Guerin’s On The Go !

Today was another very long day but a fabulous one ,nonetheless. We started off very sleep deprived after our big night of aurora viewing. We then headed off on the Wilderness express train toward Denali. The train is a double decker train with a glass dome and comfortable seating. They offered a delicious breakfast menu that included yummy choices like blueberry pancakes and reindeer sausage. The views were amazing from the train especially as we came into the canyon of the Alaskan Mountain Range. The crew on board was very gracious and attentive. We were able to spend time outside on the rear platform of the train as it zipped along which was very cool!

We arrived in Denali National Park in the early afternoon and had a little time to visit the visitor center and store before heading out on the Denali Park Tour. We joked a bit as they use school buses for this, as they sort of looked like prison buses. Unfortunately,  we had the seat with the wheel well so it was a bit cramped. The park was at peak foliage and absolutely breathtaking. Denali National Park encompasses more than 6 million acres and is the size of the entire state of Massachusetts. Connecticut would fit inside it entirely. 

The park is tightly controlled by the park service to protect the environment and wildlife who live within its boundaries. There is only one road into and out of the park. It is accessible to all for the first 15 miles. After this you must use the mass transit system on the school buses with guides. This may sound restrictive but after we learned why, it all made sense. Even foot trails change the natural environment that could adverse effects on the future of a species for generations. For example, animals will follow the path of least resistance so they access the paths and make them more susceptible to predators, which depletes the population and can have a dramatic effect future generations. They are also trying to avoid the “Yellowstone effect” , which has been an issue with humans interacting with the wildlife in ways that negatively impact both the animals ( attacking and being destroyed for their natural instincts as well as getting to used to people) and the humans (getting too close and being injured). I had never thought about it like this before but people much smarter than me have studied this for decades.

Denali, which is Athabascan for “The Great One”, is famous for many things: scenery, the mountain itself , which is over 20,310 feet and, of course, wildlife. The trip is quite long about 5-6 hours on the school bus( on the wheel well 🥴). Despite the length of the trip, you only see about 4% of the entire park. Our driver, Justin, made the trip unforgettable. He was so knowledgeable about the park, the environment and the wildlife, not to mention his amazing ability at spotting wildlife. We had quite a miraculous day with him as our guide. He explained the big 5 are grizzly bears, Dall sheep, moose, caribou and wolves . We managed to see four of the five (no wolves) plus Denali itself, which is usually cloaked in cloud cover.  But what was more mind blowing was that we did see two of the most elusive larger mammals in the park, the lynx and the wolverine. Even our driver could not believe our luck! He has been a driver there for 23 years and has never had so many sightings in one day. We feel very fortunate to have had the weather cooperate and to have had such a wonderful day.  

We arrived at the Denali Park Village to find a cute cabin right on the river! We grabbed a simple dinner locally and fell into bed exhausted but happy once again!