Saturday we awoke to rain on the roof, and on the ground and the jeep and everywhere else in the park. We were not going to be deterred in our quest for wildlife even if it meant getting wet. If you remember we are from Arizona, where the annual rainfall is under 10 inches a year. So, we never needed foul weather gear including boots. But our goal was not to be deterred in our.
Sunday, the 19th, we started with a side trip to Healy, AK. Which is located 10 miles north on the Parks Hwy. This is where most of the workers including the seasonal live. 2 gas stations, 1 school, a few smaller buildings but nothing to write home about except: The “49th State Brewing Company”. This food and bar came out of the need to supply liquor and food to the worker bees during the season and the few remaining people that live in the area.
The weekend calls for music and dance even if it is raining as it does much of the time: but get together and enjoy the company of other humans. The bar itself is quaint in a barest way, especially inside the joint. There are good places and crowed places to sit and try to talk to people. But IMO as bars goes, the music tends to get loud as time gets into the evening and for me, that gets in the way of talking and enjoying the food. Even if it is Great food and a Great place, but if I cannot hear myself think. However the insides lends itself to some photo ops:
Now don’t ask me why this bus is important, but if you want to learn that, you will have to go to the 49th State Brewing Website and read all about it.
The postcard we are sending out, looks a lot better than what it looks like today.
Once done with lunch it was back to, Oh for those of you on caravans, there are 2 RV campgrounds called “Denali RV Park”. One is locate 1 mile south of Healy, this leaves a 9 mile drive to the park road entrance. The other on is located 1 mile north of the entrance to the park road. So when specifying your park location, you can see where this is going can’t you?
Anyway, a few of you may remember this young lady working on the construction site: I posted a shot of her bundled up but in dry weather. I thought it would be good to show that they continued to work, even in the rain and cold.
But, back to our quest, wildlife and hiking even if it was wet and cool. Now in Denali Park, you can only drive your car 15 miles in. For all other excursions you need to take the Parks Shuttle or Take a Tour. The park shuttles go as far back to Wonder Lake, round trip takes about 12 hours. There are shorter trips, but the main idea is, you can get on, ask to get off anywhere and then hike. To return all you need to do is be on the road and a Green Shuttle can pick you up and take you back to the Wildlife Visitors Center. Just remember it is easier to find a set going back then continue going into the park. Remember, if you plan on camping, then it is a requirement to watch a video on bears. And the rule is Pack it In and Pack it Out.
Our first foray was to the Savage River area. Susan had planned a short 2 mile hike in and back. Overall about an hour trip.
We learned about Dall Sheep near the end of this 2 mile hike near the foot bridge, but alas by the time we arrived they had moved on to higher ground. We hiked back only to find this Mew Gull (don’t get them confused with Sea Gull’s) hanging around the area asking for a ride back to the visitors center.
After our hike we continued back to rig to check on DaGirls as it was after 3pm and we left around 10:30 am. Only to come across this photo op:
However it was time to head home and check out everything.
As Susan Says SeeYa
Safe Travels and Journeys
Della & Tilly
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