August 16th, 2024 Travel to Denali National Park

We woke to pouring rain... packed up and headed north to Denali National Park.  (As a side note.. in 2007 and 2009, we had to make reservations way before we got here because it was difficult to get a site.  I made reservations less than two weeks ago and was very surprised to get a site.  HMMM!)

Rainy and cloudy as we made our way north:

If it were sunny, I bet this lake would have great reflections:

There  were homes/cabins in the middle of "nowhere".  Now I may say nowhere but... if you need groceries or any other services, it is about 80 miles south and about 40 miles north. And that is just small stores.  Brave souls, I say!

Interesting lakes and rivers:

The sun is appearing..do you see the rainbow?:

Incredible!  But we did not find the pot of gold - LOL!!:

Love the fog thru the mountains:

And then the clouds parted and the sun shined thru:

We arrived at Denali National Park!:

This park reservations are very interesting.  It is run by Aramark instead of the NPS.  So when we made reservations, we made them for an A site, which means an RV greater than 30 feet but less than 40 feet. So we needed to check in first and then find an A site.  She only asked how long we were - didn't check. Since we tow a vehicle, she told us to find a "double site" to fit the truck and RV - because we could not park on the road.  

So as Andy did the dumping and filling with fresh water, I "trolled" the campground.  A and B loop were mostly taken but in C loop I found a few good sites so here we are! 

After setting up, we took a road trip - first to the town of Denali and then to Healy, north of Denali.  We needed gas, propane and some groceries and Healy had all we needed.  After filling up, we headed back home.

Sites along the way - the Alaskan RR bridge:

Nenana River Canyon:

Our final stop was at Prospector's Pizzeria and Alehouse for a pizza (Great) and beer.  They have over 50 beers on tap, mostly Alaskan brews.  We tried the Prospectors Gold Lager (brewed by the 49th State Brewery) and it was pretty good.

What a great day!

Stats for today:

Miles Traveled:  91 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Alaska: Parks Highway - AK3

Tomorrow we are going to explore the park so stay tuned and enjoy today.