Denali (or Mt McKinley)

Here it is Thursday and last I posted I was heading into Fairbanks. Fairbanks has a great bike path - yes, I got the bike down and rode the 5 mile circuit - the goes along the river Chena. There are some very good parks in the downtown area with monuments to Lead Lease (last time Alaskans thought kindly of Russia??!) and a very good Tourist Info with the best exhibit hall of all the cities so far.

There is an old settler's cabin and it had the most amazing flowers. Here is a huge Sunflower

That's for you flower lovers

And for you animal lovers - Antler Arch. Commemorating some kills from first timers (13years old) to old timers - men not the animals, moose or elk.

It is Alaska - where the Momma Grizzlies live

Left for Denali on Tuesday and as I was leaving I could see Denali far in the distance, but once I got to the park - nada. 

There is a small town south of Fairbanks called Nenana. Each spring they have a - well a lottery - to guess the exact time the river ice will melt. To determine the winner the pyramid structure to the left has been placed on the river as soon as it has frozen and the top of the center pole is attached to a anchor point on the shore. The moment the line breaks is the time of the ice flow and the winner. classy - eh?

Upper Plains of Denali Park at 15 mile marker.

Without special camping permits or on a park bus - no one can go past the 15 marker. 

There is another rain storm approaching. The main Park Building is just ahead and that is the train bridge that serves the Park.

I couldn't camp in the park - No reservations and the first cancelation was for the weekend, so off I went to the south in hopes of seeing Mt McKinley today.