We left Nenana late this morning and arrived in Denali National Park around 1:00.  We are staying in the Riley Creek Campground right in Denali National Park and it’s only $15 a night since we are senior citizens.  There are no hook ups for water or electricity, but we are allowed to run the generator from 6:00-8:00 in the evenings and 8:00-10:00 in the mornings.

The public is only allowed to drive into the park for the first 15 miles, so we drove as far as we could and then turned around and went to the dog sled kennels.   We listened to a very informative talk by a park ranger about the importance of the dogs in the park.  Since Denali is a National Wildlife Wilderness, there are many places where no motorized vehicles are allowed.

The dog sleds carried all the supplies needed to built the suspension bridge pictured below.  In fact, 13 TONS of materials!

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Pictures taken through the windshield while driving between Nenana and Denali

 

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Denali Dog Sled Kennels

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The dogs love to run!  IMG 6916

Triple Lakes Trail

We hiked the Triple Lakes Trail from the Visitor’s Center to the suspension bridge and back.

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Why did the moose cross the street??  Because he owns it and everyone will STOP!

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Look what we saw from the suspension bridge: The Alaskan RR bringing the Holland American tourists into Denali.

Trip Statistics:

  • We drove 65 miles in the motorhome and 30 miles in the car today.  Our total mileage so far is 6,460 miles
  • Riley Creek Campground is $15 per night.  We have spent $1,318.85 total on campgrounds or an average of 29.97 per night
  • $45.49 in gas today at $3.32 per gallon.  Total cost for gas so far has been $2,236.72.  That makes a cost of $.346 per mile.
  • Sunrise was at 4:06AM and sunset will be at 11:53PM