It’s been a delight taking the Alaska virtual tour with all of you. The final phase of this tour is a trip to Denali. As our last phase we start driving from Talkeetna to Denali National Park. Before we start driving , lets take a quick walk through history to understand how Alaska came to be. The word Alyeska – an ancient Aleut word means “The Great Land.” Great it is, the shoreline of Alaska alone is greater than the U.S Atlantic shoreline. In terms of size, Alaska is Texas, California and Montana combined and the best part, you actually get paid to live in Alaska. Yes, the few brave souls who dare to be different and live here get paid by the state government every year.
Denali is the Athabascan name meaning “High One.” and Denali National Park is different from any other park you have seen in the United States. More than a park, its a preserve, it is a 6 million acres of land across Alaska with only one road running through the park. The local obstinacy to keep it as natural as possible is so strong that Denali Park Services use dog sleds instead of snow mobiles during winter. When a fellow tourist asked why are snow mobiles bad, the naturalist asked us a question; Which sound is more natural in the forest, the roaring snow mobile engine or the howling dogs? We all shook our head in agreement. I told you, folks who move here are intelligent, smart, resourceful and almost eccentric 🙂
Let’s start driving to Denali. It’s a beautiful drive. See for yourself. 
Looks like any other mountain road, right? How about now? Blew my mind away. Notice the different vegetation. That’s the Tiaga Forest. Tiaga is a Russian term meaning “little sticks,” an apt name for these thin forest trees. They look like Xmas trees on a diet 🙂 At about 2700 feet Tiaga makes way for the Tundra. Tundra is a fancy word for the dwarf trees and tiny flowers that grow in the valley beds. Wildflowers and shrubs in the Tundra are adapted for the short growing season. Just like the short tourist season, summer is short here too. In August, we were already seeing the fall colors peeping out in some plants.
For me personally, seeing the Tiaga forest was a treat. I had read about it long long time ago in our geography books but never thought I would see it. Interestingly even though tiny, their presence is just as humbling as the Redwoods. Tiaga biome is the largest biome on earth. It extends all the way into Russia. It’s closeness to the Arctic circle brings in long bitter cold winters to short wet summers. The climate demands adaptation and respect for nature. Here’s another view of the beautiful glaciated waters of Nanena River flowing through the park and the forest.
And one more.. I was mesmerized by the sheer enormity of these tiny trees. Just imagine them lit like Xmas trees amongst the Denali. It’s North Pole and I am sure Santa comes here first 🙂 The construction equipment is a reminder of the human hand and was the perfect juxtaposition in this scene.
We kept driving with no GPS and yet we were not lost. We had the Alaska App. Yes, the state has its app that works without data or WiFi, a blessing indeed. Since its just one road in and out, directions are pretty simple, but yet one needs to make sure how far the destination is. The app pulled up our hotel name “The Grand Denali Lodge” and its phone number. With that, we made sure we did not miss this beauty perched high up on the hills.
As we turned, interesting signs stared coming our way. I found this one quite amusing. Another fun fact we did not know, Alaska has mosquitoes and lots of them.
As we get closer, it gets prettier and we are all super excited.
Notice the name of the different tour companies. That is why it is important to book through a tour company. It’s a little more expensive, but you get the best of the best. We booked ours through Alaska Tour and Travel (www.alaskatravel.com) And I give them 200/100. The staff is amazing. They operate 7 days a week and open as early as 6.30am. I highly recommend them. They did an absolutely fabulous job with our trip and the hotels they are affiliated with are definitely the best in town.
The Grande Denali Lodge for instance has the best view in town,better than Princess Cruise lodge or any other. See for yourself.
Yes, the clouds were coming in and the weather was perfect for some spicy tasty Pakora .. but we had to settle for Sweet Potato fries at the lodge restaurant. Expensive but good. They catered to our very picky vegetarian and kid specific palette and did a fabulous job. They also have an up close and personal bear 🙂
The next morning we took at 6.55am tour to Denali National Park. The bus picks you and the other passengers up from the respective hotels and then drives you into he park. Unlike other national parks, Denali allows private cars only for a few miles. If you want to go deep into the park, the tour buses are your only option. When you research on Denali National Park, interestingly you will find many people saying “skip it.” The very fact that they said this, made me want to go 🙂 Now I can tell you why? Here’s my take on it. When you go to Denali, don’t look for Yellowstone or the Muir Woods there. You won’t find it. It is unlike any other park for it is an International Biosphere Reserve. The predator – prey balance is as natural as it was before mankind discovered the park. Every effort has been made to make sure that the animals have minimal interaction with human beings and their habitat stays as natural as possible. Yes, you can hike but we didn’t. Our group had an age bracket fro 1.5 years – 70+ and everything in between, so we decided to go lazy and sat in the bus as it rolled meditatively through Denali. Did we see animals? Yes we did.
Can you spot the bear? This is a picture form my iPhone, I am sure professional camera’s got a better view, but you get the idea of how far these animals are from the road.
The tour buses have come up with a creative way of showing wildlife to the tourists. They point their fancy camera to the animal and we see them on the screen and of course we take a picture of the screen 🙂 We saw quite a few animals.. bears, caribou lots of them, Dhal Sheep, Ram, Birds but no Moose 🙁
Here’s a clearer shot of the Caribou. Trivia question for all of you – What’s the difference between a Caribou and a Reindeer?
As the bus rolled along, we crossed some amazing sites and soon the tree line vanished to be replaced by rocky mountains. I took this picture because it reminded me of “THE THING.” How many of you know what “THE THING” is?
This is a 7 hour long tour. We get stops in between to stretch our legs and breathe in the beauty. This view made me feel there is someone up there watching us all and since we are so close to the Arctic Circle, it has to be Santa. Right?
We came dow safely after meandering through the single lane roads and taking in all the beauty. Our evening was all about buying our tiny trinkets and ending it with a scrumptious dinner at Prospectus Pizza. Highly recommend this place it has a crazy selection of Pizza and their bruschetta is amazing. A view of the Denali Boardwalk 🙂
The next day, we were tired but very excited to do the ATV tour. Unfortunately I did not take too many pictures of the ATV tour, but again I highly recommend it. Our toddler enjoyed it and the 70+ were thrilled by it. So it’s safe and yet exhilarating. The pic below is of the sand mountain. I liked it for the contrast and how abruptly the tree line ends. This was the last stop in the ATV tour. 
And so ended our stay in Denali and we drove back to Anchorage for one more night before we boarded our respective flights to go home. One last shot of Denali.
After days of pasta, sandwiches and pizza, we were all craving for some good wholesome Indian food. Well at least the grown ups were, the kids would have taken Subway over Indian 🙂 But never the less we found Namaste Shangri-La – Good food and a very typical ambience.
Another place we tried during our first leg of the journey was the Indian restaurant Yak and Yeti – a whole in the wall place, but good home cooked meal. If you want a non-greasy home cooked meal, then Yak and Yeti is the place to go. They even sell chai by the gallons 🙂 Yak and Yeti is co-owned by a local Alaskan and a Nepali who came to Alaska and stayed. I am told their Himalayan Chicken is outstanding and I enjoyed their simple dal with Aloo-Gobi.
We said our good byes to each other with the desire to explore again.
Life is an adventure. We are born to explore. As babies we learn by touching, feeling and observing. As we grow, we start Googling and life then becomes a routine with blah and boring days. Life is not about being born, going to college, getting a job, paying bills, saving money for a house, saving more for retirement and then dying. In Alaska I met many who lived life by the day. They most likely didn’t have a bank balance or a house, some of them maybe didn’t even have a permanent address and yet they were not complaining. How do I know this? Why else would they be coming to Alaska every summer for year after year.
Can I do it? I don’t think so. I missed the boat 🙂 on this one, but I am wiser. Alaska taught me to take one day at a time.
Alaska – we will see you again. This time in winter. Yes, I know I am crazy, but where else can I find a Ice Hotel but in Alaska. Till then, keep traveling and explore.
Today I am thankful that I woke up to see the love and blessings surrounding me. The past years have been rather interesting. They have tested my patience, my thinking and more importantly my belief in myself. I was one of those who lead a simple daily blessed life. No curve balls, no nothing.. life chugs along just fine, until one final year, life looks at you and says, “Ok, you have had too much good, it is time to throw in some bumps.” Try as hard as I did, I was beginning to lose until one final day, when the human core in me wakes up and says ‘Enough! Bring it on” and just like that, you turn on the will power switch and life backs off and I realized I am me and I am ok.
