Alaska –Denali (fka Mount McKinley) Part 1 – State 18 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

Due to limited access to internet service and Verizon Hotspot in Canada and Alaska we will be adding photos as we can. In the mean time we will continue to provide our RV adventure at each phase of our RV adventure in text.

Thursday, July 30th, we are heading to Denali, Alaska. The drive is going to be long trip because our original plans of stay in Palmer, Homer, Seward, Anchorage, then Denali never transpired. Instead we stayed in Palmer, Kenai, Anchorage, Seward, then Denali due to availability of campground sites. If we knew more about Homer, we could have stayed at one of the city owned campgrounds without much issue. Seward also have a decent number of city owned campgrounds available on a first come basis.

The Google Map travel time from Stoney Creek RV Park in Seward, AK to Denali Rainbow Village & RV is 6 h 12 min 358 miles via State Hwy 9 to AK-1 N and AK-3 N. Our actual travel time with stopping came out to just about 8 hours which makes it a long day.

Before leaving Stoney Creek RV Park we needed to dump of gray and black water. The site we had was electric and water only which we figure now we can do four nights easily without dumping. If we want, we could save $5.00 to $10.00 per day for a water and electric site over a full service site and use the dump station. The only drawback is there may be a line at the dump station delaying any departure.

It was nice to see blue sky peeking out of the clouds heading out of Seward. We were told the weather is unpredictable in Seward and I would try to be more flexible with scheduling knowing where we can stay next time to get a few days of good weather.

We make our first potty break at the Canyon Creek Rest Stop. Gold was found in under the Canyon Creek bridge and Mill Creek launching the Turnagain Arm Gold Rush of 1895 one year before the Klondike Gold Rush.

Just after we head out of Kenai Peninsula we pass two police vehicles stopped with two other vehicles. It looks like they were doing a sobriety check to one individual.

We start our 6th pass through Turnagain Arm Waterway. The water level of the waterway appears much lower than the previous 5 trips through the area. We also get to see the passenger train for the first time.

We make our second stop at Walmart in Anchorage. We stock up on our wine and beer, creamer, ingredients for another stew, and snacks. I walk over to Subway to pick up sandwiches for lunch. While I am gone, Lora snaps a picture from the Walmart parking lot showing they no longer allow Overnight RV Parking at this location.

The drive from Anchorage to Denali National Park is long and not visually inspiring like some other parts of the state. It is not until the last 30 minutes in the route do you begin to see mountains and lush green landscapes.

After entering the Denali National Park and Preserve we spot a moose not far off the road. There just happens to be a wayside stop a few yards up the road, so we quickly pull off to get some pictures.

We reach Denali Rainbow Village & RV Park at 5:00 pm. The drive ended up lasting 8 hours. Denali Rainbow Village & RV Park is a small park situated behind Denali Rainbow Village Boardwalk Mall. The site has full service, water & electric, and cabin sites. Each site is tightly packed in. If an RV does not get close up to the power box the RV next to them can have their slide outs touching. For access to Denali National Park, bars, restaurants, and nightlife this RV Park is the place to be. If we had our chance we would have tried to stay in Denali National Park, but we would need to have a reservation well in advance.

Our site is on the end, next to a kitchen trailer for The Black Bear Bakery and Restaurant. We just barely fit in the spot. We are lucky the camper next to us does not have slides. We are asked by the owner of the restaurant if we can more our basket on the rear of the camper to allow her staff to walk back and forth between the kitchen trailer and the main kitchen. I explained someone from her staff had already asked us to move when we were hooked up and we moved it 2 feet more than he had asked. I later raised the basket to 90° with all the generators and items still strapped in. It turns out it will be an easier ride that way.

The next day, Friday July 27th, we are scheduled to ride the Denali Transit Bus to Toklat Rest Stop. Denali National Park has a few options to visit the park. The Toklat Rest Stop is a 6 ½ hour round trip non-narrated bus trip. The driver will stop for wildlife if passengers or the driver spots any animals. We arrive at the Bus Depot 30 minutes before departure and get in line for our tickets. I had prepaid for the tickets 2 days earlier while we were in Seward. The ticket agent says our tickets were for yesterday and not today. Ouch! We have a credit of $20.00 for the Interagency Pass. The next bus available will not be till 12:30 pm. He suggests upgrading to the Eielson Transit Bus with departs at the same 9:30 am time and is 8 hours round trip. The advantage of the Transit Bus or Green Bus is you do not have to stay with your bus. You can transfer or get off to hike at any time. All you need to do is stand of the side of the road and wave down another Green Bus. If there is room, then you can board.

We board at 9:30 am for Eielson. Eielson is a Visitors Center at Mile 66. When comparing the Destination/Service on the website they have a table that lists wildlife viewing. There are narrated tour options for more money, but the Transit Bus provides more flexibility and the drivers do narrate if there are wildlife or picture opportunities. Our driver Nan from Texas is a 30 year Education Teacher. She drives the Denali Transit Bus each summer. Nan was very knowledgeable of Denali and the roads. She was very strict when it came to people standing when moving, talking when viewing wildlife, or kids acting up. She narrated throughout most of the trip up to Eielson. At one point there was a child crying for a good 15 minutes. When we reached a break point, she asked the family to disembark and take another bus. The family was from India and did not try to stop the child from crying. The first 2 hours of the trip the child was sleeping. All buses Narrated or Non-Narrated stop at the same rest break locations so I would suggest paying less and get the Non-Narrated Transit Bus when visiting Denali National Park.

Leaving the Bus Depot the first 15 miles is paved and accessible by anyone. There is only a slim chance to see maybe a moose or some other animals. Between Mile 10 - 15 the scenery opens up to spectacular mountains and landscape. Near the end you will have the first chance to see Mt Denali (formerly called Mount McKinley). Mt Denali is the highest peak in North America. The park and contiguous preserve encompass 6,045,153 acres. There vast preserve has mountains, glaciers, tundra, snow, bare rock, and forests. Mt Denali’s elevation of 20,310 feet, the highest in North America.

We get out first glimpse of Mt Denali through the clouds. Nan points out the two peaks of Denali that is rarely seen by visitors each year. Denali is so large it makes its own weather, and Denali is completely shrouded by clouds roughly 1/3 of the time. One-out-of-three visitors see the entire mountain for a prolonged period.

It is amazing how each person on the bus can see the mountain or not. We are about 80 miles away from the mountain.

We pass Teklanika Campground at Mile 29.1 and reach our first rest stop at Teklanika River 1 ½ into our trip.

The views are spectacular. The road is narrow at times and as Nan describes when driving on the dirt road there is a rule that one vehicle must stop to allow the on coming vehicle to pass. Some sections the bus is right on the edge of a cliff with no guard rail.

We see our first Caribou 2 hours into our drive.

We take in the beauty before we make our second rest stop.

At 12:00 pm we spot another Caribou walking across a creek deep in the valley.

About 15 minutes later we spot 2 more Caribou out on the tundra.

We stop for our third rest break, Toklat River at Mile 53. This would have been our turning point if we had our original ticket. Each time we are give about 15 minutes for pictures and restroom. At this location is when Nan asks the Indian family to leave the bus after the child has been screaming for over 15 minutes nonstop.

Our last stop is Eielson Visitors Center 13 miles farther. Nan on occasion will speak with on coming Transit Bus drivers through the window to get any info on wildlife. Another way of figuring out wildlife is to see buses stopped ahead with no oncoming traffic.

Shortly after leaving Eielson we begin a steep climb. Nan stops and points out a grizzly bear mom and 2 cubs. She mentions the cubs are about 4 months old. Without a good zoom lens, you cannot get a decent picture. My camera has a 300mm zoom lens.

A few minutes later and one mountain pass we come across a second mother grizzly with 2 cubs. These cubs are yearlings.

After the grizzly bears, I spot an animal on top of a mountain. At first it appears to be a bird but turns out to be a Caribou.

We get another glimpse of Mt Denali through the clouds.

There is another grizzly family in the tundra. Nan mentions the cubs are nearly 2 years old and old enough to be sent away by mom to live on their own.

We finally make it to Eielson Visitor Center by 1:30 pm. The last 13 miles since Toklet River is phenomenal.

We stay at Eielson Visitor Center for about 30 minutes. The views are always wonderful.

Out front of the Visitor Center is a skeleton of 2 moose antlers locked. The title is “Locked for All Time”. The story describes the 2 moose locked antlers fighting. The moose were unable to detach and died locked together. When the moose were found the body was gone, but the antlers were still attached.

Lora and I walked around the visitor center before returning to the bus.

At 2:00 pm we begin our detour back to the Denali Bus Depot. If you want to read more about our trip to Denali National Park and our RV Adventure to Denali and other parts of United State and Canada proceed to our next blog “Alaska –Denali (fka Mount McKinley) Part 2 – State 18 of 49 on our RV Adventure”.

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