Denali and More

This was our week spent exploring Denali National Park and surroundings. You need a lot of time if you really want to experience everything that Alaska has to offer. many people come here from Cruise ships and they only get a day. A day is not enough. We took the shuttle 66 miles into the park and saw wildlife. The mountain was cloud covered that day so we did not experience the full beauty of the summit, but it was what our guide called a "Grand Slam Day." A grand slam is when you see the five major animals: moose, caribou, grizzly bear, dall sheep, and wolves. There are only about 59 wolves in the park, and we did see them at a distance, lying in a field asleep. We saw the bear quite close to the road, and then another mother and cubs farther off, eight that day in all. The next day we drove to Fairbanks, and took the Alaskan Railroad back to Denali and stayed at the Princess Lodge, a treat after weeks in the RV. We went to a wonderful dinner theater with Rose and Al and had Alaskan Salmon, ribs, and all the fixings served family style. Our waiters were the actors and they performed a wonderful little musical about the history and love for their state. The following day we went back on the train. We left the RV's in the Walmart parking lot for three nights. Don has enjoyed seeing the working dogs in the park. There was a ranger program where you could visit the kennel and see the dogs in action.
In Fairbanks we went on a paddle wheel excursion. The boat went by Susan Butcher's home on the Chena River. She has won the Iditerod 4 times, and she died four years ago of cancer at the age of 51. Her husband and daughters still keep her memory alive, and they gave us a demonstration of their racing dogs. That was absolutely wonderful. We then met him and he signed copies of their book, Granite, a poignant story about Susan and her most famous sled dog.
I think one of the highlights for the trip for Don was meeting Lance Mackey, a 4 time Iditerod winner himself and an Alaskan folk hero.He is also a cancer survivor and was not expected to live, but he overcame all of that with a "don't give up" attitude, and still races dogs. He has 100 dogs. Alaskan sled dogs are much smaller than you would think, and Don and I had a photo taken with him and one of the dogs, and Don had his almost undivided attention for 30 minutes. It was great. He has written a book about his life which we will read on the way home.

All in all we have had a great week...going on a flight Sunday with a bush pilot delivering the mail to people inside of the Arctic Circle as far as Anaktuvuk Pass.....very exciting. I was sure to ask about their safety record.