Driving out of Denali NP

A pre-dawn Caribou checking us out

     We got up very early and headed out of the campground just as the morning light came about. We were hoping to see some early morning wildlife sightings as we drove back out of the park.  It was a nice morning with fairly clear skies and looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. We drove the first few miles slowly looking for wildlife and were wondering if we were going to have any luck with sightings. I pulled off after having seen what we thought was a caribou in the distance that quickly ran out of view. I then happened to look back over my shoulder and spotted this nice caribou in the above picture looking down on us. We enjoyed taking some pictures then moved on. After that we started see more wildlife quite often as we continued our drive out. We saw more Caribou before we ran into a nice cow moose grazing. After a while we came upon the area where we had backpacked with Toni (Pigeon) a month earlier. Toni had told us the area would be closed to hikers later in the summer due to the bull moose being in the rut. Sure enough the area had orange signs posted closing it. We soon found out why as we saw at least 4 bulls and a few cows as well. The fall colors are looking better every day.  

I wouldn't want to tangle with this big boy!

Two more nice bulls

Notice the nice colors on the hill behind this nice bull moose

    We stopped at the dump station on the way out of the park and after dumping our tank stopped to take showers ($4.50 ea). We drove north out of the park to Fairbanks. After resupplying and fueling up at Fred Meyers we headed towards the Yukon as we start to work our way home enjoying Canada along the way. We found a nice BLM campground for the night to stay at.

You can see some nice colors starting in the mountain sides

This beaver was fun to watch swimming back and forth in the lake we camped at overnight

Camping in Denali's Interior

The Alaska Railroad coming thru Denali NP with a stop at the park and Princess Lodge just outside

     We wanted to camp at the farthest campground inside Denali that allows RV's. It is almost 30 miles inside the park and vehicles are usually just allowed to drive 15 miles in to the Savage River. To camp at Teklanika campground you must reserve at least 3 nights in a row. We were not able to find 3 open days in a row until at least the 3rd week of August. We stayed at Riley Creek, near the entrance, the night before we drove in. We enjoyed going for a nice hike from the campground that ended up along a stream that the railroad bridge went over. We had seen this bridge from the road several times and joked about how it would be great if we could get picture of it with the Alaska RR train on it. While walking along on a trail we see the bridge and decide to Google the train schedule. Amazingly we see that it is coming thru in about 5 minutes, so we hang out and are able to get several pics. We quickly e-mailed the pics to Gary our train buddy who had seen the bridge empty earlier in the summer several times. The next morning we broke camp early and headed into the park. A few miles before we reached Savage River we were treated to the best views of Denali that we have had since we have been in Alaska. We stopped at Savage River and hiked a 2 mile trail that goes up one side and back the other after crossing a bridge. There was a cold breeze blowing down the river with temps not too far above freezing. Needless to say we hiked at a brisk pace and didn't stop for long along the way.

Mt Denali in all of it's splender

Denali with fog in the foreground over the river

This is a far as you can drive your own vehicle unless you are camping at Teklanika or 2 other tent only campgrounds at mile 22 & 35

Hiking the Savage River trail

A pretty hike inside the cold shadow of the mountain

     We drove on in towards our campground slowly, stopping often to enjoy views of Denali and looking for wildlife. In addition to the amazing views of Denali we did eventually see a few caribou grazing in a meadow near the road.

Another amazing view...Thank you God for your beautiful creation!

     We finally arrived at Teklanika Campground and found our campsite. We had 3 days to explore the river basin that was behind our campsite. The first afternoon we hiked a mile or so down the river exploring and found a large pile of bear scat. We were hoping to see a bear along the river but never did. We did see a few caribou on a mountain side across the river one evening. We enjoyed our stay at Teklanika, relaxing and exploring up and down the river basin.

Bear scat - this pile was close to a foot across

 Teklanika River 

Fall colors were starting to show up

Driving the Denali Hwy Again...

Our BLM campground at Tangle Lakes at the Paxson end of the Denali Hwy

     We wanted to drive the 140 miles across the Denali Hwy again so we started at the east end and headed west. We noticed 2 things that were different from the first time we drove across. One was the colors of the vegetation were getting their fall coats. The second was that Caribou season was open and most of the stealth camping spots were full of hunters. It must have been an exciting time for them. We drove to the first of 2 BLM campgrounds, Tangle Lakes, and found a site to spend the night. After setting up and having lunch we decided to go for a hike. There was a nice trail that went up and around the campground. After a couple of miles or so the trail ended at the top of a bluff. We could see more lakes in the distance so we continued hiking cross country to explore further.

As we returned we noticed several campers out along the trail with buckets picking the beautiful wild blueberries. The next morning we drove on across to the next BLM campground that was closer to the west end of the road. We enjoyed a nice quiet night on a whitewater stream. 

Hiking back to the campground

Joyce and I found these branches that either a moose or caribou had rubbed their antlers on

Abundant blueberries

More nice reflections along the Denali

The fall colors are starting!

Visiting North Pole & the Museum of the North

North Pole Alaska 

     We headed north on the Richardson Hwy. after leaving Valdez. We stopped for the night at a BLM campground about halfway to Fairbanks. The next day we stopped at the North Pole a tourist stop that has a Christmas theme including some resident reindeer. After this we went up to a university farm project where they raise Musk Ox and Caribou.

We camped overnight in Fairbanks and woke up to a cool, windy, rainy day. It was a good day to visit a museum so we headed to the Museum of the North at U of Alaska. The displays were very nice and informative about Alaskan wildlife and native Alaskans culture and history. We spent 2 or 3 hours there before heading out to get lunch and to move on down the road.

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Fall colors were starting to show up here and there

Pretty scenery as we head down the Richardson Hwy.

Valdez - 2nd Time Around!

     The next morning we ate a quick breakfast in the camper and drove over to visit Worthington Glacier. After that we traveled over Thompson Pass to Blueberry Lake SRS campground. This campground is one of our favorite campgrounds in Alaska. That being said, it is very popular and full most of the time. We got there by 9am and parked near the entrance and watched for someone to leave. After about 15 minutes 2 motorcycles left and we quickly moved to their vacated site. There was a motorhome on the site that we had previously stayed at that was getting ready to leave so we moved to that one when they departed. We stayed here 3 nights.

Joyce found these Salmon berries at our campsite

     The next morning we drove into Valdez about 25 miles away. Along the way you drive thru the Keystone Canyon which contains 2 nice waterfalls; Bridal veil falls and Horse tail falls. There also is a tunnel that was only partially completed. It was to be built for the railroad and was never finished after gun battles interrupted progress. There were 9 companies competing for this short cut to move copper from the Kennicott mines.

Unfinished RR tunnel

Horse tail falls

Bridal Veil falls

      This time when we went to Valdez we wanted to make time to stop by the old townsite which is about 4 miles before you get to the current town. Much of the original town was destroyed by a tidal wave during the huge earthquake in 1964.

     

Looking up the bay from the old townsite

     We also went to visit the USFS visitor center in town. They are on a stream that has salmon swimming upstream to the base of a small waterfall. Inside you can even view the salmon from underwater cameras. A very nice place to visit.

Salmon working their way upstream to spawn

Crystal clear water at the base of the waterfalls

We enjoyed this sign inside the visitor center

     Will at Blueberry Lake campground Joyce went blueberry picking and after an hour or so had huge bowl full. She made a wonderful blueberry cobbler for us to enjoy. Yum Yum!

On the Glenn / Richardson Hwy - Southbound

Mount Sanford stands out huge in the distance

     After spending the night at Sheep Mountain, we headed towards the Valdez area on the Glenn Highway over to Glennallen. Then we headed south on the Richardson Hwy. This stretch of road is very beautiful as you enjoy seeing several snow capped mountains, including a few in the 16 to 17 thousand range over in Wrangell - St. Elias NP. We stopped and ate lunch overlooking a beautiful glacier with a lake below it. The scenery just never ends as we drive along. We found an old gravel airstrip just off of Worthington Glacier to camp at for the night.

Our beautiful view while we ate lunch

It's a breath taking view as you drive along

Looking down the airstrip we camped at with Worthington Glacier in background