This next picture is one I took as we came into the park, looking down on a rafting party in the Nenana River gorge. They were enjoying a quiet spot on the river!
Mike talked me into doing a whitewater trip down this gorge, you'll see a picture of that trip later in this post.After we checked into our hotel, we started out on our 6 hour Tundra Wilderness Tour, which took us 63 miles into the park. Here is a picture of the braided Teklanika River, and one of Mike and I at an overlook along that river.
If anyone saw Sean Penn's movie "Into the Wild", you'll know that the Teklanika River is the one that Chris McCandless tried and failed to cross (in it's swollen, flooded state) the July before he died in the wilderness near Denali. You can read his sad story (an article in Outside magazine) here . At the mid point of our tour, we stopped at the summit of Polychrome Pass for this picture which looks out over the Toklat River Valley. It was COLD and windy up here! 
Scattered here across the Plains of Murie, below the Polychrome summit, you can see small ponds formed by large blocks of ice deposited when the glaciers receded. 
We saw lots of wildlife on our tour, including a parade of dall sheep walking across a scraggy mountain ridge: 
We were also thrilled to see 5 grizzly bears, including this blonde one that was seen foraging through the scrub for food. 
We got a good shot of a caribou lounging on the tundra, 
and of this pretty red fox loping across the gravel road in front of our bus. 
On the way back to our hotel, the clouds that were hanging over us suddenly parted to the west, and we got a fairly good view of the elusive Mt. McKinley. There were still clouds clinging to its summit, but you can sort of get an idea of its size. Even with the clouds covering the top, it still dwarfs the large mountains in front of it.
At 20,320 feet, it is the highest peak in North America. In actual vertical rise, it is even higher than Everest. McKinley starts it's rise at only 2000 feet, rising 18, 320 feet more in actual vertical height. Everest is measured taller though, because it starts it's rise at 17,000 feet, to which you add it's mere 12,000 foot vertical height. There were over 100 climbers on the mountain the day we were there -- and a search party looking for 2 missing mountaineers.
Scattered here across the Plains of Murie, below the Polychrome summit, you can see small ponds formed by large blocks of ice deposited when the glaciers receded. We saw lots of wildlife on our tour, including a parade of dall sheep walking across a scraggy mountain ridge: We were also thrilled to see 5 grizzly bears, including this blonde one that was seen foraging through the scrub for food. We got a good shot of a caribou lounging on the tundra, and of this pretty red fox loping across the gravel road in front of our bus. On the way back to our hotel, the clouds that were hanging over us suddenly parted to the west, and we got a fairly good view of the elusive Mt. McKinley. There were still clouds clinging to its summit, but you can sort of get an idea of its size. Even with the clouds covering the top, it still dwarfs the large mountains in front of it.At 20,320 feet, it is the highest peak in North America. In actual vertical rise, it is even higher than Everest. McKinley starts it's rise at only 2000 feet, rising 18, 320 feet more in actual vertical height. Everest is measured taller though, because it starts it's rise at 17,000 feet, to which you add it's mere 12,000 foot vertical height. There were over 100 climbers on the mountain the day we were there -- and a search party looking for 2 missing mountaineers. The next morning was spent hiking through the park. This sign made me nervous, and made Mike hopeful for a good photo opportunity: 
We walked down to beautiful Horseshoe Lake, which was just a few miles from our lodge.
We hiked for a few hours here, and got some good pictures of a beaver dam: 
Mike and his dad did this hike again at a later time, and came upon this mother moose and her baby grazing on the plants at the bottom of the lake: 
That evening, we donned our "dry suits" to begin our adventure in white water rafting. The water was only 38 degrees, so I was really grateful that we didn't get very wet! I had never rafted before, and these were designated class 3-4 rapids. I was a bit nervous. After it was over though, I decided that it was a lot of fun, and I would probably go again! This trip was nice, because we didn't have to paddle. All I had to do was hold on, and try and stay inside the boat! Here is a picture of us beginning one of the rapids on the Nenana River. Mike and I are in the front on the left, and his dad and Susie are on the right:
We walked down to beautiful Horseshoe Lake, which was just a few miles from our lodge.We hiked for a few hours here, and got some good pictures of a beaver dam: Mike and his dad did this hike again at a later time, and came upon this mother moose and her baby grazing on the plants at the bottom of the lake: That evening, we donned our "dry suits" to begin our adventure in white water rafting. The water was only 38 degrees, so I was really grateful that we didn't get very wet! I had never rafted before, and these were designated class 3-4 rapids. I was a bit nervous. After it was over though, I decided that it was a lot of fun, and I would probably go again! This trip was nice, because we didn't have to paddle. All I had to do was hold on, and try and stay inside the boat! Here is a picture of us beginning one of the rapids on the Nenana River. Mike and I are in the front on the left, and his dad and Susie are on the right:Next stop on our Alaskan adventure, Talkeetna and Anchorage!
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