June 21, 2024

We got up early so we could make it to breakfast by 7. We went to Canyon Steakhouse in the main lodge and had steel cut oats with toppings. I got my coconut and sliced almonds on the side and gave them to Tammy and she got her golden raisins and dried cranberries on the side and gave them to me! The funny thing was that the portions on the side were much larger than the amount they put on the oatmeal.

We loaded into a tan school bus and headed to Denali National Park on the Natural History Tour. We were disappointed that we got booted off the Tundra Wilderness Tour that takes you farther into Denali where you have a better chance of seeing animals. 

We did get to see a mama moose walking up the road with her baby. They stayed on the road for a long time and we followed slowly behind them. 

We’re stopped somewhere and watched a short video about the history of Denali National Park. We stopped again and saw a 100 year old cabin that was built when they were working on the park road. The rangers still use in during the winter when they are doing their patrols. We saw the double door and spikes on the windows to prevent bears from entering. They had lots of antlers and horns from caribou, moose, and Dall sheep. After they talked to us about the cabin, we got to touch the antlers and horns.

Next we drove past Savage River to Primrose Point where we would turn around. An Athabascan native named Matt talked to us for a bit. The scenery was beautiful. An arctic ground squirrel came up and was nibbling on a man’s pants and he didn’t notice! 

On our way back, we kept looking for wildlife but didn’t see much else.

We got back early afternoon. We went to Karsten’s and I had grilled cheese and tomato soup and Tammy had a cheeseburger. We walked around and took some pictures.

We needed to be up at the main lodge at 5 to get picked up for Husky Homestead. We wanted to walk on the scenic trail before that so we thought we would go back to our room and relax/rest for an hour. Turns out we should have walked on the trail first because when we got ready to go, it was raining lightly. It had been a beautiful morning, but the weather can change quickly here. We decided to walk on the trail anyway because it was a light rain. We wore our rain jackets and it was fine. We walked by the shore of the Nenana (sounds like “banana” with an N at the beginning) River on the other side of the river from Denali National Park. It was a short trail and we quickly made it to the lodge. 

We decided to play Yahtzee while we waited. We played one round which Tammy won. It rained harder but then stopped. Our shuttle was booked for 5:30 and they said to be ready at 5:00. We watched and waited. At 5:20, we went outside under the big overhang and waited. At 5:38 or so, we called the number for our shuttle and no one answered. At 5:45, Hunter called us and apologized that he was running behind because someone in the company had a collision and they were trying to catch up. He said he would be there in 20 minutes and then we still had to drive to Husky Homestead. I was polite, but I expressed that we were disappointed that we wouldn’t get to see the whole program (puppy snuggling happens at the beginning). He called back a few minutes later and said that he talked to Husky Homestead and we could move our reservation to tomorrow so that we could do the full program. A little while later, he texted and said they would be refunding our money. This was the third time we got our money refunded on this trip (total of $192).

We would have done our day differently if we had known. By the time we got all that figured out, it was after 6. We decided to go across the street and get dessert. We went back to Prospector’s Pizzeria and got the hot chocolate chip cookie with ice cream to go. I wanted some water to go with it so I ran to the shops nearby and bought a bottle of water. We sat outside the restaurant and ate it. Definitely delicious! 

Next, we decided to go shopping for a Denali shirt for Tammy. On the way, we found some hand knit wool gloves with cut-off fingers and a flap that covers your fingers. Tammy had some from Peru that she loves, but they are wearing out. We decided to each get a pair because there was a deal if you bought two. We spent a long time choosing the pattern and colors we wanted. After going to the two main shops that sell shirts, we went back to the first shop and found a really pretty Denali sweatshirt that was a good price. I decided to get one, too, even though I said I was NOT going to buy a sweatshirt because of the space it would take up in my suitcase and what did I do… buy giant gloves AND a sweatshirt!

We went back to Denali Square, which is a gathering space in the middle of the McKinley Chalet Resort. There was live music and fire pits. We sat and watched the sunset (and took a million pictures). We posted our Anchorage pictures. We headed back around 9. I showered and we headed for bed.