Wendy and I spent the last couple days driving the Denali Highway, and hiking through the park, and we have encountered no bears! Actually, we saw one way across a valley, bolting across the tundra, visible only through binoculars, but that hardly counts.
The Denali Highway is the old, unpaved road that used to be the only access to Denali, and provides incredible views across the Alaska Range. Since it is outside the park, we were able to take our sidekick, Chowder, and do some exploring away from the main tourist track.
The day after that, we left Chowder at home and took a shuttle into the park (the only method of access without special permit). The shuttle drivers are trained naturalists, and help look for wildlife, giving facts and information to the wide-eyed tourists. We were lucky enough to see a lynx – sauntering down a paved road just inside the park, not a care in the world. We also saw lots of caribou, Dall sheep, snowshoe hares (still in the process of turning from white to brown for the summer), a northern hawk owl, mew gulls, and a lone gray wolf.
Food around Denali has been disappointing – or as expected, depending on how you look at it. JC’s take is that most people only come through once, often staying one day (most from cruise ships, who are bussed up to the park), so the restaurants don’t try that hard. We did find one place with excellent food, even by San Francisco foodie standards: 229 Parks located at 229 Parks Road.
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