6/28
As we leave Fairbanks this morning the sky is hazy as it was yesterday. The sun looked like a big orange ball in the sky. The haze is caused from some fires in the forests. We are heading to Denali. The highway has lots of permafrost damage. In fact just 8 miles out of Fairbanks we are on very bumpy gravel road and only able to travel about 25 miles an hour. We have to stop periodically for a pilot car. When we are on a paved road the permafrost has caused such heaves in the pavement it is like a giant washboard. As we move closer to Denali Park we are getting into the Alaska Range but the sky is so hazy we cannot enjoy them as we have before. Denali Park is about 200 miles from Fairbanks. We had hoped to stay at a Federal Campground in the park but they were all filled up. So we spent the night at the Denali Grizzly Bear Campground which was about 20 miles south of the park. Then we drove into Denali Park. Unless drivers have a special permit
they can only go 15 miles into the park. Anything beyond that has to be traveled by bus. In that first 15 miles there is not much to see. We had taken the bus trip when we took the inland tour part of our cruise which we were on a couple of years ago. We spent some time walking there an in the Denali Village which is a tourist trap just outside of the park. We of course took pictures of the area. Unlike most tourists Denali is not one of our favorite places to visit.