This morning on our walk we met Hector. He is from Mexico, in his mid-thirties, and riding a motorcycle through the Americas. He has been on the road for 2 years already, heading first through all of South America. He crossed into the U.S. at El Paso and then made his way through the U.S. via the National Parks. A few days ago he pitched a tent on the tundra above the Arctic Circle. He talked about the cold but also about the joy he found in visiting the terrain.

Hector is even more at the mercy of weather than I am. Even though he has great rain gear, he told me that he gets wet at times. Not long ago, he was stopped for construction work north of Fairbanks in the pouring rain. He said it started to trickle down his neck and into his boots. Yikes. At that very moment, I stopped feeling bad about the hardships I face. I have a car to keep me dry when it rains. I have a small heater for the tent. I can get dry.

Besides, the hardships pass and new joys arrive, like landing in Denali National Park the day after Memorial Day weekend. The campground is empty except for a few intrepid travelers like Hector. I scored a great campsite, with the tent pad set far back from the road. I am near the nice bathroom with flush toilets but not too close. Tango and I walk along the extensive trail network near the campground in the morning. We carefully skirt around the mama moose and her young one while they browse along the main road!

In the afternoon, the air temps drop for a while before warming up again with the evening sun. Then, I drive to the nearby destinations, like the visitor center or the small town. The best part of the day, however, starts around 9 PM, when we drive into the park (15 miles only for private cars). Miraculously on the first night (around 10:30 PM), I saw Denali. The sky was clear in that direction and the “midnight” sun lit up the north peak! What a blessing. When I first saw the mountain there was no doubt that is was Denali. Even at the great distance, it towers over everything else. And of course, it is the only peak out there completely snow and ice-covered at this time of year. A pull out around Mile 10 had a sign showing the peaks in the direction and confirmed for me that I had found the great mountain.

I  have some photos but it was far enough in the distance that they photos won’t show much.

Right near the 15 mile turnaround I pulled over and looked out to a wide river valley on one side and a gentle treeline slope on the other. The first night I saw 3 caribou (North American Reindeer) feeding on the slope, one male and two females.  Last night I saw the caribou team again and, to the left near the Savage River, a lone grizzly feeding, most likely a younger male. I could see him with my naked eyes but had a great view through my binoculars.

Great numbers of snowshoe hares in their mottled summer coats feed along the roadsides. Sometimes I see groups of 3 munching away together. Red and ground squirrels are abundant. I have not seen many birds. Wolves are in the area, but I have not seen any yet. Soon I hope!

I found a world of things to do here. The Park Service has dog sled teams and they do daily demos at the Dog Sled Kennels. Rangers give talks about the park in the afternoons and probably in the amphitheater over the weekend. There are enough front country trails that allow dogs to keep us walking all the time (and a few shorter ones farther in where I can leave him in the car during to cool evening). That is one of the great things about our National Parks – always lots to do. The downside is the crowds, but the campground is okay at the moment. The visitor center was crowded yesterday but I can solve that by going early to places where other people like to go. It’s all about adaptation.

In fact, I love it here so much I decided to stay a while. I extended my reservation for a full two weeks (the max allowed in the campgrounds) and look forward to my evening drives into the park under the midnight sun skies.

Total numbers daylight today (from online) = 19 +. The official sunrise is 4 AM and sunset around midnight, but it is light almost all the time.