Denali in Fall Bloom

Around 15 years ago I bought a National Park Passport Book. Whenever I go to a National Park Visitor Center, I get my book stamped with the date and park name. I really never thought I’d get to Denali but I did make it.

We took the bus from Talkeetna to the McKinley Chalet Resort. We started out around 5:45 so it was coming on close to dusk. But I was able to capture some of the mountains as we drove to the hotel.

The hotel, McKinley Chalet Resort, is part of the Holland America Cruise Line. It was a lovely place and several people we met said it was their favorite in Denali.

For dinner, we ate at the Canyon Steakhouse in the main lobby of the resort. It was the last night they would be open. I had a salad and Bruce had French onion soup. Then we had a puff pastry with ice cream and caramel sauce for dessert.

After a good night’s sleep, we woke to this fabulous view.

In the morning we took the shuttle to the visitors center so I could get my stamp. We also watched two films about the park.

For lunch we ate at Karston’s at the resort. We had tomato basil soup. And the view from our table was spectacular.

While we waited for our afternoon tour I walked around the resort. What beautiful views.

Our afternoon tour of Denali with Tundra Wilderness Tours began at 2:30. It was in a converted school bus with about 35 people. Our tour guide, Peter, was informative and shared about living in Alaska for the past 25 years. He said it snowed in the park the day before, offering us a glimpse of winter to come.

We were looking for wildlife and saw a male moose, bull and his harem, females.

We were looking for grizzly bears, but alas none. We did get to see Dall Sheep, note the tiny white dot on the side of the mountain.

Peter said that usually the colors have faded by this time but I felt that they waited just for us. Oh the splendor of the yellows and reds with the snow covered mountains behind, to see winter and fall as one.

I am so glad that we chose to come here at this time of year. Everything is closing around us. The hotel closes as I sit here and write. All the staff are excited about going home or onto new adventures. There won’t be any more hotels open, the roads close down and the rails and bus stop running. It will be a ghost town. But we were able to enjoy the end of the season’s beauty and charm of this expansive park. Now it will only be open to the snow shoers, cross country skiers and dog sleds.