Travels With Sir Charles: Denali National Park

We are finding it easier every day to get a late start on our travels. Today we decided to eat breakfast at the Latitude 62 in Talkeetna. The Breakfast Burrito was a wise choice for me and I have half left for tomorrow. Karen’s omelet must have been good. None was left on her plate when we left.

We had a few stops planned on the way back to the Parks Highway. The Denali Brewery at 10:30 am didn’t appear to be a good stop so the only “must stop” was the shop producing Alaska Pure Birch Syrup. It’s produced with the same process as maple syrup. We bought a small bottle and some Raspberry Rhubarb Syrup also. They sell a BBQ Sauce that Karen could not pass up. We made their day a bit more profitable I’m sure.

The road to Denali was a bit rougher than the roads we have traveled in the last week. Not as bad as the Alcan, but it still could use some work. Denali National Park is a popular destination. This road also leads to Fairbanks so the traffic was a little denser today. Karen wanted to stay in the park at the Riley Creek Campground but I was sure it would be more expensive than I had planned. I should always listen to Karen (her words). She either knows what she is talking about or is very lucky. The campground was beautiful, isolated, semi empty and with senor discount, only $11.00 per night. Our one-night stop here quickly turned to two.

After finding our site, we loaded Charlie back in the RV (against his wishes) and set off on the fifteen-mile drive into the park. Most of the park is open only to shuttle buses but some of it can be driven by private vehicles. We hoped to see moose, bear, caribou, and elk. That didn’t happen. One moose spotted away from the road in the brush was the best we could do. We drove back to the campground disappointed in our wildlife viewing and almost ran into a huge mother moose with two newborn calves standing in the entrance to our campground loop. Thirty feet away was a second mother with a set of twins and then a third one with only one baby. Turns out our campground is full of moose and we also found some bear scat nearby. The ranger told us to avoid the moose as much as possible. They are extremely protective of the young ones and will attack if they feel threatened. “Run fast and zigzag” was his best advice. This could be a very interesting night. To be continued tomorrow!