At 6 pm yesterday, after a full day of waiting and waiting, we departed Fairbanks. What a welcome relief to finally be on our way. We didn’t care how far we went, just so we were out of Fairbanks. We were exhausted from just sitting around waiting for parts to be delivered, parts to be welded and whatever else had to be done. We drove south for about 2 hours and camped at probably the worst campground yet, in Hely, Ak. It did not matter. We were on the road again and 11 miles from Denali Park.

We awakened to a beautifully clear, cloudless sky. We were hoping that, at long last, we would get to see the mountain.  About 8:30 am we stopped  along the highway so I could photograph a moose in a rather beautiful setting in a pond. (Yes, I know, another moose! But I don’t see too many of them in Wake Forest, NC  so as long as they are in range, I will continue to be awed and to photograph them!)

Moose on Parks Highway

We entered the park and drove the 15 miles allowed before you have to either turn around or take a shuttle. The mountain range was indescribably exquisite with a backdrop of blue skies and white billowy clouds. We stopped at the pull off where you were supposed to get the best view of Denali. It was smothered in clouds to the point that you could not even tell there was a mountain there. We were told that only 25% of visitors to the park get to see the mountain. We did, however, get to see some caribou way off in the distance.

A caribou in Denali Park

We left the park a bit disappointed but still hoping that we would get to see it on one of the pull offs on the way south. We were told that there were a few places that you could get a great view if there were no clouds. We tried 2 places—no luck—only a partial view of the north face.

As we continued south through Cantwell, I read in the Milepost that there was a Medal of Honor Loop at a rest area with an Alaska Veterans Memorial/POW-MIA. We thought we’d stop and take pictures of the memorial for our friends, Patty and John. There was also a final note about the rest area that there is a wonderful view of Mt McKinley from the entrance of the memorial. So we pulled in. Unfortunately, there was really nothing to photograph regarding the memorial. However, the clouds had lifted and there it was! Wow! What a sight.

Mt. McKinley/Denali

With our day made, we headed on to Wasilla (Sara’s hometown) through amazing scenery and are camped for the night. Tomorrow we will go through Anchorage and head down the Kenai Peninsula.