Day 3 - The Denali Adventure

Day 3 started at 4:30 AM...a very early start for 2 girls who like to sleep in.  But by 6:05 we were dressed, packed and had eaten breakfast.  The bus was exactly on time.  After we made one more stop to pick  up the bulk of the passengers we were on our way to our first stop, the Denali Wilderness Access Center.  The we viewed a short film on the history of the Park.  One interesting factoid for me was that the first ascenton McKinley was June 7, 1913.  Exactly 100 years later our 5th grandchild was born on June 7, 2013...Makinley Faith.  Got to remember to to tell her Mom and Dad.

The Grande Denali Lodge had a spectacular view of the surrounding area!!
 

One primary objective of the tour was to spot as many of the big 5 species as possible; Bear, Moose, Caribou, Dall Sheep and Wolf.  We did see 4 of the 5.  I will leave it to the readers to think about which one we did not see.  Answer at the end of the post.

Our 3.5 hour tour went 17 miles into the Park.  Along the way we stopped at an old Ranger Station and of course seveal stops for a look at the mountain like the one above.  It was spectactular secenery.  Our turn around point was at Primrose Ridge where the bus was met by an Athabascan Indian woman.  She spoke about the 5 Indian tribes of Alaska and then more about her tribe and finally more detail about her family. She finished her presentation with a native indian tribute song to the Mountain...it was truly beautiful.

Afterward we were instructed to board the bus.  Bus driver tried to start the bus...no go!!  Tried again, nothing.  Got out and started banging the selinoid with rocks...nothing.  Tried larger rocks....still nothing.  Got back on the bus and called home base....but instead of sending a rescue bus they were sending a mechanic!!  This had all the makings of a very long day. 

By this time all the men were off the bus being very helpful I'm sure!!  Us ladies were plotting a high jacking of any of the other tour buses that were arriving.  After several more attempts the bus suddenly decided to start.  Go figure...I guess the larger rocks scared it.

Once we were on the return trip home all was well.  No more excitement.

Once back at the Grand we asked the driver for a lunch suggestion.  He pointed us toward the Creekside Cafe, about 10 miles back toward Anchorage.  Excellent suggestion.

Gretchen suggested we meet at the Airport, drop off the rental car and she would drive us to the Marriott the next morning  to catch our bus to Seward.  Worked out well.

That night we gathered again at Ben & Gretchen's.  So it was Jane, Mike, Sara,  Ben and Gretchen hanging out.  Mike asked how Karen and I met....and that started the Karen/Sue 1970's Adventure Stories.

It was a fun evening.