WANDERING WITH THE WRIGHTS

July 21, 2024  Week #7

Monday July 15th we bid farewell to Wasilla and headed a short drive north to Trapper Creek, AK

The main reason for spending a day in Trapper Creek was to visit the quaint town of Talkeetna a town of about 1,000 people

                                                  

Many of these small towns charge $5 for parking.  You can either scan the QR code and charge the fee or there are envelopes to put your money in and drop into a secure box

I mentioned in my last blog the one animal in the wild I really wanted to see and hand't seen yet was a moose so took this picture incase I didn't see a real one!

Random shots of the downtown area

Had ready so many reviews that this was a great place to eat and wouldn't you know it they were closed

Had also heard that the Denali Brewery in town had wonderful Mojitos - and they were open

                                    

While enjoying our drinks we sat next to a couple from Spring Grove, IL - small world

I have mentioned before the beautiful flowers - think they like the cooler temps - 

Most of the menu was some how related to fish 

The town had a few potholes!!

Wednesday we headed further north to Denali National Park and Preserve.  I could spend days showing you pictures and telling you all we learned but will try to keep it to a reasonable amount.  We spent two full days in the park - only disappointment was not getting to see Mt. McKinley - only 30% of the people who come do see her.

This map shows you how there is one road up and the same road back out.  

Most travel is done by one of the many parks buses

If there is not caption under the photo it is just a pretty picture, most taken by Jerry

The Alaskan State Bird - Willow Ptarmigan

Pair of Willow Ptarmigan

Really hard to see but there are 5 kits (baby foxes) playing - they were so cute

Kits just having fun

Hard to see but there are Dall Sheep in these pictures 

Denali Park was actually created to initially protect these sheep 

They live high up on the cliffs to protect themselves from preditors

Once again hard to see but two Caribou laying in-between the  large racks

This road is the one that people could take further into the park until a bridge gave way a few years ago.  They hope to have it open again in 2027

 Black Fox 

Black fox hunting birds

The history of sled dogs in Denali goes back over 100 years.  We got to visit the kennels where they live.  They are the only sled dogs in the US that help protect a national park and the wildlife.  

They like sleeping and relaxing on top of their kennel

They were harnessed up and put on a demonstration

sled dog demo

Moose crossing a few cars ahead of us - so I got to see my moose!!

Saturday we headed to Fairbanks - we will be here for 6 -7 days and do day trips from here

Have a blessed week