- Stock up for a three-day stay in Denali Park
- Drive to Teklanika Campground
- extensive breakfast in the park when the weather is nice
- Bus ride in the park to the Eielson Visitors Center
- Four grizzly bears seen
- The north summit of Mount McKinley seen between the clouds
So today it's off to Denali National Park. Another highlight of my trip and something I've been looking forward to for a long time. In keeping with this, the weather this morning is also promising. We empty the wastewater, fill the fresh water tank and buy last supplies. We'll pick up our Tek Passes at the Visitors Center. Menu and Chrigu booked Teklanika Campground a long time ago. It is the only campground in the park that is accessible by car. You have to stay at least three nights and the car has to be parked the whole time. The parking service buses are used to get around the park. Since there is only one street, they run regularly. At first, coniferous forests line the lower layers of the park. The road leads higher and higher into the treeless tundra. This allows a view over the vast country. To be able to grasp these dimensions, you have to see the Dinali, madness! There were no animal sightings until the campground. Here we now have an extensive breakfast.
Then we march to the next but one bus stop to take the bus further into the park. It doesn't take too long and we can see a grizzly bear on the opposite slope. He is busy digging up roots. Here at home, vegetarian food makes up about 80% of the diet. In contrast to the coastal brown bears, which are even bigger thanks to the protein-rich salmon. A few minutes later we get to see the second grizzly. There will be a total of four grizzly bear sightings on the outward journey. We also get to see caribou. The most spectacular scenic part of the route runs over the Polychrome Pass with its differently colored rock layers with a view of wide river valleys.
We drive to the Elison Visitors Center, where on a clear day you can look over to the majestic Mount McKinley or Denali mountain. Here we take a short break and visit the center. Outside, thanks to the tip of another tourist, we can briefly see the north summit of the mountain through the otherwise closed cloud cover. Unbelievable how high it is. Fortunately, we have two more days here in the hope of still being able to admire the mountain as a whole. In any case, the weather forecasts are promising. The return trip is relatively uneventful, we can only briefly observe one of the grizzlies again. The clouds create a dramatic weather mood along the dead end. Unfortunately you can only catch them unsatisfactorily from the moving bus. Now we're going to prepare dinner.
