A Cinnibun, deadly even to look at but oh so good

Apologies for not posting for the last few days. There is barely one bar of cell coverage and no wifi so I couldn’t even post text, let alone photos. Tonight is not a lot better but should get some through.

Fairbanks has been fun but the main game at the moment is Denali. The weather is looking really good so we set off at 9 am to try to maximise the blue sky.

Denali has a reputation for cloud and rain, so much so that only 30% of visitors get to see the mountain and only 19% get to see both of the peaks.

On the way we stopped at Nenana, a ramshackle town that is trying hard. It is famous for being the first checkpoint on the Iditarod dog sled race.

It also has the Nenana Ice Classic where you nominate a date and time when the river ice will melt enough to drop a pole into the river. Last year they had 270,000 entrants at $2.50 per entry. Half of the proceeds goes to town and the other half is distributed to winners, of which there were 40 last year. It’s a big deal in town.

The Ice Classic pole

Visitors centre and cinnibun bakery

Cafe, bar, micro brewery. He does it all

We moved on to Denali National Park, a few hours drive down the road. First job was to set up camp. We had planned to have the full Denali experience and tent it. Minor problem in that the vegetation is protected so erecting a tent on grass not permitted. Fortunately we found some softish earth, the best we could do.

The road into the park goes for 93 miles but only 15 miles is accessible to the public. At Savage River it is buses and authorised only.

First priority though was to get into the park to have a look at the mountain. It was still fine but a bit hazey but we could see Denali, and both peaks! Couldn’t believe our luck.

Up until 2016 the mountain was names Mt McKinley but was changed to Denali, “the big one”. It stands 20,310 ft tall and is the largest mountain in North America.

Then moose mother and baby

It was then back to camp to pitch our tents followed by another one pot wonder from Collette.

Up the road a bit is an amphitheater where park rangers give talks about various aspects of the park. Tonight it was about how to climb Denali.

On average 1000 people attempt to climb the mountain every year. Only half make it to the top and on average 1 person dies each year in the attempt so it is a very serious mountain to climb.

Notice the amount of clothing worn by the ranger compared to her audience. These Alaskans don’t feel the cold. It was about 10C at this time.

Tomorrow we are catching a bus at 6.15 to take us in to Wonder Lake. It is 88 miles each way and will take 11 hours. While we are not looking forward to that much time on a bus it is the only way to get into the park and see everything it has to offer.

Denali with both south and north peaks visible. We are part of the 19% !!!

Tonight we are in a lovely B&B in the middle of nowhere. Electricity is provided by generator which is about to be turned off so I will try to catch up on the daily posts tomorrow night from Anchorage.