After the all-day bus tour, we took a couple days of mostly down time. We are learning that on a super long trip like this, you can't be traveling and sightseeing all the time, or you wear yourself out. So we mix in busy days with slow days and sometimes do-nothing days. So for our last few days in the area, we did one two-mile hike, and mixed in a little sightseeing in the park and around the area.
Outside the Park
Not all of the scenery was inside the park. The drive from our campground to the park was pretty as well. The road more or less follows the Nenana River through the tourist town of Nenana.
Along the river, we spotted this group getting ready for a float trip.
The railroad was doing maintenance on one of their trestles, in between train crossings. This picture shows the pile driver and other equipment used for the maintenance.
The little town of Otto Lake is a little north of where we camped. Seems to be mostly lodging and other tourist activities. The view from the lake was pretty.
Welcome to Denali
About half-way through our visit, we finally remembered to stop at the park entrance for the obligatory photo-op:
According to the tour guide on our bus trip, the majority of visitors to Denali arrive by train. We happened to be near a crossing when one of the trains was pulling out.
A couple more views from within the park - Rock Creek, and Mountain View Trailhead. We did not take the trail, but did stop at the picnic area near the trailhead.
I'm guessing this tree was struck by lightning and exploded, based on the way the parts are scattered, and the dead branches nearby. But that's just a guess.
Caribou
These may be our best caribou pictures yet - or at least the best at this location. Animals like the big gravel bars in the wide braided rivers, sometimes using them as highways for easy travel from one location to another. We spotted these off the savage river bridge during an evening drive.
Savage River Hike
When we stopped at the Savage River area earlier, this looked like it would be an interesting hike. We did a little research, and determined it was a two-mile trip, up one side of the river, and down the other. This is just about the limit of our endurance, but we decided to give it a try. The savage river starts out as what I would call an ordinary mountain stream, but when it reaches the valley, it becomes a braided river. The first picture shows the view downstream, and the second shows where it looks more like a mountain stream.
Vegetation is pretty sparse uphill from the stream. We aren't really above the tree line, but I think all the rocks in the area discourage a lot of growth.
But all the rocks made for a very scenic mountain stream. Here are some of my favorite views...
These orange splotches look like someone tried to paint the rocks, but they are actually a lichen of some kind.
We saw a lot of interesting rocks, rock formations, and rock breakups.
Marmot Dance
One of the highlights of the hike was this pair of marmots doing a marmot dance of some sort. They carried on for several minutes, quite oblivious to the onlookers, before scampering off into the bushes.
More Scenery
Can you find the rock formation that looks like a mama bear, with her little cub behind her?
Birds
This female ptarmigan let us get extremely close - she didn't even move as we walked by. I suspect she had a nest nearby and wanted to distract us from finding it. It worked. The other little bird just perched on a branch while we were creeping toward the ptarmigan. Took me some digging to identify it - it is a white-capped sparrow. In the process, I found a good online source for identifying birds - birdzilla.com.
Flowers, and More Flowers
I can't believe how many different kinds of flowers we spotted in the area. Most of these were on the Savage River Hike or near the Visitor Center. Others are from various other locations in the area. And I skipped most of the ones we have seen before.The Northern Goldenrod, which looks nothing like its midwestern namesake, and the northern oxytrope...
Hairy Arctic Milk Vetch (Gotta love the name!) and Arctic Dock:
At first I thought these were two different plants, but they are actually the bud and then the bloom of Capitate Valerian.
Moss Campion, and Alaska Cotton Grass
Prickly Saxifrage, with a Mountain Aven popping up in the middle.
Mystery Flowers
There are a few flowers I have not been able to identify yet, but they are still pretty. If you know what they are, let me know.
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