really I have seen less than 1% of it. When I think of all the vast area of land that we passed through on the bus out to Eielson Visitor Center and then I think of how little I actually saw its mind boggling.
I went to Denali with the other PT travelers that I mentioned in my last post. We started our adventure at the main park visitor center where we watched a sled dog presentation,

 and then had an up close encounter with a moose and her calf when hiking on a trail just out the back door of the building. After hearing how aggressive moose can be I was a little unnerved to say the least that this huge animal was on such a well trafficked trail. We gave the moose a wide berth, and unfortunately, I could not get a really good picture as I was trying to keep my distance and watch for any little sign that I should start running in the other direction. :)
Then next day, we went on the bus (the only way to get further than 15 miles into the park) out to the Eielson visitor center. This was a 4 hour long bus ride one way. It started out pretty foggy!

But eventually it cleared up and, the bus driver gave us a little info on the park, and told us that we needed to keep our eyes out for animals. If we saw something we were supposed to yell "Stop" and he would stop the bus for us all to take as many pictures as we wanted. We spotted 4 grizzly bears on the way there. It was pretty spectacular! I thought I was lucky to see 1 when I was at Glacier NP and I spent all day looking. Here I saw 4 in a couple hours time.

When we arrived at the visitor center we got our first glimpse of Mt McKinley which is a rare sight in the summer. From what I learned there is only about a 20% success rate for visitors to see the mountain due to the cloud cover. However, this year there has been unusually good visibility with the success rate somewhere around 75%! A record year!

Also, there were a couple of hikes that we did. One was pretty strenuous, but totally worth it. It was only 1 mile long, but it was all up hill at a pretty steep grade. When we got to the top the clouds were literally rolling in around us as we sat and ate our lunch. Once on top we decided to explore for a bit. At Denali they encourage you to go off trail to wherever you want to go. They have no problem letting you off the bus at any time and you can just wander. We wandered around and met some inquisitive Arctic ground squirrels.

 On our way back to the entrance of the park we spotted 3 more bears; a mama and her cubs. When we first saw them the cubs were nursing. The bus driver was even shocked by this one, it was such a rare sight.

We stayed there for quite some time just watching out the window and being as quiet as possible. I could not believe our luck! 

The following morning we packed up again and headed into the park for our next adventure. This time we were going with a ranger for a day hike across the tundra and down to the river bed. As we were driving we came around a bend and McKinley was coming out of the clouds again! It was even more clear then the day before!

The bus ride was only about an hour and right in the middle of nowhere the bus stopped, we all got out on the side of the road and began the hike. It was so strange to not have a set trail to walk on. Our ranger, Lauren, told us that the worst case scenario would be that we all walk in a line following one another and create a new trail. So we were all spread out making our own way through the moss and brush and willows just heading “that-a way”.  It was very freeing actually. And the views were to die for!

Just like my experience in Montana, Lauren regularly did her bear calls to “announce our presence to the bears.” But unlike the Montana hike we were all given mosquito nets to protect our faces. I was so grateful for this! We had gone all around town looking for these, but every place was sold out. There has been a run on mosquito repellent and face nets since this summer is “the worst they’ve ever seen” according to the locals. When Lauren pulled those out of her pack it was like the heavens opened and the angels began singing. We looked silly but at least the mosquitoes could not attack the most exposed area of our body. 

The tundra was an interesting thing to walk on. It was squishy due to all the mosses and the thick covering of plants. It was hard to judge where the solid ground was, and every step was a surprise till you got to know which plants were the thick ones and would hold your weight and which were going to let you sink knee high in moss. After a couple hours of hiking on it I would say I am pretty much an expert now.

Once we made it to the river bed it was much easier to walk on the rocks and we saw a lot of animal tracks in the mud along the bank. It was beautiful out there and the breeze kept the mosquitos away. 

Moose

Bear

Caribou

We ate lunch and then made the 2 hour hike back to the bridge where we were to be picked up. Along the way I asked Lauren what the names of some mountains were that were around us. A couple had names, but most did not. She explained that they may have a number listing on a map somewhere, but no official name and she thought that was cool. She said, there is an instinctive need for humans to “own” everything by naming it, and she appreciates Denali so much because they have really made an effort to keep it wild. I promptly told her that I was naming the big mountain “Ivy Mountain.” She told me she would inform the other rangers so they could tell everyone on their tours. I am sure I did not hear any sarcasm in her voice. ;)

Lauren was about my age and we talked a great deal on this hike and on the bus ride after. She had so much knowledge about the park and the inner workings of the parks systems. I was fascinated the whole time and could not stop talking to her. I think in my next career I am going to be a park ranger.

My PT friends, Milton and Lissie, and I stayed at a cute little hostel for the weekend. We met some interesting people, including one who had just gotten back from an attempt to climb Mt McKinley. He was unsuccessful, unfortunately, but his story was cool anyway. Traveling with my new found friends has been such a blessing. We have had fun getting to know a little about each other and we actually have a lot in common. I love the fact that the Lord continually provides for me.