The Best Western had a pretty good breakfast with eggs, potatoes and sausage patties so Bob was well satisfied. As we were packing up, Bob pointed out a family of beautiful Red-necked Grebes on Lake Lucille in front of our room We had only seen them once before so that was a treat.
We left Wasilla at 9:20 AM, heading north on the Parks Highway, through miles of flat country of thick spruce and birch which created a monotonous green tunnel of vegetation. After 70 miles we turned off on a side road to the old town of Talkeetna on the Susitna River. Touristy though it is, it is a pretty little town of cafes and shops and, had we known, we would have skipped breakfast at the hotel and eaten at the Flying Squirrel Café!
We continued onward and turned off on the Petersville Rd, recommended by Bob’s Alaska bird finding guidebook. It didn’t look like much, especially as the sky was overcast and the expected spectacular views of Denali (Mt. McKinley) were lost in the clouds. The birds are few and far between here compared to the lower 48, but we finally heard a call which Bob thought was an Alder Flycatcher. He has the Sibley Bird Guide app on our iPod which not only has pictures and info about all the North American species, but also has many calls of each bird. He played one of the calls of this flycatcher and it was identical to what we had heard, so at least we had a new “heard” life bird. But then the bird responded and eventually flew in to a tree near us so we could identify it by sight. The little flycatcher robustly called out its song to chase away the interloper (us!)
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| Petersville Rd. |
It began to rain as we drove the additional 80 miles to Denali National Park and the land gradually became more rolling with low scrubby brush and fewer trees as we reached an elevation of about 2000’. We stopped at our hotel, the Carlo Creek Lodge, at about 1:30.
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| Carlo Creek Lodge |
Our room was ready so we unloaded our luggage into our simple, but comfortable, room. We continued on 15 miles to Denali National Park and pulled into the Visitors’ Center. There is only one road into the park. Visitors can drive in 14 miles, but to continue one must take the park bus which travels on 75 miles and is the best way of seeing wildlife. We are planning on hiking tomorrow and then taking the bus on Sunday. Rain is predicted throughout the weekend, so we will see how we fare.
It was great to be in a national park again as everything is so well done! We stopped in the auditorium and saw a good movie introducing us to the park. Afterwards we found the bookshop, stopped at the restaurant for some coffee and, since the rain had paused, took a mile-long walk, discovering several new wildflowers.
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| Larkspur |
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| Dwarf Fireweed |
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| Shrubby Cinquefoil |
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| Elegant Paintbrush |
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| Aspens |
By then it was five so we returned to our room for a rum and coke and relaxation. Amazingly there are three restaurants right across the highway as there’s nothing else around. We picked Perch, so named because it sits on a little hill overlooking the mountains beyond. They had great music playing and a very interesting menu. Bob got corn and crab soup and crispy duck on rice with veggies and I got squash soup and garlic polenta with mushrooms and wilted greens. Since I admired their music, our “tattooed waiter”, as he described himself, wrote out a play list for me to check out on Pandora - Wow! Maybe I have a chance at being cool, after all! Home to our little room and a good night’s sleep, I hope.
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