Denali National Park

Mt McKinley (aka Denali, which means "the high one") rarely shows itself in the summer. The average for July is only 2-3 times for the whole month, so we knew we had a really low statistical chance of seeing it. But we still had to take the 8 hr round-trip bus ride into Eilson Visitor Center to see God's beautiful creation in one of the last true wilderness areas left in the nation. It proved to be a cloudy, dreary day, but God's handiwork can't be diminished!

Here's some examples of what the park road looks like!

You can see how it gets it's name!

We saw a little bit of wildlife VERY far away. Ironically, we saw more animals right next to the car driving up here on the AlCan Hwy! But here were our Denali sightings:

1 bear lounging 

3 caribou grazing

1 fox trotting

3 dall sheep climbing

At one of our stops we got to try on caribou antlers to see how heavy they were! Can't imagine carrying a rack like this around!!!

Hiking around Eilson Visitor Center (our turn-around point):

At the new Eilson visitor center:

Everything has changed soo much in the 13 years we've been gone (the Parks Hwy right outside the Nat Park has 2 stoplights now, a whole "tourist town" has sprung up, all the visitor centers are new, added more parking lots and other new buildings, etc) BUT the one thing that doesn't change is God's beauty! We still recognize the landscape, certain peaks & geological features of the park. 

It's the majesty of God's Creation that continues to intrigue, inspire, touch, stir, move hearts (whether they acknowledge it or not)....that's what draws thousands of visitors to the park (and to Alaska in general) year after year (and thus what causes all the tourist development of new hotels, restaurants, shops, etc).

On a side note....

We DID see Denali the morning before we went into the park, as we were leaving Fairbanks (from the UAF parking lot)...it looked different from this angle:

We also so a quick glimpse of it from Anchorage one day at the beginning of our trip (but didn't get a photo because we were on the highway).