Denali National Park and The Big Six

Denali National Park is the single most popular tourist attraction in Alaska. The top two priorities for visitors are to view the wildlife and to see Mt. McKinley. We spent a week there and had a wonderful time. We were extremely fortunate to see see Mt. McKinley in full view. The weather was perfect on our third bus ride into the park. The photo above shows the awesome view we had of the mountain that day. They say only 30% of the visitors get to see the mountain, as it is usually hidden behind the clouds. And only 15% get to see the entire mountain with no cloud cover. We were lucky!

But, in our minds, the wildlife was just as impressive. Here are the Big Five we spotted (making the Big Six with The Mountain).

Cow moose and two calves

Gray Wolf

Caribou

Grizzly Bear

Dall Sheep – really!

Ptarmigan (Not one of the big five but Alaska’s state bird)

Here are a couple more photos of Mt. McKinley

Typical cloudy day look

One of the “30%” views

We stayed inside the park for four nights at a remote campground called Teklanika. We had to leave our Jeep in an entrance parking lot and could only drive the motor home to the campground, 29 miles, and then out four days later. It was a neat experience. And there is a great shuttle bus system that runs frequently in the park.

When we drove in to Teklanika Campgroud it was raining so the dirt/gravel road did a job on the motor home.

Here is a bonus picture that I snapped at Nenana, on the Parks Highway traveling to Denali. In Alaska you need to be prepared and that might include carrying your snowmobile on the roof of your station wagon.

And here is a wild caribou with Mt. McKinley in the background…

Quite a rack, huh?

On to Anchorage and south…….