Willow Ptarmigan at Denali National Park

We saw this Willow Ptarmigan along the side of the road on our way into Denali National Park.  Ptarmigan are all white in winter, and she still has just a bit of her winter white feathers.  She stood in the same spot while I got out of the truck and came around to take her photo.  She was still there when we drove away, and we kept a lookout for her on our way back to see if she had moved.  We didn't see her, so guess she must have!

Too bad all birds don't pose so nicely!

I am linking up with Eileen at Saturday's Critters.

Ornamental Iron Fencing, Alaska Style

These fence sections are on a viewing platform at the Georgeson Botanical Garden at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.  They are made by a local company and variations can be seen around town.

I am linking up with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Wildflowers

Arnica

Jacob's Ladder

In Remberance

Take a moment today to remember all those who fought and died for our freedom.  

Gettysburg National Cemetery

Final resting place of more than 6,000 veterans

of the Civil War, Spanish-American War,

World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War

Denali National Park

Visiting Denali National Park at this time of year is like going backwards in time a few weeks.  The elevation in Fairbanks is 446 feet, the entrance to the park is at 1585 feet, and in the part of the road we traveled on up to around 3000 feet.  There was just a wee bit of green peeking out on the vegetation, and snow is visible along the roadside in many places.  Our first stop was the Visitor's Center where we were greeted by a friendly bear.  We didn't see any other bears, but I certainly would not have considered approaching them as closely as this guy. 

We only stopped briefly at the Visitor's Center, and then we were on the road into the park.  A few buses were running on the Natural History Tour that travels 17 miles into the park, and some appeared to be familiarizing staff with the road.  We pulled out behind one of the buses.

Yes, road construction was underway in the park too, in this case repairing a bridge, and we had a short wait.


We had been in the Lowland area of the park, with elevations below 2500 feet, with black spruce, white spruce, and paper birch.  As we drove further into the park we were into a Subalpine ecosystem, with elevations between 2500 to 3500 feet, and shrub vegetation, open spruce woodland, and meadows.

One popular means of traveling through the park is by bicycle.

As we approached the Savage River Check Station, buses were visible coming down the hill on the other side of the river.  During the season that portion of the road is only open to buses or bicycles and it's the beginning of the gravel road that goes the rest of the way through the park.  You can drive the road anytime up until this point, but the next 15 miles was open for private vehicle travel through May 19, and the reason for our trip this early in the year.

As we started up that hill we had a good view of the river, and some tourists doing what tourists do, taking photos of each other.

Next time some wildlife photos!   

Denali Park Fence

Denali National Park Visitor's Center

May 15th, 2014

I'm linking up with Good Fences

on the Run "A" Round Ranch Report

Mini Road Trip: Denali National Park

Denali National Park is about a two-hour drive south of Fairbanks.  Last Thursday we decided to make the drive down and headed out of Fairbanks about 8:30 on an overcast morning.  We turned onto the Parks Highway behind a military convoy.  The highway between Fairbanks and Anchorage is not named for the national park, but instead was named after George Parks, who was governor of the territory in 1925-1933.  All of the photos are drive-bys, so they are not as clear as I would like, but you can still get a feel for the drive.

There are some lovely views of the Alaska Range as you drive along the Parks Highway.  The photo on the lower left in the collage below is right out of Fairbanks, and the upper photos are views of the mountains along the road, including McKinley.  The mountain is officially McKinley, but is also called Denali from the Athabascan Indian name.  Denali means "the Great One" or "the High one."  The images of "the Great One" are a little fuzzy, but even on a bright sunny day the mountain can be very elusive and wreathed in clouds, so I'm just happy to have gotten these photos.  The lower right hand photos are of the bridge into Nenana crossing the Nenana River.

There are more mountain views further south, and of course road construction.  With a limited time to work on the road and the presence of permafrost, there is always road construction going on during the summer.  Right now they are widening sections of the road and repairing damaged sections.  We were stopped by flaggers several times, but the wait wasn't very long at any of the stops.

The narrow river canyon just before the park can be a very windy area and prone to slides.  As we passed the river there were some rafters preparing to land their rafts and ride the bus back to their starting point at Raft Denali.

Just up the road is Glitter Gulch, where all the commercial buildings are.  You won't find Glitter Gulch on a map, but that's what it's called locally.  In the summer the half-mile stretch of road is full of hotels, restaurants and other touristy businesses and 400,000 some tourists visit each summer.  The Princess Hotel alone has 656 rooms.  In the winter everything is closed up tight.  The bottom right photo shows the Raft Denali headquarters, and you can see the black launching ramp for the rafts to go into the river.  Yikes, I'm hoping that the rafts go down empty!  The middle bottom photo shows helicopters, where you can take a flight around the park.

Just past Glitter Gulch is the entrance to the Park.

Denali National Park consists of 6,028,203 acres or 9,419 square miles. The road into the park is 92 miles, with the first 15 miles being paved.  During the summer that is as far as you can drive and bus service is provided from that point on.  Although the Visitor's Center and other facilities opened on the 15th, bus service doesn't start until May 20th, and full operation on the road won't be open until June 8th.  Up until the 20th you can drive as far as the Teklanika River rest area in your own vehicle, and so that's why we went when we did.  After everything closes down in mid-September there are four days when you can drive as far on the road as weather permits--providing you're one of the 400 lucky winners of a day permit, determined by a lottery.  So far our lottery entries have not been successful, but I have hopes for this year.  

Next time, photos from within the park....

Wigeon Reflections

American Wigeons, May 11, 2014

Taken at "Crocodile Lake"--the name given to the reclaimed gravel pit near our house by my granddaughter Sydney.  Strangely enough, we've never seen a crocodile there......

Alaskan Country Road

The Challenge, Part 3

And so the dust-up began......

Notice Fiona quietly slipping away.

Finally Sam and Sylvia are victorious and Fred flaps away.

 The victors savor their triumph.

And then they feast.  Notice Fiona in the background has completely checked out.

Fred lets out his frustration with a few wing flaps.....

......while Sam proclaims his magnificence.

Now, I've just been indulging in a bit of poetic license here.  Perhaps you have another interpretation?

As the action took place a ways out in the field and I've had to crop a bit, I may have lost a bit in the way of facial expression.  There was a great deal of trumpeting going on throughout.  To hear the sound the Trumpeter Swans make, click HERE to go to Cornell's All About Birds, and then click on the "Call" button.

Fireweed Fence

July 29, 2013

I'm linking with Good Fences

at the Run "A" Around Ranch Report

The Challenge, Part 2

"Gawwwk!  Fred, they're coming this way!"

"I'll talk to them, Fiona.  Hey, I was only kidding.  There's plenty of room for all of us."

"Fred, I knew they were going to be trouble.  Let's just get out of here."

"I'm sure they'll listen to reason, Fiona.  Hey, guys,  let's just forget about it, okay?"

"Sylvia, I really think we need to put them in their place.  Besides, this is a really nice spot."  "Yup, I like it here too.  Let's go for it, Sam."

"All right, Fred, we're taking over here.  Time for you to leave!"

To be continued.......

(Note:  The action all took place on April 22nd.  The snow is gone now, but there are still some swans hanging around.)