Saturday, July 20, 2013

Getting Ready for Denali

Tonight we are back in Palmer.  We spent 3 fun days down in Homer.  It was a bit cold and windy this year and there were way way more campers than in years past but we still had a good time.  Kim and I even got a bike ride in last night.  And, of course, we got into the Salty Dawg for a cold one before we closed out our stay in Homer.

The drive to Homer was fairly uneventful.  We stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and then at Beluga Point where we had lunch.  While we were at Beluga we saw some sheep high up on the mountainside.  The tide was also coming in so we saw some amazing whirlpools and tidal activity.  I have some video of the water (the sheep had to be viewed through binoculars so no pics of them) and Kim took lots of photo's - maybe we will get some posted later tonight.

As I mentioned in a previous post we have 5 nights lined up in Denali National Park.  We arrive tomorrow the 20th and spend the first night at the Riley Creek campground.  Riley Creek is the first campground at the park, situated right inside the national park boundary.  It is fairly close to the visitor center, we have stayed there each of the last two years.  The next three nights should be fascinating!  We have reserved a spot in the Teklanika River campground.  This campground is 29 miles into the park!  It is about 16 miles past the point where all private vehicles have to turn around.  The campground requires a three night minimum stay, and you can't move your vehicle once you arrive.  There is internet available at the store in Riley Creek but I highly doubt there will be access back in Teklanika River.  Assuming we do not get eaten by a bear or other wild animal we should be checking in next weekend.  If you haven't signed up to get notifications via email now might be a good time to do that.

Here's today's map:



Day Miles - 263
Trip Miles - 7,886

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