Denali - the tall one

After staying at Nancy Lake campground we backtracked to Independence Mine. A camp that was set up, in 1936, to extract gold. Roughly 150,000 oz of gold was mined between 1936 - 1943. The  geography made this a difficult ordeal. The surrounding land was just shy of magical.

Returning to the pavement we began making our way to Denali National Park. Along the way to Denali we came across Byers Lake campground. We stopped to check it out. The campground was packed making us extremely nervous that no more spots would be available at Denali considering sites 50+ miles away were full.

 We continued to venture through tundra and found an abandoned igloo structure  near the side of the highway. I had seen pictures posted online before and knew that it was built as a hotel. Unfortunately it was never finished, left abandoned for quite some time. We peeked around and found graffiti plentiful. We peeked to see the inside; dilapidated. Perfect place for an under age party. After skulking around for a bit we decided to continue.

A while later we arrived at Denali National Park and Preserve and read a sign stating all campgrounds were full. We inquired inside and found out that we got there at a good time and tenting sites were opened up. We bought two days...and considered a third.

We checked out pieces of the visitor center, bought some memorabilia, watched a sled dog demonstration, and left the park to celebrated our adventure at 49th State brewery.

On the way to the brewery we spotted a train hugging the mountains adjacent to us. Ahead we spotted a bridge that the train would pass. We raced to overlook, hurriedly exited the Escape, grabbing cameras, and grabbed a few pictures as the train crossed over bridge with a water flowing underneath, with the sun shining the mountain from the background.

Once we arrived at the brewing company we immediately spotted a beaten up bus. I jokingly mentioned to Liz that it may be the bus from Into the Wild ( book then later movie). To my excitement IT WAS the bus prop from the movie! Liz took an appropriate picture of me sitting next to it. The bus was opened to walk around within, which we did.

So far we’ve spotted a porcupine and a moose with antlers. Still keeping an eye out for a grizzly. We’ve been sleeping for 8+ hours a day, and just taking it slow. The slow approach method of travel is the best way, in my opinion.