Chop Chop Billy Goat

Denali National Park would be beautiful in any weather; but especially so when the sun shines. For twelve days the weather gods smiled down upon us, and normally rainy and cool Denali was awash in sunshine. As an added bonus, there were very few mosquitos.

We spent our first four days at Riley Creek Campground, located at the entrance to the park. There we hiked some of the short trails, explored the visitor center and spied large moose in the trees. We also visited the park kennel, where the park’s sled dogs are housed. Denali is the only national park where sled dogs are used to patrol the park in the winter. The kids got to pet the beautiful dogs and then we watched a team of dogs pull a sled.

The park road that runs 90 miles into the park is closed to all private cars at mile 14; with the exception of people camping at the Teklanika River Campground located at mile 29. We spent eight days at this beautiful, quiet, campground. A fun place to celebrate big kid’s tenth birthday!!

Camped alongside the Teklanika River, we armed ourselves with bear spray (and a hefty dose of common sense) and explored both the river and the river banks. Two days we spent riding the park bus, where we got close up views of grizzlies and caribou (more on this from big kid) and got to see Mt. McKinley yet again. We also enjoyed a lazy day or two around camp, where we took walks along the park road and visited with our neighbors.

Big kid had tons of fun playing with two boys her age in the campground. The trio kept busy with mud fights, secret forts, icecream parties, and a lot of running around and screaming.

Next stop, Fairbanks ….