Rudolph the Red Nosed Caribou?

Caribou out in the grasslands at the base of Denali.   I learned that caribou and reindeer are exactly the same animal.  Wow.   I spotted no red noses on any caribou today, so, I think they must be in error.

There are no private vehicles allowed in Denali National Park’s Wilderness Area.   So, the only way to see it is via bus.

There are two busses, one tan (natural history) and one green (wilderness).   We were on the green bus tour.

And we ended up one row from the back of the bus.   We couldn’t hear the Bus Driver/Docent well, but she didn’t actually say much anyway.

It was raining and all the windows got mud splattered and rain speckled rendering taking photos challenging.   So, we used AI to clean-up the photos and keep them as we remember the various shots.

In this photo, Ranger Sidney (not our driver) is giving us some safety tips and a bit of Denali Park history at the checkpoint where the paved road ends and no private vehicles are allowed further.

The amount of silt running off Denali and the high peaks of the Alaska Range is amazing.   This is just a small creek, but look at the sediment bed on both sides…

You can kinda get a sense of the broad “U”-shaped valley with only stubbly bushes and an occasional tree.  This valley must be 10+ miles across.

That would be the base of Denali in the background.   The cloud ceiling was about 4,500’ this morning.

What few trees are up here are very sparsely spaced, thin, and relatively short.   The tallest were maybe 15’ while most are under 10’.

This is the Teklanika River flowing northward and away from Mt. Denali.   It is better than a mile wide sandbar with many rivulets.  These rivulets will change over the course of a day.

The better view from the rest stop/bathrooms (trust me, you don’t want the other view).

This is just a little runoff creek cuttings a micro valley into the former moraine.

A uniquely red colored mountain amidst all the gray and black mountains.   That is a former lateral moraine.

Yup, another view of what should be Denali.   I understand that only 25%-30% of park visitors get to see Denali.  The primary reason we and most others can’t see Denali is all due to clouds, fog, rain, etc.

This photo is from a bit further up into the park.  It is the same Teklanika River we saw before. 

This is as far as we can go because the roadway washed out a number of years ago.   We are 45 miles into the park.   The road goes for another 50 miles, but it is no longer accessible.

We were given only 13 minutes to debark the bus, see whatever, and reembark.   Not much time.

Our driver must be getting a bonus for being early as she hardly stopped for anything. 

Yet another view of where Denali should be, but alas, not for today.

The ranger hut on the far side of the bridge at the point where the road is closed.

The Teklanika River again, maybe 2 miles wide at this point (see photo below).

Bear country.   We are to stay 300 yards away from the bears.   I don’t know if we complied, but we saw no bears today.

One of our guides, David, setting a fast pace on the trail.   I like David.   He is a great guide and extremely helpful and caring.

We hiked about 3 miles today and 5 miles in total.

We hiked to the dog sled compound for a presentation on dog sledding.    This is an active function in the park.   Dog sleds are in use here today and are preferable to snow machines (aka snowmobiles).

In the wilderness area, dog sleds are the only allowable means of transportation other than on foot.   No helicopters, no planes, no snow machines, no e-bikes, etc.

In this photo, the ranger is telling us about the dogs, sleds, environment, and people. 

Cue the dogs!   They came huffing in from the right.   The dogs were pulling a wheeled (summer) version of a dog sled.

These are “Freight” dogs, meaning they are big and strong.   They can pull 400lbs per dog on a sled.  The Mushers try to keep it to about 100lbs per dog in real life.

I don't think it would go well if I were to walk one of these when a squirrel shoots by…

These are very happy, social, and well adjusted dog.   And the puppies are just awesomely cute.   I wanted to take some home, but Karen said “NO”.

A cargo/freight sled.

Some of the dogs.   These are typically 3-9 years old.   When the dogs turn 9 they are given to good local homes under very strict requirements for the people’s personality, exercise, and climate (must be cold).

Unlike me, these dogs are happiest when temperatures are -10 to -40.

For dinner tonight, we went to the 49th State Brewery where by my count half of the population of Alaska turned out.   This place is in the middle of nowhere between Denali and Fairbanks and it was packed, inside and out.

This is the magic school bus that Jon Krakaour wrote about in his book “Into the Wild”.   This is the same bus that was in the movie of the same name.

He has written many other books, and all are excellent.

See, we really are in the middle of nowhere…

No sunset again tonight.   0001 (12:01am) is no time to be up taking pictures!

Good Night, My Friends.