Denali from stop along road
We drove north along the George Parks highway this morning, a beautiful sunny day, with stunning views of Denali all along the way. The first opportunity to get any good pictures was when we crossed the Chulitna River bridge. There is also a lodge here up Mount McKinley road on the east side of the highway. Judging from the buildings and the spectacular views across to the mountain, we assume it to be a very high priced resort.
The best view of McKinley is from the South McKinley Viewpoint campground (not much of a campground, just a parking lot with a few picnic tables). There are interpretive signs here, and a short trail up to an unobstructed view of the mountains and Ruth Glacier.
We stopped at Byers Lake, which has a nice campground, but you cannot see the mountain from there. The North Viewpoint is a campground similar to the South, but the views are not nearly so good of the mountain. There were also good views of the mountain as we travelled north to the summit of the George Parks highway, just before Cantwell. Cantwell is not much of a town, just two gas stations. We stopped at the first, and I thought since it was right across from the junction with the Denali highway, it would have the higher price. That was the wrong call, as it was 10 cents a gallon more at the next station.
The summit area had very nice fall colors. The dwarf birches are starting to turn red, and there are many at this altitude. The poplar are turning yellow and so the mountain tundra is becoming very beautifully colored.
We set up in the Riley Creek (main) campground at Denali. After getting our site set up, we booked a bus trip tomorrow in to the Eielson visitor centre. Our bus leaves at 7:30, so we will have to get up and get going quickly in the morning.
There was a sudden shower after we returned to our campsite. We were not prepared for it, but got the tarp set up quickly. That shower passed, but we had a second heavier one about an hour later. Now there are breaks in the clouds, and a bit of sunshine for the evening.