National Parks – Page 3 – Kevin's America

Denali National Park and Preserve

Alaska vacation day 9

Denali National Park and Preserve is much more than Mt. McKinley (or Mt. Denali). Mt. McKinley National Park became a national park in 1917 under President Woodrow Wilson. Under President Jimmy Carter in 1980, it was expanded to become Denali National Park and Preserve.

There is abundant wildlife and wilderness. Or at least that is the rumor – haha! We took a natural history tour where we was beautiful landscapes but very little actual wildlife! From a distance we saw Dall sheep and caribou. We did not see any wildlife up close. Other people, on different tours, saw caribou, black and grizzly bears and moose very close to their buses.

Savage Cabin. Park Rangers use cabins such as this one while they patrol the park road and backcountry in the summer, and in the winter park rangers patrol the park on dog sleds from these cabins. Our tour guide gave a masterful and entertaining presentation on the life cycle of the moose mating process, called “the rut”. It involved moose urine, dirt and mud, fights, strutting and a harem. You can ask me for details when you see me, or simply use your imagination!

These moose antlers weigh about 35 pounds.

The small pinecones on these black spruce are mainly at the top of the trees.

The yellow in these pictures are willow.

Native Athabascan explaining his culture. The native cultures all but disappeared after the US outlawed many of their traditions and religions, but the cultures are starting to make a comeback. To preserve native languages, videos are being recorded for a permanent record of their language.

Mt. Denali! This is the tallest point in North America, at 20,320 feet above sea level! Only 30 percent of visitors to Denali National Park ever get to actually see the mountain, due to the prevalence of cloud cover. Here, the clouds backed off on a fairly gray day so we could see pretty much the whole mountain! We actually saw the mountain three days in a row, which is practically unheard of! We saw it from the train yesterday, but I could not get a picture, and we will see it again tomorrow – details on another post!

This is a beautiful fall scene at Denali. The yellows are willow, and the reds are fire weed and several types of red berries. Fall lasts only a few weeks here. This field should be covered in snow in 2 or 3 weeks.

Glacier Bay National Park

Alaska Cruise Day 6

Glacier Bay National Park is the highlight of all Alaska cruises. It is absolutely beautiful! There are several large glaciers in Glacier Bay. Unfortunately for us, we did not get to see Margerie Glacier, which is the tallest at the water – over 200 feet. We did get to see others, including John Hopkins Glacier and Lamplugh Glacier.

In 1680 there was no Glacier Bay, it was a broad river valley with a Tlingit village. During the Little Ice Age from 1680 to 1750, the glacier grew and covered the valley and even went out into the Icy Strait. When the glacier receded from 1750 to 1880, it had gouged out Glacier Bay. Today the glaciers are 65 miles up the bay from the Icy Strait.