Working Our Way Toward Denali

Day 36  Wednesday July 20, 2016                        Denali State Park, Byers Lake Campground, site D13
202 miles           10.4 mpg

We have reservations at Denali National Park on July 22, so we have two days to get there.  We packed everything away last night to prepare for flight in the morning.  We connected up the trailer this morning and left at 08:00.

Followed the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm to Anchorage.  It was still scenic. 

The fire at McHugh Creek had gotten larger and we got some photos.

In Anchorage, the Seward Highway ends at 6^th Street and we turn right onto the Glenn Highway.  Followed that for 40 miles and it splits towards Glennallen and the other fork becomes the start of the Parks Highway as it heads north. 

We stopped in Wasilla at a Fred Mejer to stock up on groceries for our 3 days of isolation at Teklanika. 

Continued north up the Parks Highway.  It wasn’t as scenic by Alaska standards until we got closer to our destination.  We stopped at the South Denali Overlook.  Because of low clouds, we could not see Denali, which is not unusual.  It is not visible 2 out of 3 days in the summer.  But we did capture some photos of some other prominent mountains on the Alaska range.

The mountain to the left with the jagged ridge is Moose Tooth Mountain.

Back at the parking lot, our truck/trailer looked really small parked next to a large motorhome.

A few more shots on the way to the campground

We arrived at the Byers Lake Campground at Denali State Park at 14:30.   

It was a very nice quiet campground, heavily wooded.  We ended up at a pull through at site D13. 

A pull-through.

Our private little alcove.

The office.  Computer, logbook, camera, and beer.

View from picnic table.

Before setting up we topped off our water tank.  We will dump on the way out tomorrow.  The site was only $15 but they charged a $5 dump fee if you use it.

We settled in and made nachos for supper.

We were still about 120 miles from Denali National Park.  Tomorrow we are going stay at Cantwell RV Park for our last night before we enter the Park.  We want to charge our electronics, camera batteries, phones, and spend some time punching out some more posts with the 4G signal there.  We can also take a real shower.