After a couple of days in Fairbanks, during which we repaired both a bicycle and a truck tire, took a riverboat cruise down the Cheena River, and enjoyed a vaudeville show on the history of Fairbanks, we dropped down to Denali.

This is what we came for.

Transportation within the park is almost entirely limited to shuttle buses. Most of the road is a narrow dirt track and it is simply not equipped to handle personal traffic. Today, we took a shuttle out to the Eielson Visitor Center, about 66 miles into the park. We saw caribou, grizzly, watched a golden eagle being harried by a gyrfalcon… and had the Great One watching over us. Mt. McKinley is often shrouded in clouds, but we got a good long look at it today as we drove in.

A truly awe-inspiring sight.

One surprise was this mew gull, sitting on the visitor center steps, with Mt. McKinley looking over its shoulder. I don’t often think of sea gulls at 4000 feet, but they are quite common out here. These gulls nest on the gravel banks of the (nearly empty) glacial rivers, and then spend their winters on the coast.