Lets consider size for a minute, this graphic of Alaska overlaid on the lower 48 says a lot. Just so my fellow Texans can grasp this, if Alaska was cut in half Texas would be the 3rd largest state!
This is not to say Texas is small in any way, it is bigger than lots of countries.
Denali National park at 6 Million acres is larger than the State of New Hampshire. Our Tour consisted of a school bus ride that was 12 hours in length with a 1 1/2 lunch break. The road was a very narrow affair, required stopping and going very slow when meeting traffic. There were plenty of 2,000+ shear drops! It set my back and Anne-Maries hip back about 4 months!
Some folks used the lunch break to recharge, yes there was a small pub involved.
We saw 11 bears, numerous Caribou and several Moose and a red fox catching his lunch (Yuk!). We were not allowed out of the bus while on route (Park Rules)
This is a very rare Moose in the pond shot, best I could do through a window. What makes it rare? What appears to be a white cloud in the background is actually Mt. McKinley. At this point it is 70 miles away.
Denali, the "High One," is the name Athabascan native people gave this massive peak (Mount McKinley) that crowns the 600 mile long Alaska range. In this ‘Flag View’ it is 75 miles away, the closer mountain are about 20 miles away. McKinley is huge, dwarfing everything around it. The 2 peaks {North and South} are separated by 2 miles!
Our bus picked us up at 6:00am and dropped us home at 8:00pm. We were exhausted! I remember my Uncle Buster saying about Boot Camp: “I wouldn’t do that again for a million dollars, nor would I sell the experience!”
Tomorrow: River Rafting in 36° water.
No comments :
Post a Comment