Denali:
We made our way towards Denali by 5pm in the evening and it was getting cooler than expected. Anchorage luckily the earlier day was a good 70 degree plus and I assumed (which is a wrong thing to do in Alaska!) that the weather would be similar the next day. It started with a warm morning which beckoned to wear some summer clothing. Initially it felt like the perfect choice but I started shivering even in my layered clothing as the day progressed. Keep in mind that Denali is usually a few degrees about 10 degrees colder than Anchorage on any given day and so dress accordingly.
Soon, we came across a sign "scenic byway" and there is where I started to fall in love with the "magical mystical Denali". The drive from Anchorage to Denali was the most beautiful drive in the world. I cannot imagine how beautiful the yellow, orange hues might look there in fall. They have the famous instructor led $4000 fall photography tours here for fall. You could see as far as your eyes could take you and at that point I just wanted to stop the car on roadside and sit in the middle of the road for forever. I wanted to take it all in and never let go of that picture, It was like I had found peace in the arms of nature. We stopped the car roadside and walked a couple of meters when we saw a few tourists trying to make their way to the river.
The rivers Susitna and Chulitna flowed beside the mountain and the road for as long as I could remember. The water so blue and still and fresh. There was no one else on the road. It was just the vast expanse of big mountains, the gorgeous river and one single road to destination from wherever we looked. It was like time came to a complete standstill. If I did ever go back to Alaska I would never want to miss this route and the glaciers ofcourse!
We stopped at nearly every location on the way to take pictures. The best part is all along the road, they had signboards stating "photostop 1000ft". Accolades for the state tourism who had done a great job at promoting tourism. As we stopped on as many photo locations we could and for road construction work (which they usually try to finish in 3 months of summer they get), our 4.5 hour journey extended to a nearly 12 hour one. We came to the Mt Mckinley north viewpoint and MtMckinley south viewpoints in the hope of getting a glimpse of the beautiful and highest snow covered peak in North America. But!, it wasn't a clear day. They say MtMckinley is visible on 20% of time the whole of summer and to a very few lucky visitors. Drat! we were out of luck, not only then but the whole of our trip. But that din't dampen our spirits, because the whole of Denali was stunningly and outrageously beautiful. Nothing can describe it. The images seem to be so ingrained in my mind that I can close my eyes and imagine being there. I did go back anyday at slightest opportunity.
Soon we reached around 20 miles from Denali park entrance and filled up gas full tank at the nearest and last gas station before we headed to entrance of park. Our hotel was just 1 mile outside the park and it was like all the tourists were living in that 1 mile radius of the park entrance. We parked our car and checked in, again saving money on hotel stay on "2 nights for cost of 1" deal from Alaska tour savor book. It was called the grande denali lodge hotel, atop the mountain with the most beautiful view of the area. I had heard a lot about the beautiful princess lodge in that area, but bookings there seemed to fill very fast. We booked in May for our August travel and din't get a booking with princess lodge.
We had a hearty dinner atop at the hotel restaurant. The view as you can see above, again was gorgeous. My husband was trying to keep his balance by the railing trying to click some pictures as the sun set.
Since, the hotel faced the canyon directly, the canyon winds were making it hard to stand or walk without falling. The winds were raging at about 80 miles per hour. It was hard to hold foot on ground and to stay warm due to windchill, but there was a group of young girls who were just sitting out in porch wearing sweatshirts and chatting away to their hearts content. Below is the picture of the road, river and the canyon.
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