Hello Everyone,
An option to the park Kantishna Experience tour is the Kantishna Wilderness Trails Denali Park bus tour (KWT). It’s offered by Doyon Tourism and turned out to be an excellent choice for us. Our bus driver/guide, Kevin, provided detailed information on geology, park history, and wildlife on the roundtrip to Kantishna. With only 38 people on a 44-passenger coach, there was room to spread out. Fruit, cookies, and drinks were offered en route and the lunch in the dining room at the Katishna Roadhouse was tasty and filling.
Unfortunately, Mt. Denali was under cloud cover during our entire journey, and there was a paucity of wildlife considering the trip’s total distance of 184 miles. We did see a wolf, moose, caribou, and Dall sheep but no eagles or bears.
Passengers were picked up at our hotel, Denali Bluffs, and three other lodges by our 44-passenger bus which was comfortable and not crowded. One of these was Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge where Princess Cruisetour passengers stay.
A few differences between the park buses and the Kantishna Wilderness Trails tour exist. Park buses are a combination of school buses and municipal transit looking buses. The KWT bus looks like a city bus.The park buses seat between 42 to 52 so they can be larger or smaller than KWT’s buses.
The price is also a difference. Denali's Kantisha tour, which was $194 for 2016, has been raised to $230.80. KWT has maintained its 2016 price of $180 for 2017.
Passengers receive box lunches on the park buses rather than lunch at a fixed location. Theirs have cameras and pop up screens which KWT tour buses don’t. Park tours are designed for a natural history type of tour. They provide their drivers guidelines but not a script on what to cover. KWT drivers don't have a script and cover a variety of subjects including natural history, geology, mountaineering, and cultural history.
Passing through the park entrance, the outer range, foothills of the Alaska Range, came into view. Located just inside the entrance, Riley Creek Campground is the main one for Rvs. It is the park’s largest campground. It has a mercantile selling camping supplies and food as well as a dump station, shower house, and laundry facilities. No campground at Denali has water or electrical hookups. The 2017 rates are $15 for tents, $24 or $30 for vehicles up to 30 feet, and $28 for vehicles up to 40 feet.
The bus also passed the Savage River Campground at Mile Post 12.8 providing 32 sites for tents and RVs. It has flush and vault toilets. The rate is $24 or $30 depending on the site and size of the RV.
Then it wound down to the river valley and crossed the bridge over the Savage River to Savage Station, “Checkpoint Charlie,” where private vehicles are turned around . At Savage Station, Ranger Doris came briefly aboard to tell passengers about the park.
The Nenana River, a glacier-fed river, winds through the entrance area of Denali then along the preserve’s eastern border. It’s the site of the rafting trips.
On the left side was a U-shaped glacial valley while on the right was a V-shaped valley which was cut by running water. The park was formed because of volcanic faults and glaciers. Mt. Denali was an underground volcano forced sideways, similar to the formation of the Himalayas.
Passengers learned about the five trails on the park’s east side near the entrance. The Civilian Conservation Corps (the CCC) helped build these trails in 1938/1939. A roadside trail parallels the road. Kevin mentioned that the dog kennels and headquarters were constructed in 1925.
As the bus climbed Primrose Ridge, passengers turned around and looked back at Savage Bridge. The outcropping resembled an Indian face which is how the area got its name. Around 15,000 years ago, the Savage Glacier existed where the bridge is now. Here we spotted, at a distance, five caribou.
The road descended into Sanctuary River Valley at Mile Post 23. This provided a good view of a “Drunken Forest” with cottonwood and spruce trees. Many of the spruce are now further apart. I wondered if that was a result of the 1924 forest fire.
In this forest, the spruce bend at weird angles, with some trees down entirely. Since they have a shallow root system, only 18 inches, the taller a tree, the more susceptible it is to falling over. Permafrost prevents soil saturation so when the soil shifts, spontaneously or because a major fault runs through it, the shift sometimes takes the trees down. The park has 750 types of vegetation. Kevin said, “If it weren’t for the permafrost, this would be a high plains desert.”
The bus passed through the Taiga Forest which is a good habitat for the moose, caribou, and Dall sheep. This was followed by the Sanctuary River Campground at Mile Post 22.6 It’s a tents only campground with seven sites. The rate per night is $25.
In the park’s mid section, the route would provide a good view of the park’s three types of vegetation: Cottonwood forest, Taiga, and tundra. A Taiga is a coniferous forest consisting mostly of pines, spruce, and larches. Very few trees survive above 2,800 feet in the tundra because they need a 50-degree temperature to exist. Vegetation consists primarily of willow and resin birch.
The park has 17 different birds of prey. The Marsh hawk hovers above the tundra and the American kestrel is a predominant bird. Though we didn’t see birds, wildflowers were popping out everywhere.
Another campground, the Teklanika River Campground, provides 53 sites for vehicles and tents. At Mile Post 29, it offers water and vault toilets. Those who drive here must have a three-day minimum stay and cannot move their vehicles once they arrive. They need to purchase a camper pass for the camper buses at $34 per person. The passes are good for any green bus with space available for the entire time a camper is west of Mile Post 20. The rate is $22 a night.
The tour descended into the Teklanika River Valley then paused for a 20-minute rest stop. All the buses seemed to stop here. Moose, Dall sheep, and red fox frequent the area. Sometimes lynx can be seen on the restroom’s deck. The river is braided and is crossed at Mile Post 31.
The streams had turned grey because of glacier silt. Some of these were braided rivers. Those are rivers flowing in several shallow, interconnected channels separated by banks of deposited material.
The bus then passed a forest that had fox dens. Fifty to seventy five of these animals exist in the park.
During the 1920's and 1930's, many Dall sheep perished because of wolves. In 1929, the park considered a wolf kill program to protect the other animals. Adolph Murie collected wolf scat and learned that the wolves were operating in an ecological niche, taking care of old and sick animals. Since the animals were operating in a salutary manner, the push for a wolf kill program ended.
The area is home to small kettle ponds. They’re formed when a glacier drops a large block of ice which melts and fills with rain water. Wonder Lake, the bus would pass later, is an excellent example of one. We were advised to look for ducks and shorebirds at the ponds which are also a good breeding ground for Alaska’s famous mosquitoes.
Crossing the river and turning south, the bus reached Igloo Canyon, at Mile Post 34. It’s one of the park’s landmarks, located right above the tree line. The canyon was on the right. The mountain on the left was Cathedral. While Igloo is in the Outer Range, Cathedral is in the Alaska Range. The canyon between them is a migration route for Dall Sheep seen as specks high up on the mountain ranges. We saw several Dall sheep. Sometimes you can see grizzlies here.
The Dall Sheep social structure is based on gender. November and December are the only months the two sexes are together. Wolves spook the sheep out and get other wolves to ambush them. We saw two Dall rams near this location. The park has 2,500 sheep.
Kevin told us about the park’s snowshoe hares. They have three litters during the summer with as many as six bunnies in each litter. They change their coat color from brown in the summer to white in the winter as the light decreases. The hares like to chew on willow bark. As the willows die off, the number of hares diminish. Then the willows return. It’s a nine to ten year zigzag cycle. Many willows had died in the area the bus passed through due to 1,000 hares in the area.
At Mile Post 38, Sable Pass is the second highest location on the park road. It is closed to hiking because of the large grizzly population. Their coloration is blonde to black. When they stand up, they can be six feet, while on all fours they are three feet in height. They love to munch on horsetail. In the park, they number between 300 and 350.
We saw more Dall sheep, ewes and rams, and learned the babies are up in a day and following their mother. This area is home for grey wolves, caribou, and grizzlies. Red foxes, coyotes, lynx, and red wolves are also found here. We saw a grey wolf way up - unfortunately not close enough for a photo.
Caribou are always found above the grizzlies so they can keep an eye on them. They can outdistance a bear as they run up the slopes.
Passing East Fork River at Mile Post 44, the bus came into the Polychrome Pass. Denali was an underground volcano that was forced sideways like the Himalayas. When the basalt cooled slowly, different colors appeared. It’s the oxidation rate and the combination of iron with other minerals that determines the different shades of rust, orange, red, and purple. The orange rocks are andesite while the gold are rhyolite, much higher in silica. The green area is tundra.
At a fifteen minutes photo stop at Polychrome Pass, the only wildlife we spotted was a Collared pika dashing for a hole in the rocks and some caribou at a distance. Mt. Denali was now 42 miles away.
Kevin said mountaineering Denali costs $6,000 and for Mt. Everett, it’s a $100,000 expense. Climbing Denali is a hazardous two week trek. Approximately 1,200 attack the mountain yearly with casualties annually.
He told passengers to watch for caribou and wolves from this area to Eielson Visitor Center. It is where Murie did his famous wolf study. He told passengers the stories of Murie and Charles Sheldon, who was “The Father of Denali.” In 1907, Sheldon made camp in the area, he collected 542 animal specimens. Some of these went to the American Museum of Natural History. (Learn more in Denali Part One)
The tour made a 20 minute rest stop at the Toklat Rest Area at Mile Post 53 where passengers had an opportunity to talk to Ranger Peter. They have a gift shop here and an exhibit of wolf and grizzly skulls. Peter pointed out that their back teeth are different. Wolf teeth are sharper and face inward. They can chop bone. Grizzlies have flat molars like humans.
The Toklat River, which the bus then crossed, is the last and largest river before arriving at Eiselson Visitor Center. A glacier is the river’s source. This is where the Tundra Wilderness tour ends.
The bus climbed Stony Hill. If the weather is clear, visitors have an excellent view of Mt. Denali. Unfortunately, our weather was cloudy. The mountain was now 40 miles away. At Mile Post 62, Thorofare Pass, the road’s highest elevation, is five miles closer to the mountain.
Kevin said caribou normally live at five to seven thousand feet. We spotted one caribou on a snow patch. The wolves wait for them to come down. Lately, wolves have been tougher to spot and it’s extraordinary to view them. In 2016, since the park opened, the drivers have seen only one on the road and one close to the road.
He spoke about Arctic ground squirrels. They lack minerals in their diet so they like the road’s calcium sulphate. During the winter, they go into suspended animation. They must wake up every two weeks and go to the bathroom since urea develops in their systems. They then eat a little and go back to sleep.
The next portion of the drive was through a moraine where the group was told about bears and hibernation. Bears wait until it freezes then excavate a cave in as little as three days. They don’t block or make an extreme effort to hide their cave. Mother bears have large caves. She pulls a heavy duty bush into the entrance and goes inside her den from mid February to late April. The moraine is the location where female bears come to the valley to find fresh vegetation for their cubs and themselves.
The tour stopped for 40 minutes at Eieleson Visitor Center at Mile Post 66. While it has restrooms, it does not have a bookstore or place to buy food. It opened in 2008 and is known for earth friendly architecture. Observe the view of Mt. Denali from either outside the center or by looking through the center’s tall windows. Don’t miss the interlocked moose antlers out front. The animals died in battle when these antlers locked together.
The National Park spared no expense to construct this building which is open June 1 to mid-September. It closes on the second Thursday after Labor Day. This new center replaces a Mission 66 facility that opened in 1959. It’s the first building built by the National Park Service to receive certification in the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ratings by the U.S. Green Building Council.
This is based on several factors. For example, it’s a low-profile structure that blends into the landscape and is screened from the Park Road. It’s built into a slope within the previous structure’s footprint. It has many features to cut energy such as 16 solar panels on the roof, reduced water use, and a solar hot-water heating system for the restrooms. It has a small hydroelectric system operating the hybrid generator with photovoltaic panels and a battery bank.
To learn about Eielson Visitor Center exhibits, go to Denali Part One.
Judge James Wickersham in 1903 made the first record attempt to climb Denali via the Peters Glacier and North Face. He failed when he ran into a wall of ice at 14,000 feet. It’s now called the Wickersham Wall. Because of the route's history of avalanche danger, it was not successfully climbed until 1963. From Wonder Lake, Mile Post 85, you can see this wall rising above the intervening plains and the whole Alaska Range stretching out on each side. Sometimes you can see the mountain’s reflection in the lake. Despite stopping briefly both ways, we weren’t so fortunate.
Beyond Eielson, the road passed within 25 miles of the mountain.
ARRIVAL AT KANTISHNA ROADHOUSE AND RETURN TRIP
The next stop was the Kantishna Roadhouse, at Mile Post 92, for lunch and an activity for two hours. It consisted of ham wraps, minestrone soup, cole slaw, and a chocolate chip cookie. Iced tea was included while coffee was two dollars extra. They did have a bar which took Visa. For lunch, you can order from the bar or ask the server.
This is the second Roadhouse on the property. It has expanded considerably since its origin during the Gold Rush days. Doyon’s shareholders are Athabascan Indians, indigenous people of Alaska’s interior.
After lunch, their staff held various activities. These ranged from gold panning in Moose Creek or going for a hike. We attended a lecture on sled dogs then saw a demonstration of them pulling an ATV around the property. After their run, they eagerly enjoyed lots of petting.
Kerstin, from the Kantishna naturalist guide staff, gave the 30-minute sled dog lecture. She explained how the dogs have always been part of the work culture. Four thousand years ago, they were used for hunting as they could smell seals and help surround polar bears. In 1741, the Russians brought Siberian huskies to Alaska. Then the dogs accessed wilderness areas and carried mail, mineral equipment, and gold.
Malamute Eskimo dogs are mushing dogs. Gold miners paid up to $1000 for a dog that was bigger and stronger. They pull an average weight of 75 pounds. The park has used sled dogs since the 1890s.
Kerstin then talked about how the Iditarod started. On January 25, 1925, Nome had a diphtheria epidemic and needed a million doses of antitoxin. The nearest supply was in Anchorage. Nome is still unreachable by car. The “Great Race of Mercy” was run by 20 mushers and around 100 sled dogs in a relay covering 674 miles in a record-breaking 5.5 days, arriving February 2. A week later they did it again but at a little slower rate. This saved the town and started the race.
The modern race started in 1973. It runs from Anchorage to Nome. It goes north in even years following the “Great Race of Mercy” route. In odd years, it goes south. It now is 1,149 miles.
The first stop on the return bus trip was at Wonder Lake at Blueberry Hill. No one is sure of the origin of the lake’s name. Relatively close to the bus, we saw a bull moose standing near the lake and a couple of ducks swimming in it.
The bus passed Muldrow Glacier, covered by a thick black layer of glacial till and vegetation. Plants live on a thin layer of silt. It is the largest and longest north side glacier in Denali. It extends some 34 miles from its terminus to nearly the park road.
Passing several Dall Sheep standing on top of a mountain, Kevin informed us that the last one in the social order has the least amount of space. They don’t hibernate in the winter but need to be on a south slope to find food. A notch in their horn equals the number of winters they have survived. It’s called an annuli.
He pointed out the glacial round valley the bus was passing through. It had several “u” shaped mounds. The two covered with silt were polychrome glaciers. The rocks were glacier erratics.
At Igloo Canyon, we noticed two more Dall sheep high up on the mountain and later had a view of a moose that was close to the bus. Park moose number around 2,000 as do caribou. Kevin claimed that on practically every trip, passengers see wildlife within 20 yards. The next day in the park, when we traveled the park road, we saw a large moose browsing and a mother and calf.
The bus stopped at Teklanika Bridge for ten minutes and finally reached Denali Bluffs Motel at 6:15 p.m. - a long but productive day.
Fares are $180 per person for the round trip on the KWT bus. For $470 per person, passengers can opt for the bus/flight combo instead. A $10 Denali Park Fee is included in this rate. Be sure to ask for your refund at the Kantishna Roadhouse. They have a form you fill out and the refund is returned quickly.
Full payment is due at booking to confirm the reservation and there are cancellation charges. Children under age six are not allowed. For more information on this firm, go to KWT's web site.
DENALI DOG KENNELS
If you want to see more dogs, you can tour the Denali Park dog kennels at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. The free shuttle bus for this leaves from the Denali Visitor Center approximately 40 minutes before each demonstration. The 40 minute free programs show off the dogs’ ability to run with an ATV combined with a park kennels tour. No reservation is required.
The kennels are open to visitors year round, generally from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., if you miss the show. From mid September through mid May, no shows occur. This is the time the dogs focus on preparing for long patrol runs in the park. You may get to see teams packing or harnessing to leave on a run, teams returning, or very few in the kennel since the dogs are out on a run.
The park maintains approximately 30 dogs so three sleds can be taken out if necessary. From year to year, the number of dogs varies since it depends on how puppies are born and how many dogs retire. New litters arrive each spring or summer.
Called Alaskan Huskies or sled dogs, they really aren’t huskies but crosses of purebred dogs. They are bred for their personality, their ability to run and pull sleds, and their ability to adapt to cold weather. Performance rather than looks is the most important factor.
Most of the puppies are born at the kennel. For the first two months, they concentrate on nursing, sleeping, and gaining weight at more than a pound a week. They’re weaned at six months when they start eating commercial food. It is a premium dry dog food made for working dogs that is high in protein and fat. During the winter, it is supplemented with fats and vitamins.
The puppies go for walks, led by the kennel staff, where they explore puddles, climb steep slopes, and navigate willow bushes and tundra. The purpose is to familiarize the puppies with their environment so they become confident. They develop their personalities, interact with adult canines in the dog yard, and are taught basic commands. They’re rewarded with dog biscuits or praise. At six months, they are two-thirds of their adult weight.
At that age, they watch the adult dogs get harnessed for early-season runs. The puppies run loose beside or behind the team. They’re harnessed after a few weeks though not attached to the sled. Some pups fit themselves into an empty spot and run in formation with the team, demonstrating their readiness and desire to join the other dogs.
Between seven and eight months old, they’re harnessed for short runs with the teams. They learn quickly from the older well-trained dogs what it takes to become a sled dog. By the end of their first winter, they experience running in harness for hundreds of miles.
Dogs have been used in research at Denali. During the winters of 1907-1908, Charles Sheldon employed Harry Karstens and his team of sled dogs to assist in wildlife studies. In the mid 1980's, park biologists used dog teams exclusively when studying predator/prey relationships of wolves. More recently they have hauled sound monitoring equipment to various backcountry locations to collect snow sampling data. They make it possible to conduct ground-based censuses of golden eagles that return to their nests and allow for scientists to access the wilderness areas.
An option to the park Kantishna Experience tour is the Kantishna Wilderness Trails Denali Park bus tour (KWT). It’s offered by Doyon Tourism and turned out to be an excellent choice for us. Our bus driver/guide, Kevin, provided detailed information on geology, park history, and wildlife on the roundtrip to Kantishna. With only 38 people on a 44-passenger coach, there was room to spread out. Fruit, cookies, and drinks were offered en route and the lunch in the dining room at the Katishna Roadhouse was tasty and filling.
Unfortunately, Mt. Denali was under cloud cover during our entire journey, and there was a paucity of wildlife considering the trip’s total distance of 184 miles. We did see a wolf, moose, caribou, and Dall sheep but no eagles or bears.
Passengers were picked up at our hotel, Denali Bluffs, and three other lodges by our 44-passenger bus which was comfortable and not crowded. One of these was Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge where Princess Cruisetour passengers stay.
A few differences between the park buses and the Kantishna Wilderness Trails tour exist. Park buses are a combination of school buses and municipal transit looking buses. The KWT bus looks like a city bus.The park buses seat between 42 to 52 so they can be larger or smaller than KWT’s buses.
The price is also a difference. Denali's Kantisha tour, which was $194 for 2016, has been raised to $230.80. KWT has maintained its 2016 price of $180 for 2017.
Passengers receive box lunches on the park buses rather than lunch at a fixed location. Theirs have cameras and pop up screens which KWT tour buses don’t. Park tours are designed for a natural history type of tour. They provide their drivers guidelines but not a script on what to cover. KWT drivers don't have a script and cover a variety of subjects including natural history, geology, mountaineering, and cultural history.
Passing through the park entrance, the outer range, foothills of the Alaska Range, came into view. Located just inside the entrance, Riley Creek Campground is the main one for Rvs. It is the park’s largest campground. It has a mercantile selling camping supplies and food as well as a dump station, shower house, and laundry facilities. No campground at Denali has water or electrical hookups. The 2017 rates are $15 for tents, $24 or $30 for vehicles up to 30 feet, and $28 for vehicles up to 40 feet.
The bus also passed the Savage River Campground at Mile Post 12.8 providing 32 sites for tents and RVs. It has flush and vault toilets. The rate is $24 or $30 depending on the site and size of the RV.
Then it wound down to the river valley and crossed the bridge over the Savage River to Savage Station, “Checkpoint Charlie,” where private vehicles are turned around . At Savage Station, Ranger Doris came briefly aboard to tell passengers about the park.
The Nenana River, a glacier-fed river, winds through the entrance area of Denali then along the preserve’s eastern border. It’s the site of the rafting trips.
On the left side was a U-shaped glacial valley while on the right was a V-shaped valley which was cut by running water. The park was formed because of volcanic faults and glaciers. Mt. Denali was an underground volcano forced sideways, similar to the formation of the Himalayas.
Passengers learned about the five trails on the park’s east side near the entrance. The Civilian Conservation Corps (the CCC) helped build these trails in 1938/1939. A roadside trail parallels the road. Kevin mentioned that the dog kennels and headquarters were constructed in 1925.
As the bus climbed Primrose Ridge, passengers turned around and looked back at Savage Bridge. The outcropping resembled an Indian face which is how the area got its name. Around 15,000 years ago, the Savage Glacier existed where the bridge is now. Here we spotted, at a distance, five caribou.
The road descended into Sanctuary River Valley at Mile Post 23. This provided a good view of a “Drunken Forest” with cottonwood and spruce trees. Many of the spruce are now further apart. I wondered if that was a result of the 1924 forest fire.
In this forest, the spruce bend at weird angles, with some trees down entirely. Since they have a shallow root system, only 18 inches, the taller a tree, the more susceptible it is to falling over. Permafrost prevents soil saturation so when the soil shifts, spontaneously or because a major fault runs through it, the shift sometimes takes the trees down. The park has 750 types of vegetation. Kevin said, “If it weren’t for the permafrost, this would be a high plains desert.”
The bus passed through the Taiga Forest which is a good habitat for the moose, caribou, and Dall sheep. This was followed by the Sanctuary River Campground at Mile Post 22.6 It’s a tents only campground with seven sites. The rate per night is $25.
In the park’s mid section, the route would provide a good view of the park’s three types of vegetation: Cottonwood forest, Taiga, and tundra. A Taiga is a coniferous forest consisting mostly of pines, spruce, and larches. Very few trees survive above 2,800 feet in the tundra because they need a 50-degree temperature to exist. Vegetation consists primarily of willow and resin birch.
The park has 17 different birds of prey. The Marsh hawk hovers above the tundra and the American kestrel is a predominant bird. Though we didn’t see birds, wildflowers were popping out everywhere.
Another campground, the Teklanika River Campground, provides 53 sites for vehicles and tents. At Mile Post 29, it offers water and vault toilets. Those who drive here must have a three-day minimum stay and cannot move their vehicles once they arrive. They need to purchase a camper pass for the camper buses at $34 per person. The passes are good for any green bus with space available for the entire time a camper is west of Mile Post 20. The rate is $22 a night.
The tour descended into the Teklanika River Valley then paused for a 20-minute rest stop. All the buses seemed to stop here. Moose, Dall sheep, and red fox frequent the area. Sometimes lynx can be seen on the restroom’s deck. The river is braided and is crossed at Mile Post 31.
The streams had turned grey because of glacier silt. Some of these were braided rivers. Those are rivers flowing in several shallow, interconnected channels separated by banks of deposited material.
The bus then passed a forest that had fox dens. Fifty to seventy five of these animals exist in the park.
During the 1920's and 1930's, many Dall sheep perished because of wolves. In 1929, the park considered a wolf kill program to protect the other animals. Adolph Murie collected wolf scat and learned that the wolves were operating in an ecological niche, taking care of old and sick animals. Since the animals were operating in a salutary manner, the push for a wolf kill program ended.
The area is home to small kettle ponds. They’re formed when a glacier drops a large block of ice which melts and fills with rain water. Wonder Lake, the bus would pass later, is an excellent example of one. We were advised to look for ducks and shorebirds at the ponds which are also a good breeding ground for Alaska’s famous mosquitoes.
Crossing the river and turning south, the bus reached Igloo Canyon, at Mile Post 34. It’s one of the park’s landmarks, located right above the tree line. The canyon was on the right. The mountain on the left was Cathedral. While Igloo is in the Outer Range, Cathedral is in the Alaska Range. The canyon between them is a migration route for Dall Sheep seen as specks high up on the mountain ranges. We saw several Dall sheep. Sometimes you can see grizzlies here.
The Dall Sheep social structure is based on gender. November and December are the only months the two sexes are together. Wolves spook the sheep out and get other wolves to ambush them. We saw two Dall rams near this location. The park has 2,500 sheep.
Kevin told us about the park’s snowshoe hares. They have three litters during the summer with as many as six bunnies in each litter. They change their coat color from brown in the summer to white in the winter as the light decreases. The hares like to chew on willow bark. As the willows die off, the number of hares diminish. Then the willows return. It’s a nine to ten year zigzag cycle. Many willows had died in the area the bus passed through due to 1,000 hares in the area.
At Mile Post 38, Sable Pass is the second highest location on the park road. It is closed to hiking because of the large grizzly population. Their coloration is blonde to black. When they stand up, they can be six feet, while on all fours they are three feet in height. They love to munch on horsetail. In the park, they number between 300 and 350.
We saw more Dall sheep, ewes and rams, and learned the babies are up in a day and following their mother. This area is home for grey wolves, caribou, and grizzlies. Red foxes, coyotes, lynx, and red wolves are also found here. We saw a grey wolf way up - unfortunately not close enough for a photo.
Caribou are always found above the grizzlies so they can keep an eye on them. They can outdistance a bear as they run up the slopes.
Passing East Fork River at Mile Post 44, the bus came into the Polychrome Pass. Denali was an underground volcano that was forced sideways like the Himalayas. When the basalt cooled slowly, different colors appeared. It’s the oxidation rate and the combination of iron with other minerals that determines the different shades of rust, orange, red, and purple. The orange rocks are andesite while the gold are rhyolite, much higher in silica. The green area is tundra.
At a fifteen minutes photo stop at Polychrome Pass, the only wildlife we spotted was a Collared pika dashing for a hole in the rocks and some caribou at a distance. Mt. Denali was now 42 miles away.
Kevin said mountaineering Denali costs $6,000 and for Mt. Everett, it’s a $100,000 expense. Climbing Denali is a hazardous two week trek. Approximately 1,200 attack the mountain yearly with casualties annually.
He told passengers to watch for caribou and wolves from this area to Eielson Visitor Center. It is where Murie did his famous wolf study. He told passengers the stories of Murie and Charles Sheldon, who was “The Father of Denali.” In 1907, Sheldon made camp in the area, he collected 542 animal specimens. Some of these went to the American Museum of Natural History. (Learn more in Denali Part One)
The tour made a 20 minute rest stop at the Toklat Rest Area at Mile Post 53 where passengers had an opportunity to talk to Ranger Peter. They have a gift shop here and an exhibit of wolf and grizzly skulls. Peter pointed out that their back teeth are different. Wolf teeth are sharper and face inward. They can chop bone. Grizzlies have flat molars like humans.
The Toklat River, which the bus then crossed, is the last and largest river before arriving at Eiselson Visitor Center. A glacier is the river’s source. This is where the Tundra Wilderness tour ends.
The bus climbed Stony Hill. If the weather is clear, visitors have an excellent view of Mt. Denali. Unfortunately, our weather was cloudy. The mountain was now 40 miles away. At Mile Post 62, Thorofare Pass, the road’s highest elevation, is five miles closer to the mountain.
Kevin said caribou normally live at five to seven thousand feet. We spotted one caribou on a snow patch. The wolves wait for them to come down. Lately, wolves have been tougher to spot and it’s extraordinary to view them. In 2016, since the park opened, the drivers have seen only one on the road and one close to the road.
He spoke about Arctic ground squirrels. They lack minerals in their diet so they like the road’s calcium sulphate. During the winter, they go into suspended animation. They must wake up every two weeks and go to the bathroom since urea develops in their systems. They then eat a little and go back to sleep.
The next portion of the drive was through a moraine where the group was told about bears and hibernation. Bears wait until it freezes then excavate a cave in as little as three days. They don’t block or make an extreme effort to hide their cave. Mother bears have large caves. She pulls a heavy duty bush into the entrance and goes inside her den from mid February to late April. The moraine is the location where female bears come to the valley to find fresh vegetation for their cubs and themselves.
The tour stopped for 40 minutes at Eieleson Visitor Center at Mile Post 66. While it has restrooms, it does not have a bookstore or place to buy food. It opened in 2008 and is known for earth friendly architecture. Observe the view of Mt. Denali from either outside the center or by looking through the center’s tall windows. Don’t miss the interlocked moose antlers out front. The animals died in battle when these antlers locked together.
The National Park spared no expense to construct this building which is open June 1 to mid-September. It closes on the second Thursday after Labor Day. This new center replaces a Mission 66 facility that opened in 1959. It’s the first building built by the National Park Service to receive certification in the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) ratings by the U.S. Green Building Council.
This is based on several factors. For example, it’s a low-profile structure that blends into the landscape and is screened from the Park Road. It’s built into a slope within the previous structure’s footprint. It has many features to cut energy such as 16 solar panels on the roof, reduced water use, and a solar hot-water heating system for the restrooms. It has a small hydroelectric system operating the hybrid generator with photovoltaic panels and a battery bank.
To learn about Eielson Visitor Center exhibits, go to Denali Part One.
Judge James Wickersham in 1903 made the first record attempt to climb Denali via the Peters Glacier and North Face. He failed when he ran into a wall of ice at 14,000 feet. It’s now called the Wickersham Wall. Because of the route's history of avalanche danger, it was not successfully climbed until 1963. From Wonder Lake, Mile Post 85, you can see this wall rising above the intervening plains and the whole Alaska Range stretching out on each side. Sometimes you can see the mountain’s reflection in the lake. Despite stopping briefly both ways, we weren’t so fortunate.
Beyond Eielson, the road passed within 25 miles of the mountain.
ARRIVAL AT KANTISHNA ROADHOUSE AND RETURN TRIP
The next stop was the Kantishna Roadhouse, at Mile Post 92, for lunch and an activity for two hours. It consisted of ham wraps, minestrone soup, cole slaw, and a chocolate chip cookie. Iced tea was included while coffee was two dollars extra. They did have a bar which took Visa. For lunch, you can order from the bar or ask the server.
This is the second Roadhouse on the property. It has expanded considerably since its origin during the Gold Rush days. Doyon’s shareholders are Athabascan Indians, indigenous people of Alaska’s interior.
After lunch, their staff held various activities. These ranged from gold panning in Moose Creek or going for a hike. We attended a lecture on sled dogs then saw a demonstration of them pulling an ATV around the property. After their run, they eagerly enjoyed lots of petting.
Kerstin, from the Kantishna naturalist guide staff, gave the 30-minute sled dog lecture. She explained how the dogs have always been part of the work culture. Four thousand years ago, they were used for hunting as they could smell seals and help surround polar bears. In 1741, the Russians brought Siberian huskies to Alaska. Then the dogs accessed wilderness areas and carried mail, mineral equipment, and gold.
Malamute Eskimo dogs are mushing dogs. Gold miners paid up to $1000 for a dog that was bigger and stronger. They pull an average weight of 75 pounds. The park has used sled dogs since the 1890s.
Kerstin then talked about how the Iditarod started. On January 25, 1925, Nome had a diphtheria epidemic and needed a million doses of antitoxin. The nearest supply was in Anchorage. Nome is still unreachable by car. The “Great Race of Mercy” was run by 20 mushers and around 100 sled dogs in a relay covering 674 miles in a record-breaking 5.5 days, arriving February 2. A week later they did it again but at a little slower rate. This saved the town and started the race.
The modern race started in 1973. It runs from Anchorage to Nome. It goes north in even years following the “Great Race of Mercy” route. In odd years, it goes south. It now is 1,149 miles.
The first stop on the return bus trip was at Wonder Lake at Blueberry Hill. No one is sure of the origin of the lake’s name. Relatively close to the bus, we saw a bull moose standing near the lake and a couple of ducks swimming in it.
The bus passed Muldrow Glacier, covered by a thick black layer of glacial till and vegetation. Plants live on a thin layer of silt. It is the largest and longest north side glacier in Denali. It extends some 34 miles from its terminus to nearly the park road.
Passing several Dall Sheep standing on top of a mountain, Kevin informed us that the last one in the social order has the least amount of space. They don’t hibernate in the winter but need to be on a south slope to find food. A notch in their horn equals the number of winters they have survived. It’s called an annuli.
He pointed out the glacial round valley the bus was passing through. It had several “u” shaped mounds. The two covered with silt were polychrome glaciers. The rocks were glacier erratics.
At Igloo Canyon, we noticed two more Dall sheep high up on the mountain and later had a view of a moose that was close to the bus. Park moose number around 2,000 as do caribou. Kevin claimed that on practically every trip, passengers see wildlife within 20 yards. The next day in the park, when we traveled the park road, we saw a large moose browsing and a mother and calf.
The bus stopped at Teklanika Bridge for ten minutes and finally reached Denali Bluffs Motel at 6:15 p.m. - a long but productive day.
Fares are $180 per person for the round trip on the KWT bus. For $470 per person, passengers can opt for the bus/flight combo instead. A $10 Denali Park Fee is included in this rate. Be sure to ask for your refund at the Kantishna Roadhouse. They have a form you fill out and the refund is returned quickly.
Full payment is due at booking to confirm the reservation and there are cancellation charges. Children under age six are not allowed. For more information on this firm, go to KWT's web site.
DENALI DOG KENNELS
If you want to see more dogs, you can tour the Denali Park dog kennels at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. The free shuttle bus for this leaves from the Denali Visitor Center approximately 40 minutes before each demonstration. The 40 minute free programs show off the dogs’ ability to run with an ATV combined with a park kennels tour. No reservation is required.
The kennels are open to visitors year round, generally from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., if you miss the show. From mid September through mid May, no shows occur. This is the time the dogs focus on preparing for long patrol runs in the park. You may get to see teams packing or harnessing to leave on a run, teams returning, or very few in the kennel since the dogs are out on a run.
The park maintains approximately 30 dogs so three sleds can be taken out if necessary. From year to year, the number of dogs varies since it depends on how puppies are born and how many dogs retire. New litters arrive each spring or summer.
Called Alaskan Huskies or sled dogs, they really aren’t huskies but crosses of purebred dogs. They are bred for their personality, their ability to run and pull sleds, and their ability to adapt to cold weather. Performance rather than looks is the most important factor.
Most of the puppies are born at the kennel. For the first two months, they concentrate on nursing, sleeping, and gaining weight at more than a pound a week. They’re weaned at six months when they start eating commercial food. It is a premium dry dog food made for working dogs that is high in protein and fat. During the winter, it is supplemented with fats and vitamins.
The puppies go for walks, led by the kennel staff, where they explore puddles, climb steep slopes, and navigate willow bushes and tundra. The purpose is to familiarize the puppies with their environment so they become confident. They develop their personalities, interact with adult canines in the dog yard, and are taught basic commands. They’re rewarded with dog biscuits or praise. At six months, they are two-thirds of their adult weight.
At that age, they watch the adult dogs get harnessed for early-season runs. The puppies run loose beside or behind the team. They’re harnessed after a few weeks though not attached to the sled. Some pups fit themselves into an empty spot and run in formation with the team, demonstrating their readiness and desire to join the other dogs.
Between seven and eight months old, they’re harnessed for short runs with the teams. They learn quickly from the older well-trained dogs what it takes to become a sled dog. By the end of their first winter, they experience running in harness for hundreds of miles.
Dogs have been used in research at Denali. During the winters of 1907-1908, Charles Sheldon employed Harry Karstens and his team of sled dogs to assist in wildlife studies. In the mid 1980's, park biologists used dog teams exclusively when studying predator/prey relationships of wolves. More recently they have hauled sound monitoring equipment to various backcountry locations to collect snow sampling data. They make it possible to conduct ground-based censuses of golden eagles that return to their nests and allow for scientists to access the wilderness areas.
Map Showing Denali Park Road and Landmarks at Eielson Visitor Center
Caribou Deep Down in Valley Seen After Passing Savage Station
Teklanika Rest Shop Showing Park's Green Shuttle and Yellow Tour Buses
A Braided River
Dall Sheep at Igloo Creek
Ewes and Rams at Sable Pass
Our Photo Stop at Polychrome Pass
Mt. Denali Peeking Out of the Clouds at Polychrome Pass
Close Up of Mountain's Different Colors at Polychrome Pass
Braided Stream at Polychrome Pass
Caribou Far Out in the Field at Polychrome Pass
Park Tour Bus Climbing Up to Polychrome Pass
Our Bus and Kantishna Tour Bus at Toklat River Rest Stop
Ranger Peter Holding Wolf and Grizzly Skulls at Toklat River
View from Toklat River Rest Stop
Caribou Spotted on Our Way to Eielson Visitor Center
One Caribou in a Snowbank
Eielson Visitor Center
Denali Under Clouds as Seen at Eielson Visitor Center
Park Shuttle Headed to Wonder Lake
Bull Moose at Wonder Lake
Wonder Lake
A Moose at Wonder Lake Seen on Our Return Trip
Katishna Roadhouse
Kantishna Roadhouse Supply Shack
The First Kantishna Roadhouse Circa 1919
Records Office - Old Kantishna Mining District
Old Mining Equipment at Kantishna Roadhouse
Hitching Up the Dogs
Returning from Their Run
Reward Time for the Dogs and Humans
Dall Sheep at Igloo Canyon on Our Return
Moose Seen Near Park Entrance Road the Next Day
Mama Moose with Calf We Saw When Driving the Park Road