Today I am on a train – again. I’m heading back to my husband in Northern California. After three weeks “entertaining” my mom, I’m ready to go home. I decided to run a Favorite Place I’ve shown before. Mom and I watched, then talked about the PBS/Ken Burns special on the National Parks. This past week they covered how Denali National Park came into existence. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to show this again.
Denali National Park is so vast that it staggers the imagination. You can see for miles and miles. It’s as if it will never end. Since the park contains six million acres, it’s no wonder it feels so huge.
There are very few man-made structures so, when you visit, you can see this area as it has looked for thousands of years. The natural beauty has not been touched.
There is only one road in the park and it is limited. Private vehicles are allowed only on the first 15 miles. The picture above is what you see at the 15 mile area. It was great for animal-watching, so we drove out here every day.
If you want to go past that point, you have to ride one of the limited buses. It’s best to have reservations. The goal is to protect the animals and the vegetation from human encroachment.
Twice we were able to ride one of the buses. One day we went out about 45 miles. Another day we rode to the end of the road – 91 miles to a small village, Kantishna. If you look carefully in the above picture you can see that one lonesome gravel road.
Snow is the normal ground cover here, except for four or five months. But when it is green, it is so lush and the wildflowers pop up to add to the beauty.
Denali National Park is home to Mount Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). Only once were we able to see the mountain and that was a very brief look. The guide told us we were lucky, because in the summer it is only visible about 20% of the time. There are plenty of other mountains around however, to satisfy those of us who have to have their mountain fix – me. For mountains and vast open places, Denali National Park is definitely one of our Favorite Places.
NORTHERN CALLIFORNIA
That’s one park and one state I have on my wish list — I’m happy to visit it again through your eyes.
We don’t mind at all. I’m glad you got to spend that time with your mother, but also understand that you’re ready to be back home with your husband.
Welcome back home! By the way, I tried to suggest to my husband that we travel around in an RV, and the look he gave me was, to borrow a term from commercials, “priceless!”
Just beautiful. Have a safe trip home.
I was lucky enough to visit Denali last summer and you are right. It is a beautiful place. And that is from only going in as far as the park buses go…not to the village like you.
But..we were extremely lucky to be able to see The Mountain for the entire trip that day.
Breathtaking…