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Our 3 days in Denali were filled with wonderful experiences & more perfect weather. Drove our hire car north "into the wild" & were surprised by several moose ambling across the highway & some others just beside the road later - not what you see in Australia! On the way north there was cloud cover over Mt McKinley but snow capped peaks at lower altitude & we eventually arrived at the secluded Earthsong Lodge on Stampede Rd. This was the way Christopher McCandless went "Into The Wild" on his fateful journey to the wilderness. Our accommodation was much safer - lovely log cabins just opened for the season & the very welcoming Jon who made us fresh coffee & bagels every morning. His sled dogs were kenneled nearby & their occasional howling was lovely out in the quiet bush. Day 2 was our bus trip through the National Park, which is the only way to see this place. We chose the shuttle bus & had a great driver who gave us a commentary even though this was not necessarily the norm. The trip was 6 hours round trip to Toklat with several planned stops & many others when we saw wildlife or gorgeous views. Were lucky enough to have a beautiful day & an early start meant the cloud cleared & Denali or Mt McKinley appeared - the tallest mountain in Nth America. We saw Dall Sheep, bears with cubs, caribou & fabulous rocks. This landscape isn't exactly what I expected as it's on the west side of the Alaskan Range & gets very little rainfall - just more than being classed as a desert - not what you'd think of this far north.
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