Mt McKinley, Denali NP, Aug 14, 2010

Big day for me, I bought my Senior Pass in Denali NP.

Also, we SAW IT, IT being Mt. McKinley, well most of it, there were some clouds on the left side. 

The photo below was taken at the visitor center from their Wonder Lake web cam just one hour before.

Tomorrow we have a 6:45 am departure on the park bus to go to Wonder Lake (10 hours RT), hopefully we will be able to see the IT from there also, just like in the photo above.

You can only drive 15 miles into the park, that is why they run the park buses further in.  On our way to the Savage River Hiking Loop, we saw there two caribou.

This is the south end of an Arctic Ground Squirrel heading north.

and visa versa.  As you can see he/she was very chubby, getting ready for winter.

Some photos from our hike.

No, that is not us on top.

Our lunch, which I had thought I had left in the coach.  But, as you can see I found it under my shirt in the Explorer.

 

Well, my kids know too well, that when my hands are on my hips, mama is not happy.  I had just about 5 minutes before thought I had left the lunch cooler bag in the coach.

We also had time today to visit the park’s sled dog demonstration.    I loved it.  We first got to wander around the kennels to check out the dogs.  Bob zoomed this shot inside the door of  a doghouse to photograph these week old puppies with their watchful mom.

Some dogs could have cared less if we were there.

This fellow loved getting rubbed.  He even came out to the end of his chain and then sat down with his back to us so we could reach him.

Some of the dogs were in concrete bottom pens, they said those dogs for some reason liked to eat rocks, some passed and some did not.

These sled dogs are not a specific breed,  just have a natural desire to pull and work, have long legs, and huge feet.  These dogs can run over 100 miles per day if needed.

When running or working in the snow, each dog wears booties on each foot.

 

 

 

 

The presentation was wonderful, explaining about the kennels, the dogs, by the way the dogs are on summer vacation, they actually use dog sled teams in the winter to patrol the park.  They then hitched up this team and had them pull around a small trail, all the time they were barking happily, they LOVE to pull.

Afterward you could pose behind the sled.  So…see me, I am the musher, then the sled, then two wheel dogs (the power dogs that get the sled started), the one swing dog (helps make wide turns), and finally two lead dogs (the smarter dogs).

 

By the coloring on this wooly worm, it is going to be a rough winter up here.