Moose on the loose
We could barely see it at first but I'll let you in on a secret about how to get a better view of Denali...read on! By midday we had reached the Toklat river stop, and decided to get off the bus and stretch out a bit. We strolled along the river and had our lunch, took in the fresh air, some pictures and then decided to get on the bus heading back. We hooped off at Polychrome Overlook, Mile 46, named such becuase of the multi colored bluffs. It was so pretty, but started getting slightly chillier.
So we started walking/hiking, Rahul more because he wanted to see bears up close and take pictures...(I was secretly praying 'NO!'). Looks like my prayers were answered, and after about an hr or so of walking, we got the bus back to the visitor center.
Just as we were getting registered for our camping, and getting all set to set up our camp, it started pouring outside...and by pouring I am serious..It didn't seem like we would be able to camp successfully, esp since I remembered we were so busy before we left that we didn't get a chance to seal the seams of the camp with sealant..so we will be cold and wet at the same time!
We started early on the 30th morning, as we had a scheduled shuttle bus ride at 7:30 am. The park only has paved roads for the first 15 miles after which the only way to navigate is hike/trek or buses. Pack fruits, water, cereal bars, sandwiches/easy to eat food, sunscreen, mosquito repellent and dress in layers. There are no food stores at any of the rest stops, only special toilets, called Sweet Smelling Toilets (SSTs), so please take some wipes or tiolet paper along too!
There are various kinds of buses you can take to explore the park. We chose the shuttle bus only because it offered the flexibility to actually hop on and off any time.
During the summer months, the buses only run till mile 53, Toklat river. Our driver was very entertaining and would stop at the sight of any wildlife. We saw moose, moose and more moose! Oh and we also saw caribou and dall sheep which seemed to love posing for the camera as they disappear behind the mountain edges. During the bus ride, if you are lucky (statistically only 15% people fall into this group) you can see Mount McKinley (Denali, the High one, named by natives), the highest mountain peak in the US.
We could barely see it at first but I'll let you in on a secret about how to get a better view of Denali...read on! By midday we had reached the Toklat river stop, and decided to get off the bus and stretch out a bit. We strolled along the river and had our lunch, took in the fresh air, some pictures and then decided to get on the bus heading back. We hooped off at Polychrome Overlook, Mile 46, named such becuase of the multi colored bluffs. It was so pretty, but started getting slightly chillier.
So we started walking/hiking, Rahul more because he wanted to see bears up close and take pictures...(I was secretly praying 'NO!'). Looks like my prayers were answered, and after about an hr or so of walking, we got the bus back to the visitor center.
Almost as suddenly as the rain stated, it stopped and sweet sunshine smiled upon us as we hurriedly put up our tent. We started a camp fire, and settled down with some hot soup, tired but very content with the day.
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