Alaska – Denali National Park

 

Denali National Park is big, really, really big, about 6 million acres big.  That’s about 1 and a quarter times the size of Wales or for the Americans slightly bigger than New Hampshire.  If Denali were a state it would be the 45th biggest in the US, it has only 1 road and no one lives there… 

We were lucky to be able to spend 3  days in the park, but, to do it justice you really need to spend much, much longer here.

 

These rocks look like they were poured in place with a coating of ‘oil on water’ to give them that shine;

 

I think you can make out that it was cold and wet whilst we were in the park.

 

At times the mountains were obscured by the low clouds, but you could still see the natural beauty of the place;

 

 

 

Savage (or in this case, not so savage) river;

 

When the sun did come out the colours in the rocks were stunning;

 

 

 

 

Although the sunshine didn’t last that long.  Cold, wet and a bit grumpy!;

 

Who’s that down there on the bridge?

 

 

The only good thing about the rain was that it kept the mosquitoes and flies at bay so the mosquito head nets which were so flattering didn’t get much use.

 

At the north west corner the train line cuts through the park.  Looks like the bridge in the Johnny Depp – Lone Range film;

 

 

We woke up on our third morning to a clear sky and bright sunshine, we rushed into the park to see if we could see the mountain.

Mount McKinley the largest mountain in North America at 20,320 feet (6,190 m) and it’s still growing.  What is most striking about it is the lack of foothills

Our first glimpse of McKinley

This photo makes it look like the mountain in the foreground is of a comparable size, but, it’s only about 3 miles away, whereas McKinley is about 70 miles away.

Looking at the northern face of the mountain;

 

 

And then later that day at the southern face;

 

This last photo we took when we got to Anchorage, Mount McKinley is about 140 miles away!

 

 

 

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